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|  | SAINT MICHAEL'S COLLEGE GRADUATE EDUCATION NEWSLETTER | |
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| VOLUME 18, ISSUE 2 | FALL 2015
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| Jacqueline Woodson's Novel Brown Girl Dreaming
The Education Department Common Read Committee members Valerie Bang-Jensen, Karen Donovan, Kristen Hindes, James Nagle and Jonathan Silverman are very excited to have chosen Jacqueline Woodson's novel Brown Girl Dreaming as this year’s Common Read. Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of Jacqueline’s childhood in verse, from her time growing up in South Carolina with her grandparents to her move to Brooklyn with her mother. She discusses the origins of her identity as a writer, the changing culture of the Jim Crow south during the Civil Rights Movement, and the joy she found growing up in a stereotypically "underserved" neighborhood in New York City.
Jacqueline joined Saint Michael’s College in early October to give two talks about Brown Girl Dreaming and her writing process. In her afternoon talk she described writing as a muscle, which must be worked out every day in order to make it stronger. Her evening talk focused around issues of social justice.
In her introduction of Jacqueline, Valerie Bang-Jensen said, "Her books share singular stories about memorable characters tackling universally challenging issues, whether they are about growing up, school friendships, poverty, or racism. They all speak to social justice. Teachers and readers reach for her books because she so carefully crafts lives that ring true, invite us to connect, and pose unsettling questions for us all to think about. When we close the covers of her books, we feel the satisfaction a well told story offers, but also galvanized to make a difference, and optimistic that we can."
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|  Jennifer Morgan
Special Educator at
Monkton Central School. |
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Student Spotlight
What is a concept you learned at SMC that you find most helpful in your work?
"Saint Mike’s taught me how to be a mindful and reflective educator. From the very early days of The Decision to Teach to the final days of the Capstone Seminar, I learned how to reflect on my own practice as a student and a teacher. Reflection has become engrained in my practice and I find myself doing it with automaticity. Being mindful and reflective compels us to be accountable and responsible for the decisions and actions we engage in as educators. It is a skill that I will take with me through my whole life and career."
What is the most significant challenge you find in education today?
"When I think of all that we, as educators, are being asked to do I think of the Cirque du Soleil acrobats who all band together holding hands, legs, arms, shoulders, and feet to form a human pyramid. Then, once everyone is miraculously connected in a fragile web of interdependency, we need to jump rope. Teaching is an art, one that is built on interdependency and connections, much like the multi-tiered system of support model (MTSS). It can be very messy at times, but the hardest part can be staying connected, collaborative, and accountable to one another to meet the needs of all of our learners." How are you addressing that challenge?
"As a Special Educator, I believe that collaboration and inclusion are the pathways to ensure the success of all learners. Currently, at Monkton we are in the first year of implementing school wide intervention blocks to provide students with a range of instructional opportunities four days a week. We use student assessment data to identify areas of need and develop groups and implement programming to meet those needs. During this time students may engage in enrichment, specialized instruction, or skill building in academic or social emotional areas. I have also spent the past few years pursuing professional development opportunities in the area of co-teaching. This is my third year co-teaching math and my first year co-teaching in two classrooms, at both the second and third grade levels. Co-teaching is a very collaborative and rich experience for everyone involved. It allows both teachers and students to engage in a dynamic, supportive, and high-quality learning environment."
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Director of Curriculum Endorsement
Saint Michael’s College is the first and only AOE approved program in the state for the additional endorsement as Director of Curriculum. The intent of this endorsement is to promote and support curriculum coordination at the district and/or supervisory union level. Educators possessing this endorsement are authorized by the AOE to coordinate the curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning activities of a school district or supervisory union. If you are thinking about the endorsement or are anywhere in the process, we can help you out! Contact Val Gardner at vgardner@smcvt.edu.
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| Student Teaching Incentives
To support you on your journey toward teaching, the Saint Michael's College Graduate Education Program is offering an exciting incentive.
Beginning in the Fall of 2015, Graduate Education students will earn a 50% Tuition Scholarship for their student teaching requirement.
Now is the time to take the leap and follow your dreams!
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|  Marc Gagne
Social Studies Teacher at
Colchester Middle School. Coaches middle school soccer and basketball, and high school track and field. |
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Student Spotlight
What is a concept you learned at SMC that you find most helpful in your work?
