Thank you for the opportunity to review the faculty and student input submitted as part of my review for retention. I have reviewed the input and respectfully submit my response to this feedback, which I hope is considered before a decision about my retention is made by Department RPT committee.
I have reviewed the Faculty Handbook. Appendix C outlines the Principles, Criteria and Procedures for Retention, Promotion, and Tenure review. On page 4 of this document, it states that “the departmental committee shall attempt to consult with all full-time members of the department” as part of the evaluation process. Although this is the university’s policy, previous departmental practice for input regarding the RPT process during the 2016-17 academic
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Paul Sivak (email sent by Lucy Louis on behalf of the RPT faculty Review Committee on March 9, 2017) did not include a formal request for faculty input rather only solicited input from students. This year’s process is different from last year’s process.
As you know, my transition as a new faculty member in the Master of Social Work program at CSU Stanislaus has been tougher than expected and adjusting to the culture of the institution has been challenging. From my vantage point, it started with my first day of class when I outlined expectations of excellence to students in the SW 5002 course. The response from students included that I was “authoritative” and employing “oppressive teaching methods from the fancy institutions you were previously” that do not align with the CSU Stanislaus MSW program. Some students felt affronted by my response to a question about how I prefer to be addressed (I
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John Garcia) or “no change in the classroom behavior happened” (Mr. Paul Sivak) is simply inaccurate. First, none of the six faculty members who have provided feedback have observed my instruction. Second, their letters/input omits the perspective, which they received, on the dynamics occurring in my classroom provided by 11 students in a collective letter disseminated to all faculty on December 14, 2016, which yields a different perspective (see attachment). Third, the perspective of faculty is completely one-sided and supports my feeling that faculty members who never observed my classrooms have adopted student concerns, which in-turn has shaped their bias, interpersonal interactions, and views of me. Said differently, the letters of input for my evaluation by faculty members are examples of searching for, interpreting, favoring and recalling information in ways that confirm the preexisting beliefs or hypotheses based on student complaints. Finally, the letters of input do not incorporate the perspective of students who have expressed positive learning experiences, the lengths I have gone to support their learning, and only privileges student detractors’ perspectives. For students who have expressed that their experiences with me, in and outside of the classroom, did not reflect what the student detractors have
Last week at practicum was a time of renewed energy. Megan and I had a meeting with one of our supervisors and we discussed our experiences, thoughts, and concerns regarding the placement thus far. Additionally, our other supervisor completed his IPT comments, leading us to have a productive conversation about how our goals are being met and what needs to happen during term two to ensure that we achieve the remainder of our goals. Having this conversation before our mid-term evaluation was very meaningful, and at this point, I think that my practicum placement is as good as it could be. Moreover, I feel very validated by the level of support I have received from my supervisors and how they have taken our feedback of the agency seriously. Seeing my suggestions be authenticated and incorporated into the volunteer orientation makes me realize that my contributions will have a lasting impact on the community. The primary changes that I want to see are workers approaching clients from a strengths perspective instead of from a deficit one, and more mental health training for volunteers. After learning about reframing the way people think about issues during the cognitive behavioural therapy lecture in SOWK 310, I feel more prepared to give concrete strategies and examples of how workers at the agency can empower clients by using a strengths approach. In this context, reframing will aid the agency in seeing problems as opportunities
Hill, John. "The Weakening Of Tenure And Post- Tenure Review: An Issue Analysis." Journal Of The Utah Academy Of Sciences, Arts & Letters 87.(2010): 111-120. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
When I walked into the school, I was greeted by the receptionist who kindly showed me where to sign in and then directed me to the teacher I would be observing for the day. The staff was dressed very appropriate for the day and on Friday they were able to wear pink because it was October. Although I did not see much interaction with factuality with each other, I was able to witness when the teachers of a certain grade would come to pick up their students. I saw how the teachers interacted with Mrs. Lee and they were very respectful. The student’s behavior varied from class to class. Most of the classes were well behaved with only a few students causing disruption. Mrs. Lee had warned me that the kindergarten class is normally noisier than other classes, but to her surprise the students were very quiet and did their work independently with no interruptions. Mrs. Lee did a wonderful job at keeping the students disciplined within the classroom. She would give positive re-enforcement and correct students when they would do something incorrectly. She worked really well with the students and they students responded in a respectful manner to Mrs.
Student teaching has taught me to appreciate the wisdom of mentors and experienced teachers. There were several times when my field based supervisors pointed my in the right direction when faced with challenges. I recall a student that I suspected to have copied his homework from other students. I stressed that we figure out how he did it but I could not some up with any definite facts to prove he had did so. Ms. Darling insisted that I not worry about it and if he did cheat then it would be revealed on his exam. Surely enough, the student failed his exam miserably. During a teacher/parent conference, I asked him how he managed to receive an A on all of his homework and fail his exam so poorly. To my astonishment the student confessed to having copied his homework from other students. His mother immediately addressed both issues with her child and needless to say I did not have the problems form the student anymore. During my computer Information technology Course, discipline problems plagued me during the first two weeks of student teaching. Mr. Washington, another field based supervisor told me to began calling parents immediately after class. He told me to call everyday if I had to. Surely after a few phone calls to parents, behaviors adjusted quickly. By the end of my student teaching time period, in my opinion I had a model classroom as far as classroom behavior goes.
