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|  | SAINT MICHAEL'S COLLEGE GRADUATE EDUCATION NEWSLETTER | |
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| VOLUME 18, ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2015
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| Saint Michael's Graduate Student on Jeopardy!
Monkton Central School teacher Kate La Rivière-Gagner advanced to the semifinals of the "Jeopardy!" Teachers Tournament and went home with a $10,000 prize for making the semi-finals. Kate received her licensure recommendation in Secondary French and an additional endorsement in Elementary Education from Saint Michael’s College in 2009 and 2013 respectively. Currently, Kate is pursuing her Reading Specialist endorsement. Kate teaches fifth and sixth grade at Monkton Central School. Congratulations, Kate, we are so proud of your many accomplishments!
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Ed.D. and M.Ed., University of Vermont
M.A. Teachers College, Columbia University
B.A. Fairfield University |
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Brian O'Regan: Retiring from Saint Michael's
We have had the great fortune to have Dr. Brian O'Regan on our faculty since 2009. Brian has served in many teacher and leadership capacities over his 41 years in education. He was a special educator, assistant principal, principal, superintendent, Deputy Commissioner of Education for the State of Vermont, and Coordinator of our School Leadership Program in the Graduate School of Education at Saint Michael's College. Brian has taught several courses for us including: Assessment into Action, Legal and Financial Management, the New Superintendents Institute, and the School Leadership Practicum.
Brian has served as a leader, instructor, advisor, colleague, and friend over these last six years. His reputation in the field is unparalleled; he has the utmost respect of his colleagues, those who have worked under his leadership, his mentors, and mentees. We are very grateful that Brian chose to work these last six years at Saint Michael's College. His contributions have been many, including a strong and expanded leadership program which has a great reputation throughout the state. Colleagues and students alike have appreciated Brian’s advisement, colleagueship, and support. He will be greatly missed but we wish him well in his new found time playing with his grandchildren, spending time with his family, and enjoying some warm weather down South. "Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thank you, Brian, for inspiring me! Best of luck in your retirement.
- From Graduate Student Heather Freeman
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your love of education with us. I feel so fortunate to have taken your classes. Riddle me this: How could you make “Legal and Financial Management of Schools” such an engaging class? I enjoyed every minute of it, mostly because of your deep understanding of the issues and how they are applied to the practical aspects of school leadership in Vermont. You set a wonderful example for "caring, competence and character." I wish you the very best for a well-deserved and happy retirement.
- From Graduate Student Marty Sorrell-Lacasse
Throughout my graduate work in education leadership I have always thought of Brian O'Regan as a mentor and leader. I never really thought about what qualities made Brian such a dynamic leader, but I am reminded of the quote by J. Buchan, "The role of a great leader is not to give greatness to human beings, but to help them extract the greatness they already have inside of them."
- From Graduate Student Justin Bouvier
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| Graduate Incentives!
To support you on your journey toward teaching, the Saint Michael’s College Graduate Education Program is offering two amazing incentives. Summer Incentive - First course at regular rate of $590 per credit and no administrative fees. $150 discount per credit on all additional GED courses. Student Teaching Incentive - Beginning in the Fall of 2015, Graduate Education students will earn a 50% Tuition Scholarship for their student teaching requirement.
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New Summer 2015 Course Offerings
GED 508A Success for All Students (3cr.)
GED 508B Success for All Students (2cr.)
GED 526A Neuroscience, Mindfulness, and Sustainability: Implications for the K-12 Classroom (3 cr.)
GED 526B Bringing Student Learning Forward through Effective Intervention (3 cr.)
GED 529 Personalized Learning (3 cr.)
GED 673A Educator as Artist: Personalized Learning, Teaching, and Engaging in the Artistic Process (3 cr.)
