Summer 2009

For the 49th year, the City of Northampton and Smith College will cooperate in conducting a five–week summer program, from June 30 through July 31. The Adventures in Learning program (formerly called the Smith–Northampton Summer School) represents one of the longest running and best summer educational experiences in the Pioneer Valley. The summer adventure program provides many varied opportunities to develop new interests or sharpen existing skills. It is also a great place to meet people and make new friends. Classes are conducted in a relaxed atmosphere. Students from public and independent schools in Northampton and other communities are invited to enroll in the program.

For more information, go to www.smith.edu/educ/summerschool.php.

April 2009

Each Spring, the UMass School of Education and Career Services sponsor a "Job Fair for Prospective K–12 School Professionals." Graduates from the five college network are welcome and encouraged to participate in this event.

The job fair will be from 3–5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 9 in the Student Union Ballroom at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

For registration details and more information, go to www.umass.edu/education/licensure/edinfo/jobfair.shtml.

March 2009

As part of our math methods (EDC 345) class, we are taking one afternoon and setting up a panel of principals and alums who will offer their advice/experience on the things that student teachers should do to help find their first teaching job.

The session will be from 3–5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24 in the Browsing Room in Nielson Library.

Our guests include Gwen Agna, principal of the Jackson Street School, Diana Bonneville, principal of Hopkins Academy, Chip Wood, director of elementary education for the Gill–Montague Regional School District, Cathy Reid, director of the Smith College Campus School, and Lucy Perez, director of Human Resources for the Springfield School District. Also participating will be recent graduates of our program, who will share their stories about finding jobs in teaching.

February 2009

The annual MERC job fair will be held on April 23 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston

Janice Schell in the Career Development Office will be organizing an orientation session for Smith students who are interested in attending this national job fair for teachers. The orientation session will be held at the CDO building on Thursday April, 2, from 5:15-6:00 p.m. Attending the orientation is mandatory for any current Smith student teacher who is planning on attending MERC. Current Smith students can learn more about which schools will be anticipating vacancies and attending MERC and Smith alums can find out more about this conference and how to register for the MERC Education Career Fair at mercjobfair.com.

December 2008 - January 2009

A letter from one of our current students to people considering becoming a teacher.

Linda McEvoy is a student teacher in our graduate program pursuing her MAT in Elementary Education. Linda is a recent graduate of Amherst College and has been involved in formal and informal education through her work as a volunteer in a clinic in Tanzania, a participant in the Urban Education Initiative, and writing a children's book.

Read her reasons for selecting Smith College as the place to go to learn how to teach:

The Smith Graduate Program in Education is a wonderful opportunity for students who know that education is the field for them. There are so many amazing aspects to the program, the people, and the opportunities that are part of receiving your Masters at Smith, but in order to focus on the best aspects, I would love to share with you my top four.

1. The Smith College Campus School

2. The possible funding you could receive

3. The opportunities for research

4. The certification in 47 states

1. The Smith College Campus school. So this is most beneficial for people looking to gain their licensure in elementary education, however it's place as a exploration school is wonderful to compliment much of everyone's course work. It is a private K-6 school that provides wonderfully supportive, enlightening, and engaging student teaching placements to the elementary students. I am now in a second grade classroom with a wonderful teacher who allows me to run my own reading groups, think up math curriculum, apply the theoretical work I'm doing in my coursework to my lesson plans, and basically become a second teacher in the room. I teach 11-3pm Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Friday and I think I learn the most in this placement due to the intensity with which I am allowed to throw myself into the experience. Besides my teacher, the other Campus School teachers are all veteran teachers who study the same theory and ideas that we as graduate students do. They are constantly rethinking their curriculum, engaging with student teachers to find new ideas, and giving really great feedback. Those who want a degree in high school or middle school have equally wonderful placements, however those are at local high schools or middle schools and instead of lasting the whole year like at the Campus school, they are only a semester and involve working the whole day. Working at the campus school has really made me want to become a teacher. It has inspired me to delve into the profession in a way that teaching right away (Teach for America, teaching at a private school, etc) would not have allowed me to do. Come visit if you want to learn more! I would love to give you a tour and introduce you to my adorable second graders!

2. The funding. After you graduate from college, funding can be a HUGE factor in many decisions. Paying for your own graduate school (as is my situation) makes decisions even harder. The Smith program has many opportunities to receive wonderful opportunities for tuition waivers and stipends.

3. There are so many great professors, however the program is really small (15-20 graduate students). This means that especially in the spring, the opportunity to do your own exploration into some area of interest is very easy and well supported. I am doing a ‘special topics’ class next semester with one other student and a professor studying the power of poetry to garner understanding in low-income, inner city schools. You also have the great opportunity of having K-6 graders available to use in whatever research or study you might want to conduct. Now, of course there are restrictions, but even as an Amherst College student last year, I was ab le to use both kindergarten classes to do work on my English very welcoming to academic projects--which is something that is also hard to find.