“If you would just get up and teach them instead of handing them a packet. There’s kids in here that don’t learn like that. They need to learn face to face. I’m telling you what you need to do. You can’t expect a kid to change if all you do is just tell ‘em.” Texas student, Jeff Bliss, decided to take a stand against the lack of teaching going on in his class (Broderick).
Since the early 70s theorists have pondered the causes of college dropout. Generally referred to as “student attrition,” this problem has spurred numerous causal theories and theoretical models. Vincent Tinto led the research with his revolutionary 1973 study, which he later revised (1987) amid criticism from other luminaries in the field, most notably Bean, Astin, Terenzini, and Pascarella. It is on the work of these scholars (including also Tinto) that all modern research in the student attrition field is based. I found and will review in brief some of the extensive research from Tinto to the present, including the basic criticisms therein. I will further explain the steps some colleges are currently taking to counteract this increasingly important issue.
Lastly, as a student myself most of Ellen Glanz’s points in “What’s Wrong with Schools?” are accurate. Classroom teaching methods need to be changed. Students shouldn 't be "doing as little as necessary to pass tests, using tricks to avoid assignments or manipulating teachers to do the work for them." Although teachers should demand more of their students it is essential for both the educator and his/her students to be on the same page. Through Ellen Glanz 's experience, she was able to point out the flaws in classroom settings and become a better teacher than she was before as
A teacher’s effect on students is significant because teachers have greater influence on student achievement than a school. Robert Marzano’s study separating a school’s effect on student achievement from a teacher’s effect on student achievement supports this notion. Marzano found that an ineffective teacher in an effective school environment has little to no effect on student achievement. To the contrary, an effective teacher in an ineffective school environment was found to have a ...
However, there is only one downfall to this class. When presenting videos, as a class, we are to give written and verbal feedback to students. I feel that in some cases other classmates did not take feedback respectively. I feel like it was disrespectful. Despite my help, I felt like the classmate was trying to prove a point at the learner’s expense. I understand it is hard to take constructive criticism. However, we only learn from feedback. I felt like this behavior inhibited our classroom’s learning environment. Our professor, Many, did a great job trying to deflect the situation. Mandy tried to effectively defuse the situation when
Grade retention seems like a reasonable solution to a serious problem. A child is significantly behind their peers, maybe they are emotionally immature, or they cannot quite grasp what is being taught to them. The first thing to do is make sure the child does not have a learning disability, after that, it is determined that since this child is falling so far behind there is no other option than to hold them back a grade. This will ensure that they have time to catch up with their classmates and move on to have a successful school career. Schools implement this every year, despite the research proving how unsuccessful grade retention is. There is no clear cut way to help a struggling child. Children learn in such diverse ways. It is a challenge to help someone falling behind, it takes time, effort and research to realize what is going to be effective for a struggling student. Grade retention is harmful to the student, it negatively impacts the child’s academics, it leads to early dropout, their self-esteem suffers, and it is not a cost effective way to help a child succeed.
Every 26 seconds one of our kids drops out of high school, that's 1.3 million students each year. The main reason for dropping out, the failure to succeed. Society puts an insurmountable amount of pressure on these kids to succeed, however this can actually be extremely detrimental to the students and children.
As per preliminary analyses conducted with job satisfaction and anticipated job retention—it was concluded that the two were not correlated. (Cohen & Cohen, 1983). As per the results of this analysis, the prominent job satisfaction factors were:
The importance of constructive feedback allows for many positive opportunities. One important element is that feedback provides a foundation for positive student and teacher relationships. By providing appropriate feedback, the students understand the teacher is genuinely concerned about them and their education. This component also enhances a student’s self-efficacy and provides an avenue for motivation.
As I reflect on my experiences observing in three different classrooms over the last three months, I cannot express how much I have learned by being in the classroom. I began the Master of Science in Education last fall and previous to the practicum experience I had taken 8 classes. I read books, listened to the experiences of my classmates and instructors, reflected on my own education, and tried to imagine how this information was going to prepare me to face a classroom of elementary school students. While I learned theories and skills that should be known by any educator, these classes could not teach me what I most desired to know: what tangible steps could I take to correctly implement all of the correct ways of teaching.
The one belief I had about teaching that has changed since I began this unit, is that all teachers, more or less, taught in the same way. Perhaps this is a belief that I had formed from my own time at school, where all my teachers taught in the same way; some were more or less effective, but I wasn’t aware of them using theories or methods as such, more that they were or weren’t kind people. This belief has changed and it has really opened my ideas to the many creative models, and instructional methods a teacher can use.