Newsletter 10 March 14 Saying thank-you’s and goodbyes
With this final newsletter we, the NASCENT Team, want to say thank you for allowing us to learn alongside you in your clinical placements, classrooms, and schools! We hope that you have found the process to be both personally meaningful and professionally valuable to your practice. Below you will find ways you can reflect on the experience and prepare for the next transition. Link to: Newsletter 10 March 14: Saying Thank You's and Goodbye...
Newsletter 9 January 9 Completing the edTPA
TCs will soon be enacting their planned series of lessons for the edTPA and assembling a portfolio of their planning, teaching, and assessment that focuses on student learning. It is important that you stick to the agreed upon plan as to which lessons will be taught by the TC and when. The edTPA is a time for the TCs use their own skills to teach, plan, and assess, but they may consult mentors as they would a colleague. Read on for how to navigate these roles. Link to: Newsletter 9 Completing the edTPA...
Newsletter 8 December 12: Preparing for the edTPA
During the winter quarter, TCs will complete the edTPA, a portfolio of their planning, teaching, and assessment that focuses on student learning. TCs may consult mentors as they would a colleague, but the edTPA will be the responsibility of the TCs. Before winter break, decide with your TC(s) what series of lessons they can take on in January/February and stick to that plan. Planning, preparing, and practicing for the required components now will make the enacting and reflecting process more rewarding later. Link to: Newsletter 8 Preparing for the edTPA...
Newsletter 7 November 21: Transitioning to Taking the Lead
Student teaching is a rare opportunity for TCs to practice teaching alongside knowledgeable others to guide and support their learning. Looking ahead, in January/February TCs will assemble a portfolio of materials about a series of lessons they plan and teach for the edTPA, their performance-based assessment. To prepare for this experience, it is important for TCs to take the lead in frequent and meaningful ways across planning, teaching, and assessment, starting now! Link to: Newsletter 7 Transitioning to taking the lead...
Newsletter 6 October 31: Giving and Recieving Feedback
TCs learn a great deal when they receive feedback from their mentor. Feedback is most helpful when a specific area of practice is discussed and chosen ahead of time (pre-briefing) and then reflected on afterwards (debriefing). This practice of pre-briefing and de-briefing is also useful for TCs as they observe a mentor. This newsletter focuses on how to make the most of feedback as you work together. Link to: Newsletter 6 Giving and Receiving Feedback...
Newsletter 5 October 17: Formatively assessing together
A key aspect of teaching that TCs can practice early on is formative assessment (FA)—gaining insight into student thinking or perceptions and using this information to inform instruction. Since TCs and students have started building relationships and are settling into routines and content, now is a great time to discuss different methods of FA and try them out. You'll find tips for doing so in this newsletter! Link to: Newsletter 5 Formatively Assessing Together...
NEWSLETTER 4 OCTOBER 3: CO-PLANNING & CO-TEACHING
As early as October (if not before), mentor and teacher candidate partners can begin engaging in the practices of co-planning and co-teaching, strategically sharing responsibility for both planning and enacting instruction. This newsletter focuses on these practices, describing different arrangements they may take and how you might get started with an upcoming lesson. Link to: Newsletter 4 Co-planning and Co-teaching...
Newsletter 3 September 12: Making the most of opportunties to observe
Making the most of opportunities to observe. At the beginning of the year, TCs are primarily in an observational phase of their clinical experience. This newsletter focuses on ways to support deep learning during this phase—through strategically selecting key pieces of instruction to model, engaging in pre-briefs and debriefs together, and determining meaningful observational data TCs can collect. We also continue to share ideas for what mentors and TCs might focus on at this time of the year in our "trajectory" column, on the righthand side of the newsletter. Link to: Newsletter 3 September 12 : Making the most of opportunties to observe...
Newsletter 2 August 29: The start of the school year, a one-time opportunity
The beginning of the year is a unique opportunity for the TC to experience getting to know students for the first time—as a teacher—and learning how teachers set up a classroom as a community. This newsletter focuses on tips for the start of school. Read on to learn more about the mentoring practice of making your thinking explicit, how mentors and TCs can work together to introduce the TC to students and families, and more. We also continue to share ideas for what mentors and TCs might focus on at this time of year in our "trajectory" column, on the righthand side of the newsletter. Link to: Newsletter 2 August 29: The start of the school year, a one-time opportunity...
Newsletter 1 August 19: Introducing newsletter and website
This newsletter is being provided by the NASCENT research team at the UW College of Education. The aim of the team is to support the collaborative work of our mentors and teacher candidates (TCs). From mid-August through March, we'll provide helpful suggestions for working together and timely tips on how mentors can gradually give TCs more responsibility for planning and instruction over time. We'll provide links to more information and tools on our mentoring website, and include important updates from the UW Teacher Education Program Link to: Newsletter 1 August 19: Introducing newsletter and website...