4. Finally, the certification. After you take one year to get your masters, you will be certified in 47 states. This means that you can move to almost anywhere in the country to find your next job. Plus, you will have a Master degree which means that you are a very attractive candidate to any school, AND you start with an immediately higher salary (in most schools) then you would without your masters. If you go through TFA or another teaching corps to get your degree, I've heard that it can be a burden on your time, it will weigh on you financially, and it will be not as meaningful an experience because you will be juggling teaching and your course work. Having a masters is important in the teaching world because it often qualifies you for a higher certification status which means you don't have to keep taking tests every few years to renew your license (and having already taken one let me tell you that these tests are really a pain: good to assess you as a teacher, but a pain to pay for, drive to a site, etc, etc).

Okay, so I hope this has been helpful! Overall, my main message is: if you want education to be a part of your career, this program is the perfect first step. It only takes a year, it gives you a masters and a compatible license in 47 states, and is a wonderful experience: compared to a first year of teaching without a program, it's much more comfortable! Good luck in your searches for next year!

Please email me if you have any questions at: lmcevoy08@gmail.com

November 2008

The internet is filled with resources for teachers. Here is a small sample of particularly valuable web sites used by our student teachers:

www.math.com provides clear explanations for complicated math topics. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics web site www.nctm.org offers lessons plans and teaching materials.

Click on www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html for a map activity on the Middle East. Rethinking Schools Online offers links to dozens of web resources for social studies and history teachers.

English teachers will find www.readwritethink.org from the National Council of Teachers of English worth exploring. This site contains ideas on teaching reading and writing, and graphic organizers to help students organize and develop their thoughts.

www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html is a site of interest to all teachers. This "Periodic Table of Visualization Methods" contains dozens of news ways to share ideas.

October 2008

October 16-17, 2008 Teaching, Learning and Imagination: A Conference for Smith Alumnae Educators

Join alumnae educators and Smith College Campus School teachers for a conference that explores the work of Kieran Egan, professor, Centre for Imaginative Education, Simon Fraser University. Learn about Smith’s work and the growing understanding of imagination’s role in education and how Egan’s cognitive tools can enhance student learning. For More > >

September 2008

Our colleagues at Brandeis University offer the following invitation to Smith alums engaged in their first year of teaching:

Dear Beginning Teachers,

Welcome to the wonderful world of teaching! As you begin your first position in teaching, know that these first years of teaching can be thrilling, exhausting, and at times, daunting! The good news is that you don’t need to be alone. Through the generosity of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Brandeis University Education Program is offering the CETE/Brandeis Teacher Induction Program consisting of:

Monthly dinner meetings with fellow beginning teachers, guided by Marya Levenson, former Boston Public School teacher, principal at Newton North (MA) High School, and school superintendent at North Colonie (NY). The goals of the meetings are support, camaraderie, and investigation of shared areas of learning.

On-going support for secondary teachers by individual mentor-coaches.

Specialized support group and mentoring for urban teachers.

Participation in discussions focused on issues of social justice and teacher practice, becoming a teacher-leader, and creating peer support.

This program is open to teachers at all grade levels who are teaching in the greater Boston area, and who are graduates of colleges/universities that belong to the Consortium for Excellence in Teacher Education (CETE). These institutions are:

As a result of your participation in this induction program, you will be able to earn Professional Development Points (PDPs) and become part of a community of teachers.

To learn more about the program or to sign-up, please contact Sandy Resnick, Induction Services Coordinator by phone: 781-736-2024 or by email: resnick@brandeis.edu.

Hope to see you soon!

Marya R. Levenson

Summer 2008

The Career Development Office at Smith College is a wonderful resource for recent graduates. The staff at the CDO will create a file of your letters of recommendation and send those letters to prospective employers upon your request. They also offer workshops on interviewing skills, will review your resume and cover letter, and have ideas on how to find the schools who are looking for new teachers.

Janice Schell at jschell@email.smith.edu and David Machowski at dmachows@email.smith.edu are two of the staff at CDO who are actively involved in supporting new teachers searching for jobs.

Helpful links and resources for alumnae -- including access to the home page for the Smith College Alumnae Directory -- can be found at: www.smith.edu/cdo/alumnae/index.html

Locally, SchoolSpring.com, masslive.com, and boston.com are web sites that list teaching jobs.

May 2008

Exciting Opportunity for Teachers This Summer

Arts Immersion Teacher Institutes – Open to All Massachusetts Teachers from All Disciplines

Register now for Arts Immersion Teacher Institutes, to be held at three Massachusetts cultural organizations this summer. The institutes are open to K-12 teachers from all disciplines and teaching artists. The institutes receive funding as part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council's (MCC) Creative Minds initiative to expand arts education and creative learning experiences for students statewide.

Each institute focuses on a single masterpiece or “anchor work,” giving you the opportunity to:
work in depth
explore the contexts and meanings of an exemplary work of art
engage in criticism and art-making
transfer experiences to the classrooms

During the summer institute, you will design a 5-lesson curriculum unit to implement in the classroom during the fall. Each institute will then reconvene to discuss your experiences teaching the units and share student work.