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| Graduate Education ScholarshipsThe Bennett C. Douglas Scholarship
In 2012, Theresa Villemaire established the Bennett C. Douglas Scholarship to support students who show extraordinary potential to become leaders and advocates in the field of special education. The scholarship makes available approximately $3,500 per year to support one or more student teachers. All student teachers pursuing licensure are eligible; however, preference is given to graduate students pursuing their special education licensure. There is no application process to complete for consideration; the Chair of Education, with a recommendation from an Education Department faculty committee, selects each year’s recipients. The Chair and the faculty base their selection on academic achievement, demonstration of excellence in teaching potential, and in consideration of those students who have documented financial need. The Judson and Parsons Ready, Set, Teach Endowed Scholarship
Dr. Anne Judson, former Director of Graduate Education at Saint Michael's College, and her husband Dr. J. Tim Parsons have established a new scholarship to support Graduate Education student teachers. The scholarship makes available approximately $3,300 per year to support one or more student teachers. All student teachers except those in the special education licensure program are eligible.* There is no application process to complete; the Chair of Education, with a recommendation from an Education Department faculty committee, selects each year's recipients. The Chair and the faculty base their selection on academic achievement, demonstration of excellence in teaching potential, and in consideration of those students who have documented financial need. * Student teachers in the special education program may apply for the Bennett C. Douglas Scholarship.
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| Graduate Assistantship Available for 2015-2016
Applications for our graduate assistantship are currently being accepted for the 2015-2016 academic year. Only matriculated graduate education students may apply. Fall/Spring/Summer 2015-2016 Academic Year Assistantship:
Must be available all 3 terms. Start date is August 31, 2015. Hours: 12 to 15 hours per week and 15 weeks per semester.
Pay: $5,200 plus a tuition waiver of 18 credits (Credits must be used during the fall/spring/summer of assistantship)
Deadline: May 1, 2015 or until position is filled. The Graduate Assistant supports the Graduate Education Department. Responsibilities include assistance with projects such as the publication of the department newsletter and maintaining data for Program Approval by the Vermont Agency of Education, along with keeping our Facebook and Twitter feeds current. To apply, please send resume, letter of intent, and two letters of reference (from someone you have work experience with) to: Saint Michael's College
Graduate Education – Karen Abbott
One Winooski Park
Colchester, Vermont 05439
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Thank you, Dr. Peter Evans!Dr. Peter Evans, who has taught our School Leadership class for the past eleven years, will not be returning to his faculty role next fall. He has been a Vermont educator for over 35 years, Peter taught and served as a principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels during his public school service years. He was selected as the Vermont Secondary School Principal of the Year in 2008 and retired as principal of Montpelier High School in 2012 and continues to serve Vermont as the Coordinator of the Vermont Principals’ Association Mentoring Program along with his continued work as a faculty member of Youths and Adults Transforming Schools Together (YATST), an organization designed to increase student voice and engagement in school decision-making. Many graduate students have had the good fortune to experience Peter's School Leadership course and two testimonials speak to those experiences. Peter’s kind, embracing style found the positive in us…he helped flesh out more of who I am and what kind of leader I wanted to be. He showed there’s no one way to be a leader. He set me at ease that leadership has many faces, and the challenge is not fitting a mold, but fitting my approach to leadership within who I am – including my own gifts and strengths. He showed by example that being compassionate, creative and kid-centered are excellent ingredients for successful school leadership. I am grateful I began my leadership journey with Peter Evans.
- Matt Webb, Change Leader, Winooski School District
Lessons of school leadership learned from Peter are valuable beyond measure – lessons that supported me in as a Vermont school principal. His on-going support for new Vermont school leaders continues with each of us reaping the benefits of his guidance.
- Wendy Cobb, Principal, Founders Memorial School, Essex Town.
We wish Peter our best as he spends more time with an ever-growing group of grandchildren and thank him for his many years of service to future leaders and for the quality of his professionalism he brought to the St. Michael's School Leadership program. Thank you, Peter!
