Teacher Education

Matthew Lynch published in Teacher Certification, Teacher Education

What is Teacher Certification or Teacher Licensure?

This is a document that teachers are required to have in order to practice. They can get it to teach within a specific area after completing required degrees, coursework, tests, and other particular criteria. Teachers can become certified by the state in which they plan to teach and then earn national certification recognized in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. Each state has their own curriculum and policies. For instance, some embrace critical race theory and some do not. When I was a teacher, we were told that we teach the math strategy of PEMDAS and choose debate topics differently than other southern states. Some observe all winter holidays and some do not.

Individuals who already know they would like to teach in a specific state and have committed to earning their degree and taking the traditional route to the classroom can follow these fundamental steps to reach their goal:

1.         Get a 4-year bachelor’s degree, followed by the completion of a teacher’s preparation program to ensure their readiness for their first day in the classroom. In college most teacher education programs, you will learn how to write an argumentative essay.

2.         Fulfill the student teaching requirement while remembering that every state has diverse requirements. You will need to use your grade calculator or high school GPA calculator to determine if you meet the minimum GPA requirement. You may even need a college gpa calculator.

3.         Earn a master’s degree if their educational administration paths and specialized teaching areas need one.

4.         Get ready to pass the Praxis, which is a standardized examination for people who plan to become teachers.

5.         Know about the different types of teacher certifications in their state and apply for the suitable one.

It’s important to note that every state establishes its own criteria for teacher certification, and there’s no guarantee that a particular state’s certification will be accepted in another state. For instance, a teacher holding a Texas teacher certification won’t essentially be qualified to teach in Georgia.

Today, all states need certified teachers to hold a bachelor’s degree. A growing number of states now also require candidates to have a master’s degree or get one within the first 5 years of teaching.

Teachers may get a credential that lets them teach either a specific grade level or a particular subject matter. The type of teaching credential they pursue will be based on their interests and the choices and requirements put in place by their state Department of Education.

Teachers moving to another state can benefit from the reciprocity agreements that make it simpler for teachers licensed in a certain state to become certified in another. At present, over 40 states have reciprocity agreements with one other state, at the least. However, most states don’t accept teacher licensing from foreign countries. Yet, some individuals may qualify for a provisional teaching certificate that allows them to teach while completing the education courses and examinations they lack. Once they complete all regular teacher certification requirements, they’ll become fully licensed. If a full-time study mode is chosen, this could take just one or two semesters.

Conclusion

If you want to become a teacher, how do you fulfill your dream? It’s not like you can walk into a school tomorrow with your resume in hand and announce that you would like to teach. That would be crazy. Like all other professions, teaching requires a college degree and what we call certification. As the name implies, the certification certifies that you have met all of the training and skill requirements to be a teacher. That way, principals and parents know that they can trust you with the nation’s most precious resource, its kids.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teacher Education, Teachers

Getting Ready for the Age of Experiential Education

As education continues to evolve, experiential education has been on the rise across K-12 schools and higher education. According to the Association for Experiential Education, this type of education is defined as “a teaching philosophy” that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people’s capacity to contribute to their communities.” In other words, experiential education can be thought of as learning by doing, or incorporating more hands-on work and concrete experiences into the curriculum.

Study Abroad

One of the most well-known and best examples of experiential education is global education, or studying abroad. Though studying abroad was not extremely common in the United States a mere fifty years ago, the amount of students who are choosing to incorporate an international experience into their education is increasing. In addition, study abroad offices, departments, and provider companies have been steadily increasing over time as well, in order to accommodate for the demand of this educational experience.

Even though students from different walks of life will experience their time abroad differently than one another, studying abroad still accomplishes the goals of experiential learning, as defined by the Association of Experiential Education. Those who go abroad have valuable opportunities to develop intercultural skills more deeply than their counterparts who do not study abroad, hone language skills, build a sense of contributing back to communities, and learn about different values around the world. These skills are extremely valuable since companies and recruiters are now looking for intercultural skill sets in their candidates. As we move towards the age of experiential education, students should begin to plan ahead on how they can incorporate a study abroad into their educational plans.

Student-Centered Learning

Another excellent example of experiential education is the move towards student-centered learning. Many of us know the traditional methods of teaching: students are lined up, alert and ready to follow a teacher-centered lecture or lesson. Students are expected to take notes, ask questions, and listen. But the issue with this method of traditional teaching means we assume all students are coming into the lesson with the same level of learning – it does not address the varying levels of education that these students come in with.

There are many ways to accommodate for student-centered learning, but one way is to differentiate instruction. Moving towards experiential education could mean more professional development for our educators to learn how to accommodate for the diverse learners in the classroom. It would require teachers to assess students before, during, and after the lesson to make sure they are differentiating the learning goals for each student. By focusing on the student, we are creating a student-centered learning environment where their needs are met.

