Professional Development Projects
These options are available to our James Scholars who are student teaching. Scholars will be asked to select an option they'd like to complete in December before their student teaching experience begins. Seniors must still complete an eHCLA for their student teaching semester, even if they're approved for a professional development opportunity.
Create a Student Teaching "Toolkit"
This compilation of practical resources should be developed over the course of your student teaching semester to reflect timely advise that will be shared with future pre-student teachers. Your Toolkit must be a minimum of 10 pages and include the following five sections:
- Prologue (First 3 weeks of placement)
- Including the setting (grade level) and characters (student demographics) without using names
- Act 1 (Pre -Spring Break)
- Intermission (Spring Break)
- Act 2 II (Post-Spring Break)
- Finale – (Last 2 weeks of placement)
The above sections should include ideas/tips/resources/reflections including but not limited to the following:
Activities (Ice-Breakers & games), Academic Supports, Self-Care, Connecting to Parents, Building Relationships with Students, Maintaining Open Lines of Communication with Cooperating Teacher, Age Appropriate Books on Diversity and Inclusion, Instructional Resources, Classroom Management Resources, etc…
Attend an Ongoing School District Professional Development Event
Work with your school to identify, select and participate in a sustained/extended district-wide professional development opportunity and write a paper, create a poster presentation, brochure or technology-supported resource guide with thoughtful reflection and assessment of the program. (Example: Book Clubs, Curriculum Committees, Program Implementation/Review, Response to Intervention Team (RTI), Data Teams, etc.)
Create a Clinical Experiences Interactive Blog
While student teaching, scholars create, maintain and post a blog to be used interactively with College of Education students. The blog should contain vignettes, weekly “diary-like” entries, and/or an account of specific classroom activities and teaching techniques, followed by thoughtful reflection, assessment, and suggestions for growth and improvement when applicable. This blog is intended to support the development of teacher candidates in early stages of the professional course sequence and to highlight successful practical applications of knowledge, skills, and dispositions developed through University coursework.