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"Artatunities: There are no mistakes in art only opportunities." |
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Adjunct Faculty Spotlight: Ann Joppe-Mercure
We are lucky to have such dedicated faculty members who teach in our graduate program. One of our most beloved is Ann Joppe-Mercure. Ann, who is a graduate of our Master's program, completed a thesis on Multicultural Art Education with Aostre Johnson in 1993. The following year Aostre asked Ann to teach a course on multicultural art and the rest is history, as she has been teaching with us ever since. In that time, Ann has inspired both prospective and current teachers in our Arts in Education concentration, with such courses as Multicultural Arts, Hands On: Learning in and through the Arts, and Bookmaking for Educators. Ann values the SMC Graduate Education Program for the balance between theory and practical application. For her, the Arts in Education concentration opens up rich opportunities for prospective and current teachers to learn and teach creatively and deepen their understanding of self, process, and curriculum. She sees SMC students as highly motivated individuals who have a sincere desire to make the world and education better for their students. In her words, "The foundation of collaboration, reflection, and social justice provide students with a safe community to grow personally and professionally." She reflects that she is most successful when she teaches students through the curriculum instead of teaching them curriculum. She provides few answers and asks more questions. Student evaluations rave about her positive attitude, flexibility, in-depth instruction, limitless support, enthusiasm, and genuine interest in all students. In the words of her students: "She inspires her students to be better people and teachers through art." "I am excited to try many of the ideas from Ann's class in my classroom." "Ann cultivates a great community." Truly, there are far too many superlatives to include in this article. You will have to sign up for one of her classes and find out for yourself!
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|  Bronwyn Low
5th Grade Teacher at Integrated Arts Academy (IAA), Burlington, VT |
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Student Spotlight
What's a concept you learned at SMC that you find most helpful in your work?
“In my SMC curriculum class we discussed designing units backwards - starting with essential questions and desired results. I use this technique, in particular developing essential questions, all of the time. It helps me focus on the big ideas of a unit and what I want students to learn. From that point on, other decisions, like the scope and sequence of lessons, or which particular activities to use, or what to asses, fall into place. I use this in teaching our day to day units, as well as the frequent integrated arts units we develop with our arts specialists at the IAA. Having essential questions to guide our decision-making really helps. I also share the questions with my students, so they know what we’ll be focusing on, and we use the questions to guide our conversations throughout the unit." What's the most significant challenge you find in education today?
"I would say one of the primary challenges is the achievement gap (or more accurately, achievement gaps). The fact that there is still a discrepancy between how groups of students perform on various assessments based on attributes such as socioeconomic status, race, or gender, is a huge hurdle for our American education system. Of course, this is directly related to larger social issues, like poverty and racism that schools cannot address in a vacuum." How are you addressing that challenge?
"This is the type of challenge that obviously cannot be fixed with one unit, one year, or potentially even one lifetime of teaching. It often feels too big to even think about. But there are steps that we can take. For example, my school focuses on learning and showing understanding through the arts. The arts are a rich vehicle for all types of learners. Learning through the arts helps those with challenges in literacy or mathematics access content in a deep way. It also helps those who already have a strong understanding of concepts think about things in a different way. Not to mention it builds strong community and social skills. Learning through the arts helps us keep our expectations for understanding high, while allowing all students to access the big ideas. We have also looked at achievement data within our classes at staff meetings, observing how it impacts particular students, and using that information to think about things on the micro level (how I can help this one student get to a higher reading level) and on the macro level (how can we better provide services at school so that students receive the support they need, whether academic, social, or emotional, to do their best learning). This work requires collaboration within our school communities, patience, an understanding of each student’s needs, and ultimately collaboration on a community-wide and nation-wide level. But I have found that learning through art and regularly looking at data are two ways to continue moving down the road." What is one rewarding experience in your job that you've had over the past year?