Overall, the shift towards experiential education is a positive change that has excellent potential to really improve and enhance our traditional educational system. There are many more ways to incorporate experiential education practices within the classroom in both K-12 and higher education, and the first step is to shift our mindset to this non-traditional way of learning and support both our educators and students. Making their success a priority in this ever-changing world – where success looks different for every generation – will help us continue to evolve with the new ideas of experiential education.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assistive Technology, Career Readiness, Child Development Tech, Classroom Management,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 7: How Digital Age Teachers Can Win Over Parents

Education is a collaborative process, as it takes many stakeholders working in unison to help students succeed academically. One of the most integral parts of this collaborative team is parents, as teachers know all so well. So, if you are a teacher struggling to increase parental engagement, how do you fix this issue? In this episode, we will discuss 7 ways that digital age teachers win over parents.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assessment, Assistive Technology, Black Boys in Crisis, Child Development Tech,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 6: 8 Ways That Digital Age Teachers Avoid Burning Out

Being a teacher is a tough job. So much so, many new teachers end up leaving the field within their first three years. To ensure that the next generation of students have qualified teachers, we must nip this phenomenon in the bud. In this episode, we will discuss 8 ways that digital age teachers avoid burning out.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assistive Technology, Black Boys in Crisis, Bullying, Child Development,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 4: How to Create a Culturally Responsive Classroom

Building a culturally responsive classroom is hard. To help you along your journey, here is your guide to exploring and respecting the cultural backgrounds of your students while also using diversity as an asset. If you you listen to this episode of the podcast, and take my advice, you will have a culturally responsive classroom in no time.

References

Culturally responsive teaching is a theory of instruction that was developed by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings and has been written about by many other scholars since then. To read more of her work on culturally responsive teaching and other topics, click here to visit her Amazon.com page.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assessment, Assistive Technology, Black Boys in Crisis, Bullying,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 2: How Edtech Companies Should Start the New School Year

As summer reaches its peak, and fall gears up to make its arrival, students, parents, teachers, and administrators are all preparing for the beginning of a new academic year. So many gains were made last year, and they are eager to build upon that success. When we talk about education stakeholders who are concerned with starting the school year off right, we rarely, if ever, talk about edtech companies. They too are an integral part of the school community, as they provide a valuable service.

So how do edtech companies stay on their “A” games to begin the new school year? Not to worry, we have you covered.

Hello, my name is Dr. Matthew Lynch and welcome to the second episode of The Edvocate Podcast. Today, we will discuss back to school tips that will help your edtech company get off to a running start and sustain that momentum until summer break comes around again.

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, Teacher Education

How to Write a Research Proposal

As a professor of education, one of my favorite courses to teach was “Introduction to Education Research.” The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to the concepts and methods of education research. The emphasis is placed on methods most frequently encountered in social science research, especially in the field of education. Students are expected complete a research proposal during this course, and in the follow-up course, “Applications of Education Research,” they use this proposal to conduct a research study.

Why did I love teaching this course? Because education research is not an easy skill to develop, but with hard work and dedication it can be mastered. When I was able to help someone who hated statistics learn to love statistics, it gave me a sense of accomplishment. In this piece, I plan to take you through the process of developing an education research proposal that you can be proud of.

Let’s start off by discussing research problems and questions and then moving on to the four main parts of a research proposal.

Research Problem and Question(s)

A research question is the core of a research project, study, or review of the literature. It centers the study, sets the methodology, and guides all stages of inquiry, analysis, and reporting.

A research question starts with a research problem, an issue that you would like to know more about or change. Research problems can be:

  • Areas of concern
  • Conditions that need to be changed
  • Difficulties that should be erased
  • Questions that need to be answered

A research problem leads to a research question that:

  • Is worth investigating
  • Contributes knowledge & value to the field
  • Improves educational practice
  • Improves humanity

The key features of a good research question:

  • The question is viable.
  • The question has clarity.
  • The question has gravitas.
  • The question is moral.

How to Get From Research Problem to Research Questions and Purpose

The following section was originally published on a site entitled Research Rundowns:

Step 1. Draft a research question/hypothesis.

Example: What effects did 9/11/01 have on the future plans of students who were high school seniors at the time of the terrorist attacks?

Example (measurable) Questions: Did seniors consider enlisting in the military as a result of the attacks? Did seniors consider colleges closer to home as a result?

Step 2. Draft a purpose statement.

Example: The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of the 9/11/01 tragedy on the future plans of high school seniors.

Step 3. Revise and rewrite the research question/hypothesis.

Example: What is the association between 9/11/01 and future plans of high school seniors?

Step 4. Revise and rewrite the research question/hypothesis.