"A skill or concept that I learned at SMC that I find helpful in my work is actually more of a way of thinking. SMC instilled in me, from day one, the belief that all students can learn. I have found that teachers are creative forces, finding different ways to make learning accessible for all types of learners. By instilling this idea from the onset of our training, Saint Mike’s prepared me for the realities of my own diverse classroom and gave me a head start in coming up with creative and authentic ways to present accessible content for all learners."
What is the most significant challenge you find in education today?
"There are many challenges in education, which is what makes teaching fun! The most challenging thing in my small slice of education-world would have to be the many changes coming from powers beyond the district. Things like PLPs, proficiency-based assessment, balancing the Common Core State Standards and literacy-focused skills with Vermont guidelines, and digesting all of these changes in terms of what is best for kids is a daunting challenge. Like I said, however, this is what makes teaching fun. Our goal is to improve student learning for all learners. If everyone was the same and nothing ever changed for the better, teaching and learning would become stale. These changes are challenging but they are also exciting." How are you addressing that challenge?
"Luckily, I don't have to address these challenges alone. I work with a great curriculum team and with some really wonderful leaders that help to digest the upcoming changes, putting them into friendly language that is easy for us to work into our curriculum. My team is awesome and extremely supportive. Saint Mike’s has sent me some superb student teachers over the last few years, all of them eager to learn and willing to jump right in and collaborate. Colchester really is a community, and SMC is a part of that, and it helps to feel supported from all sides."
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Spring Course Highlights
GED 529: Personalized Learning (3 cr.)
GED 544: Mindfulness Education: Cultivating Caring, Attention, Awareness and Self-Regulation (3 cr.)
GED 596 Digital Media: Imagine the Possibilities (3 cr.)
GED 644 Approaches to Teaching Students with Special Needs (2 cr.)
GED 645 Assistive Technology: Creating Access (1 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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|  | Khalid Karyab
Graduate student and Fulbright Scholar pursuing a Master's Degree with a Concentration in Curriculum. |
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Student Spotlight
Khalid is from Afghanistan and is planning to return to work with his country's teachers.
What's a concept you learned at SMC that you find most helpful in your work?
"In addition to discovering what it takes for a teacher to make a classroom more engaging and fun, Saint Michael's College taught me about personalized learning. I believe introducing the concept of personalized learning in Afghanistan will certainly reinforce the idea of student centered learning which is apparently lacking within our education system." What's the most significant challenge you find in education today?
"The most prevalent challenge facing our education system today is a lack of trained teachers, which contributes to the expansion of traditional teaching in Afghanistan." How are you addressing that challenge?
"My way of addressing the challenge is pretty simple, which is raising teachers’ awareness about the advantages of student centered learning by conducting a number of workshops that discuss the issue of teacher centered learning in detail and recommending rational and applicable solutions in terms of replacing traditional methods of teaching with modern ones."
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| New Graduate Assistant: Caitlin Kurnit
Caitlin Kurnit is the new graduate assistant for the Education Department. Caitlin is pursuing her Master's Degree with a Concentration in Curriculum. Her primary interest is in connecting Common Core literacy standards with science content and making it easier for teachers, particularly in urban charter schools, to bring reading into their content courses. Prior to being the graduate assistant, she taught middle school science for three years in a charter school in Harlem, NYC, and before that for three years in Englewood, Chicago. Caitlin is originally from NH and did her undergraduate work at Boston University. She notes, "I've got a great husband and dog at home, who are, respectively, an actor and a black lab mix."
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School Leadership Programs See Increases in Enrollment
The School Leadership Program has expanded both in the scope of the program and in the number of students entering the program. Last spring, the Vermont Agency of Education approved the program for a Director of Curriculum endorsement. We have had a number of educators looking into the program, and we anticipate they will apply to the program over the course of this fall and winter. Over the past three academic years, 35 individuals have been admitted into the School Leadership program. Currently, eighteen educators are seeking endorsements for Principal and four for Director of Special Education. While most individuals enter the program to earn a specific leadership endorsement, the program also allows educators to earn a Masters or Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies without earning an endorsement. One of the major changes in the program this year is the increase in expectations for individuals who are seeking leadership endorsements in all three programs. The Vermont Agency of Education has increased the practicum hours needed to 300 hours. To address this increase, GED 688 – Practicum has been lengthened to be a yearlong course. There are currently six individuals in the Practicum course – three for Principal and three for Director of Special Education. Along with the completion of the internship, students will be completing their portfolios. If you are interested in exploring your options for being a school leader or simply engaging in the study of school leaders, please feel free to contact Val Gardner ( vgardner@smcvt.edu) or Karen Abbott ( kabbott@smcvt.edu). We would love to talk with you about our program.