"There are so many! A recent one involves observing my students on the final day of a unit integrating dance and science. In the unit, we had learned about Newton’s laws of motion, built and launched rockets with the Starbase program, and created dances to show our understanding of each of the laws of motion. On the final day, the room was filled with 5th graders working cohesively in small groups to choreograph dances that showed their rockets' movement and how each of the laws of motion impacted their rockets. Students were sharing ideas, showing their understanding of physics through dance, showing their understanding of how dance can communicate ideas, observing and complimenting each other, and simply buzzing with learning and fun. It was a great hour, filled with all sorts of learning and connections."
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|  | Sharon Alessi
5th-8th Grade Special Educator at Saint Albans Town Educational Center (SATEC) |
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Student Spotlight
What's a concept you learned at SMC that you find most helpful in your work?
"During my studies at SMC, I learned countless skills and concepts that have been helpful to my work. One concept that stands out is the emphasis SMC put on teaching the whole child using multi-sensory approaches. SMC taught me how to build learning environments that engage students by blending student interest, student ability, and rigorous content." What's the most significant challenge you find in education today?
"One of the most significant challenges I find in education today is finding fresh ways to keep families involved as students get older, given peoples’ busy lives. We know that family involvement is critical for student success and teachers have to be dedicated to find creative and efficient ways to keep lines of communication open and build rapport." How are you addressing that challenge?
"For the past two years, I've attended professional workshops that have helped me develop visual packets to use during meetings to communicate components of the special education evaluation process to families and school staff. Both families and school staff have given me feedback that they appreciate having information presented in different formats and that the visual packets make the special education evaluation process and results more clear." What is one rewarding experience in your job that you've had over the past year?
"I have been fortunate to have access to many technological resources in my school and have been focusing on incorporating technology into my curriculum during the past year using tools such as interactive whiteboards, I-Pads, Chromebooks, and assistive technology. Learning how to use technology in the classroom has helped me better differentiate instruction, use relevant materials, and keep track of student progress."
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Mindfulness Education at Saint Michael's College
Many educators are becoming interested in mindfulness education and varied forms of it are being adopted in schools throughout the state, country, and world. Mindfulness helps both teachers and students calm themselves, focus their attention, understand and regulate their emotions, and develop compassion and kindness towards themselves and others. This semester, the SMC Education Department is offering a graduate course: GED 544: Mindfulness Education, taught by Dr. Aostre Johnson, and the course is scheduled again for the spring of 2016. This summer Dr. Sam Crowell from California State University will offer a course: GED 526 A: Neuroscience, Mindfulness, and Sustainability: Implications for the K-12 Classroom from July 27 through August 7. A series of talks were also held at the college this semester: Mindfulness Education for Middle School and High School Students by Edith Ainsley and Marilyn Neagley, Mindfulness Education for Elementary School Students by Jody Smith and Marilyn Neagley and Modern Mindfulness: Teaching Mindfulness to Young People Using Technology by Soryu Forall and The Science of Mindfulness by Shinzen Young.
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| Did you know that there are Benefits for Graduate Students?
SMC graduate students have several benefits on and off campus: • Free black and white copies anywhere on campus
• Use of the library and access to library database (on and off campus)
• Use of the Sports Center facilities (If your Knight Card does not work at the Ross Sports Center door, you can contact Security to have it updated)
• Parking is free
• Discounts at Smuggler’s Notch through SMC Wilderness Program for 2015-2016
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Graduate Education Updates
Summer Course Registration – Registration opened for all Monday, March 2nd. Fall Course Registration – Registration for matriculated students opens June 1st. For all other students, registration opens on June 29th. Cohort Model for Capstone – Starting in the Summer Semester of 2014, a new cohort model was created to support our students in GED 558: Educator as Researcher and GED 699: Capstone. Students will complete a literature review and research proposal in GED 558 in the summer or fall, take a semester between to collect and record data, and then take GED 699 in the spring or summer to analyze their data and complete their Capstone project. James Nagle and Claudine Bedell will be teaching these two courses and will support their students through the process. Canvas – Please consult the Canvas site for all of your course needs. Book lists will be posted early, so please view as soon as possible after registration.
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