Example: Purpose Statement (Declarative): The purpose of this study is to explore the association between 9/11/01 and future plans of high school seniors.

Note: Both are neutral; they do not presume an association, either negative or positive.

Parts of a Research Proposal

A research proposal includes four sections, and they are as follows:

Section One: Introduction

Section Two: Review of the Literature

Section Three: Research Methodology

Section Four: References

The information that follows offers step by step instructions on how to complete each section of your proposal.

 

Section One: Introduction

Part #1: Write a paragraph that introduces your topic.  Mention your topic in the first sentence. What are you planning to study? What is the purpose of the study?

Part #2: Fully discuss your topic.  What specifically interests you? Think of a specific research question (or questions) and state it clearly and precisely.  You can also begin to formulate your ideas on how you might study your research question, though you need not be very specific in this section. For example, if you plan to study attitudes toward school vouchers, suggest what characteristics influence how individuals feel about school vouchers (e.g., income, location, etc.).

Part #3: Explain to the reader why it is important to study your topic and put it into a larger educational context. Here is where you answer the “So what?” question. That is, you plan to study XYZ. So what? Why is it important to study this topic?  What is the educational importance of this research?  Why is this study significant? This is your opportunity to be broad, general, and theoretical in your thinking.

This section should be at least 3-5 pages. Based on the outline provided above, you must utilize sub-headings within this section. You must cite articles within this section to support your topic and claim.

  

Section Two: Review of the Literature

The purpose of this section is to find and summarize qualitative or quantitative research studies that directly relate to your research question(s).  Use library databases to start searching for articles, but employ other resources when necessary.

When looking for articles, you need to adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Use scholarly journals rather than popular magazines, newspaper articles, or the internet.
  • Rely on the educational literature. If you are unsure whether an article or journal is included in the discipline, ask me.
  • In general, select recent articles (i.e., 1960 or later). However, if an article was written in 1952, for example, is extremely pertinent to your proposal, then use it.
  • Choose only research articles (qualitative or quantitative research) for the literature review. Do not include theoretical works, editorials, book reviews, program reports, etc.  If you are unsure about an article, I will gladly take a look at it. Your literature review should not be more than 15 pages.

Your task is to:

  • Briefly, restate your research topic in an opening paragraph. Provide a short introduction about what question(s) you are trying to answer, why this is educationally interesting, and why you chose it. Also, provide a brief overview of the topics you will cover in your literature review.
  • Divide the literature that you have into sections of like Then, for each section, write an essay summarizing the studies. Be sure to state the research purpose, method(s), and findings ONLY for the studies that are paramount to your study. [NOTE: Use transitions within your essay so that it flows and does not appear like disjointed blocks of information.]
  • Write a concluding paragraph that summarizes the articles. For example, how will these articles inform your research?
  • DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.

 

Section Three: Research Methodology

The purpose of this section is to allow you to explain your research methodology.  This can be the hardest part of the proposal for some students; therefore, do not wait until the last minute to write this section. Think about your design when you write your literature review.

Your task is to:

  • In a brief introduction, restate your research problem(s)/question(s).
  • Indicate the following parts of your research methodology:
  1. Describe your vehicle of observation. How do you plan to collect your data?  If you are creating a survey, what kinds of questions do you plan to ask? If you are going to do interviews, what will you ask of your interviewees?
  2. What population do you plan to use? How do you plan to sample this population?
  3. How will you select your sample? What kind of sampling method will you use?
  4. How will you analyze your data? What kind of analysis best fits your project, and why?
  • If you plan to conduct qualitative research, discuss the following issues (be as detailed and accurate as possible):
  1. Define the theoretical constructs will you be using.
  2. What is the main concept you are investigating? What other concepts will be examined (note the concepts’ potential structures, processes, causes, and consequences)?
  3. What type(s) of qualitative analysis will you conduct?
  • If you plan to conduct quantitative research, discuss the following issues (be as detailed and specific as possible):
  1. Clearly, state your hypotheses.
  2. Identify and operationalize your variables. List the independent variables and the dependent variable.
  • List the pros and cons of your methodology.
  • Write a concluding paragraph that summarizes the research design and proposal. When writing this section, imagine that have enough resources for your research design. Since you will not perform the research be creative, but appropriate, with your design.

 

Section Four: References

On the last section of your proposal, include an APA-formatted bibliography of the articles, books, websites, etc. that you refer to in the text.  This page should be titled “References.” The references should be listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author. As a rule of thumb, you need an average of 4 references per page. For instance, if your proposal is ten pages, then technically need 40 references. However, this does not necessarily to have four references on each page.

Please carefully note the following issues:

The entire proposal should be no more than 40 pages excluding the title page and the “References” section. Any page(s) over the 40th page will not be read.  All of the parts must be typed, double-spaced, in a 12-point font, with 1-inch margins on all four sides of each page.