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New Instructor: Jessica Eaton
Jessica began her teaching career at a private school in downtown Philadelphia where she taught third and fourth grade. Ten years ago, she and her husband came to Vermont for a ski vacation. They immediately fell head over heels for the Green Mountain State. On a ride up the chairlift at Sugarbush, they decided that this was the place they wanted to call home. Upon moving to Vermont, Jessica began working at Allen Brook School in Williston while pursuing her Elementary Teaching License at St. Michael's College. After completing her licensure, she taught fourth grade at Bellows Free Academy in Fairfax before returning to Williston Central School where she has taught a first and second grade loop and currently teaches a third and fourth grade loop. She has recently completed her Master's Degree with a concentration in Literacy from St. Michael's College. Currently, she is working with much taller students as the adjunct instructor for GED 522: Literacy in the Elementary School. She lives in Richmond with her husband, son, daughter, dog, and cat. In her free time she loves to travel, ski, and listen to all types of music.
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New Instructor: Jay Nichols
Jay is the Superintendent of Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union serving the Vermont Town School Districts of Bakersfield, Berkshire, Enosburg, Montgomery, and Richford. He is also president of N.E.L.C (Nichols Education and Leadership Consulting). Jay is one of four officers for the Vermont Superintendents Association (Treasurer), is on the Executive Board of the Champlain Valley Educator Development Center, and is a Governor appointed member to the Vermont Educator's Licensing Hearing Panel. He has been a Principal or Superintendent in Vermont for the past two decades. He has four children and six grandchildren and lives in Berkshire, Vermont, with his wife Christine, daughter Kendal, and oldest grandson Konnor. Jay is teaching School Leadership this fall semester.
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New Instructor: Cathy Quinn
Cathy is a lifelong educator. She is currently teaching GED 641 Teaching in an Inclusive Classroom K-12. She was born and raised in Vermont. Her undergraduate and graduate degrees are from the University of Vermont. She is also a Graduate of Snelling School Leadership Project. Cathy has been a Special Educator K-12, Director of Special Education, Assistant Principal for Pre-K-5, and Professional Development Specialist for a large Virginia school district. Currently, Cathy is the Director of Student Support Services for Essex High School. She taught previously at St. Mike's for many years in Graduate Special Education. Cathy returned to Vermont in July, 2014. She is grateful to be close to family again and is looking forward to her son's wedding in July of 2016 and moving to her new home in South Burlington. Cathy comments, "If I'm not working, I'm probably in a yoga studio."
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Jenny Stearns is Now Full Time
We are thrilled to have Jenny Stearns join as a full-time Instructor. Jenny has been a member of the adjunct faculty at Saint Michael's for the past three years, teaching both undergraduate and graduate students in the Education Department. She is from Sheffield, England, where she taught early childhood education with both college and university students for over 20 years and was a Head of Department for seven years. In addition to her teaching experience, Jenny has also worked in child and family health and she is a qualified nurse, midwife and children's play therapist. She has Master's Degrees in both Education and Education Management and her main area of research has been in children's emotional literacy. Jenny lives in Colchester and enjoys all the wonderful outdoor opportunities that Vermont has to offer.
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Congratulations to the newly hired GED students!
Katie Seitz
Second/Third Grade Teacher, Sustainability Academy at H.O. Wheeler
Kris Perkins
Special Educator, Sheldon Elementary School Marcy Edelstein
Special Educator, Fairfax High School Patrick Willwerth
Special Educator, Mt. Abe High School Christopher Seanard
Middle School Math Teacher, Orchard Knob Middle School, Chattanooga, TN Richard (Mickey) Cruz
Special Educator, Milton Middle School Natasha Marvinney
Sixth Grade Math and Social Studies Teacher, Charlotte Central School Scott Brown
Special Educator, Milton Elementary School Ed Kruer
Special Educator, Colchester Middle School
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Graduate Education UpdatesSpring Course Registration – Registration is open for all. Read the new course descriptions online.