The 2008 Arts Immersion Teacher Institutes are:

Crewdson’s Untitled: An Exploration of Narrative Berkshire Museum

39 South St., Pittsfield
June 30 – July 3 & July 10, 2008

Explore contemporary photographer Gregory Crewdson’s innovative approach to visual narrative by focusing on Untitled. Explore creating meaning with this single visual image of a single moment in time through in-depth discussions with the artist, hands-on artmaking in photography, and study with scholars from the Guggenheim and Berkshire Theater Festival, among others. Open to teachers of grades 3-12 from all disciplines.

Cost: There is no fee to participate in this institute

To register: Contact Education Program Manager Curtis Asch (413) 443-7171, ext. 19. Teachers receive a $200 stipend to develop and implement a 5 lesson unit.

Elizabeth Clarke Freake and Baby Mary Worcester Art Museum

55 Salisbury St., Worcester
August 11 – 15, 2008

Experience an intense examination of the painting Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary, painted by an unidentified artist and considered the most important painting created in colonial America in the late 17th century. Scholars, art historians, conservators, a food historian, and others will guide you through an exploration of this one painting – its style, dress, accessories, identity as a pendant portrait, and visual depiction of mother and child – to reveal the history, aesthetics, religion, literary and relationship stories that it has to share. Experiences will include hands-on artmaking (in the studio and the computer studio), creative writing, and a field trip to Boston. Open to K-12 teachers from all disciplines.

Cost: $170 for museum members/$150 for nonmembers. Teachers receive a $200 stipend to develop and implement a 5 lesson unit.

To Register: Call 508-793-4333 or register online.

Looking at Galileo: A History Play for Our Times Underground Railway Theater in residence at the new Central Square Theater

450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
August 11 – 15, 2008

Engage with theater artists, scientists and historians in an inter-disciplinary exploration of Bertolt Brecht’s science theater masterpiece, The Life of Galileo. Examine questions that cut across the curriculum: How does scientific discovery affect our everyday lives? How do we know what we know (or think we know)? How does this play reflect our world today? This institute is timed to mark the UN’s declaration of 2009 as “The Year of Astronomy.” For teachers of language arts, science, history, classroom teachers, drama and arts specialists, grades 5-12.

Cost: $100. Teachers receive a $200 stipend to develop and implement a 5 lesson unit.

To Register: Contact Maggie Moore Abdow , Education Director, Underground Railway Theater.

April 2008

"Miss Walton! Miss Walton!" Almost all the 18 second-graders in Robbie Murphy's classroom at the Smith
College Campus School had their hands in the air, eager to answer the math question posed by their 28-year-old student-teacher, Anna Walton, who had a smile to make the day begin. It was clear they wanted to
please her, to make her happy . . . Read the rest of the article about Anna Walton, a student teacher in our Elementary Teacher Preparation Program from the Daily Hampshire Gazette article entitled "Teaching the Teachers" at http://www.gazettenet.com/beta/2008/04/12/teaching-teachers Saturday, April 12, 2008

Northeast Foundation for Children

We are fortunate to have one of the most important resources for teachers located in our area. The Northeast Foundation for Children is located in Turners' Falls, Massachusetts. This group, largely through the effort of Chip Wood, the author of "Yardsticks: Children in the Classrom Ages 4 - 14," developed and refined the "Responsive Classroom" approach to building comminuty in the classroom. NEFC publishes a newsletter that helps teachers think about ways of beginning and ending the school year, offers ideas for community service learning, and shares student and teacher success stories.

The Responsive Classroom newsletter is available on-line at
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/newsletter/index.html

Back issues can be found at http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/newsletter/backissues.html

A Summer opportunity:

Hampshire Education Collaborative is an agency located in Northampton. They offer professional development to teachers and support to local school districts, partents and students through the HEC Academy, an alternative school.

HEC's 5-week summer programs are scheduled from July 9 - August 12. HEC operates an outdoor-based camp in Leeds for students with physical & cognitive disabilities; summers schools at HEC Academy, Northampton, for middle & high-school students; & a summer school for high-school students in North Amherst.

Contact Alex Chesner, Clinical Services, at (413) 658-5548, for more information

March 2008

As part of our math methods (EDC 345) class, we are taking one afternoon and setting up a panel of principals and alums who will offer their advice/experience on the things that student teachers should do to help find their first teaching job.

The session will be from 3 to 5 on Tuesday, March 25 in the Browsing Room in Nielson Library.

Our guest include Gwen Agna, principal of the Jackson Street School, Johanna McKenna, principal of Bridge Street School, Scott Goldman, principal of Smith Academy in Hatfield, and Lucy Perez, Director of Human Resources for the Springfield School District.

Current News

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April 2009

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December 2008

November 2008

October 2008

September 2008

Summer 2008

April 2008

March 2008

Smith Grads at Work

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