If you followed the outline and instructions that we have provided, we are confident that you have completed a top-notch research proposal.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, EdvocatePD, First Year Teachers, Teacher Education, Teachers

How to Write Your Philosophy of Classroom Management and Classroom Management Plan

Back when I was a professor of education, one of the most significant sources of anxiety for preservice teachers was classroom management. Most of them seemed unsure about their ability to manage a classroom full of 20 to 30 kids while responding to problem behaviors and facilitating the teaching and learning process. I always assuaged their concerns by letting them know that before they left my class, they would have a philosophy of classroom management and classroom management plan, which could be adapted to any classroom environment.

In my course, they learned that if students are in a safe and supportive environment, learning can take place. It is critical to have an engaging educational environment that includes all students. The primary goal of any philosophy/plan of classroom management is to assist the teacher in creating an environment for all students that will allow them to be successful and ultimately reach their full potential. In this piece, I plan to walk you through the creation of your own philosophy of classroom management and classroom management plan. Let’s get started.

Writing Your Philosophy of Classroom Management

I taught my students to divide their philosophy of classroom management into the three sections below. Completing a philosophy of classroom management is not an easy task, but I found a way to simplify the process. All you have to do is answer the questions from each section and use the resulting content to shape the body of your narrative. From there, simply add an introduction and conclusion and you are done. Revisions may be necessary, but at least you have a great first draft.

My Beliefs About Students:

  • Do I believe that students need to be “controlled and disciplined” or that they can be taught self-control?
  • Do I think that students are naturally disruptive and therefore need to be molded and conditioned to behave appropriately?
  • Do I view students as equals or as charges?
  • Do I believe that establishing a democratic classroom and giving students responsibility means letting them take over the class?

My Beliefs About Teachers’ Roles:

  • Do I see myself as a boss or facilitator? A brick wall, jellyfish, or backbone teacher? An assertive educator?
  • Do I think that I should create all of the rules and consequences, or do I think that students should offer their thoughts?
  • Do I want to discipline or manage my students?
  • Do I believe that teachers should spend time at the beginning of the year to teach rules and routines?

My Beliefs About Managing the Classroom:

  • Do I think rewarding students for good behavior?
  • Is the point of classroom management to manage the classroom or teach students to supervise and discipline themselves?
  • Would I be ok with using a school-adopted classroom management program, or do I want to have more freedom to choose my own classroom management practices?

Writing Your Classroom Management Plan

After completing your philosophy of classroom management, you are now ready to write your classroom management plan. The cool think about it is that you can use parts of your philosophy of classroom management. Write a narrative that includes, but is not limited to, the topics/issues found below. Make sure you back your narrative up with recent research (less than three years old).

  • Supportive, Effective, and Developmentally Appropriate Classroom Management Techniques
  • Classroom Climate: Class Structure, Rules, Routines, Procedures, and Policies
  • Classroom Design and Layout
  • Student’s Expectation of Teacher
  • Teacher’s Expectation of Students
  • Positive and Negative Consequences and Individualized Behavior Management Intervention Plans
  • Communication of Class and Behavioral Expectations to Students and Parents/Guardians
  • Responsibility of the Parents/Guardians, Students, Teacher and School in Classroom Management
  • Philosophy’s Connection to Theorist/Theory
  • Philosophy incorporates pertinent and appropriate information from course textbooks; Classroom Management: Models, Applications, and Cases; Teacher-and Tested Classroom Management Strategies

From there, simply add an introduction and conclusion and you are done. Revisions may be necessary about this, but at least you have a great first draft.

Reflection

Reflecting on your work is a vital part of being a professional and is essential to teacher development and the preparation of future teachers. Reflection allows you to examine your own beliefs, assumptions, and biases regarding teaching, learning, and classroom management and determine how those beliefs influence classroom practice and impact on the learning environment. If you are really want to impress your professor and receive an A, include a reflection along with your classroom management philosophy/plan.

Write a reflective 500 word paper about your philosophy of classroom management and classroom management plan. Please write the reflection in narrative form. The reflection paper should highlight how your classroom management details how you plan to develop a safe and supportive learning environment for your students. This may include:

  • How do you believe your philosophy of classroom management and classroom management plan will work to provide your students with a safe and supportive learning environment?
  • How do you plan on getting to know your students?
  • How you plan on introducing students to your classroom management plan in the first 21 days of school and then reinforcing it beyond that time period?
  • Communication of class and behavioral expectation to students and family
  • Substitute teacher materials?
  • Does the narrative reflect an understanding and thoughtful consideration of classroom management?

If you followed the directions in good faith, we are confident that you are now the owner of a world-class classroom philsophy of classroom management and classroom management plan. I would say good luck, but you won’t need it.

 

 

 

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