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Amy Saks Pavese Has Moved On
Amy joined the education faculty at Saint Michael's College in August of 2007. She taught Schools and Society for undergraduates and The Decision to Teach/Educational Foundations for graduate students as well as the Seminar for all student teachers. We call these the "bookend courses" and Amy has changed the courses to better meet the needs of our students. Amy was also instrumental in creating and developing the Inquiry Based Science Practicum course for our undergraduates in the elementary licensure program. She worked diligently to provide practical experiences on campus and in the public schools for these students in the area of science. Amy has also supervised a number of our student teachers in a variety of schools including Essex Elementary, Edmunds, Integrated Arts and Sustainability Academies, Marcotte and Union Memorial. Amy's positive spirit and contributions to our department have been endless. Before joining the Saint Michael's faculty, Amy taught social foundations of education and supervised many student teachers at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She moved to Vermont with her husband Jeff in 2007 and they now have two beautiful children. Amelia is 5 years old and Thomas is 2 years old. Amy completed her school leadership program at SMC this past May and accepted a job at Drew University in her home state of New Jersey where she will continue her work positively influencing future educators. We wish Amy the very best. She will be missed dearly by the Education Department faculty, staff and students.
As a student who has been anxious about keeping up with the requirements and workload for student teaching, it has been a blessing and joy to have Professor Saks-Pavese as my fearless leader and navigator through the entire portfolio process. Her positive, goofy attitude and energy every Tuesday afternoon keeps my spirits up and anxiety low. I walk out of class believing in myself and confident that it will all get done. Thank you so much, Professor, for everything you have done. You prepare us so well. I know that whichever school you end up at, your radiant, glowing personality will light up the hallways and your future students. - From Undergraduate Student Katie St. Raymond
"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." - Louisa May Alcott. Thank you Amy, for helping countless students navigate the wide open ocean of teaching. Your joy and patience when providing guidance to your students, both young and old, is an inspiration. - From Graduate Student Natasha Marvinney
Amy, your authentically creative exuberance for teaching and learning has buoyed me through my brief time here at Saint Mike's. I am glad to have had the opportunity to be your student. Thank you for affirming my educational perspectives and encouraging us all to pursue our vision and philosophy. Good luck pursuing yours! - From Graduate Student Josh Neilson
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Wishing Beth Peterson All the BestThe Education Department bids farewell to our colleague, Elizabeth (Beth) Peterson this fall. Beth has taken on a new position as Principal of The Warren School in Warren, Vermont. Beth joined the faculty of Saint Michael's College in 2005 as a visiting instructor and later became a full-time instructor teaching courses such as The Inclusive Classroom, Language and Learning, Legal Issues in Special Education, and Differentiated Instruction. Over the course of her career, Beth has always remained focused on one primary goal: enhancing the experiences of students with and without disabilities. She brought a wealth of knowledge, skills and experiences to the undergraduate and graduate education programs at St. Michael's; whether she was teaching Legal Issues in the graduate program, specialized instructional approaches at the undergraduate level, or providing direct supports to a child or family, Beth was a go-to-person in the department and she will be missed dearly. We wish her well in her new school and are certain that she will continue to provide leadership and vision in the field of education, always working to enhance the lives of people with disabilities.
Beth Peterson is one of the most influential professors I've ever had. Starting graduate school I was worried about juggling the course load with, well, life, and while Beth's courses were hard to say the least, I took away more useful knowledge from them than any course I've ever taken. She doesn't just deliver information but rather helps her students to feel confident and ready to take on the world. Outside of class she was always available to help with this goal and her commitment to her students was always apparent. I'll forever be grateful for her helping me settle into my graduate studies at Saint Michael's and I know I speak for everyone when I say that she will be dearly missed as she embarks on her new path. - Amy McGraw
Beth's stories about teaching are captivating, inspiring, and hilarious. Thanks for treating your education students like colleagues and thanks for holding us to high standards. Most importantly, thank you for sharing so many of your amazing experiences with us honestly and openly so that we can become better educators ourselves. I hope our paths cross again soon in the world of education! - Annie Miller
Beth was the teacher who inspired me to pursue special education! After taking her class she told me I would be a good special educator and now I'm almost halfway through my practicum. She's an amazing educator and I know she'll make Warren School the best it could be. - Rob Janelli
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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 databases (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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