(Taking teacher candidates to work with elementary students in Randall School, fall 2008)

Teaching

Achievements (Tenure/Continued Appointment and Promotion)

Groton Being a Proud New Yorker Night on November 19, 2012

Thank you message from Zinn Project, spring 2010

Invitation to attend Award Ceremony to be awarded the Teaching Excellence Award in spring 2010

Zinn Project bookmark April 9, 2010

On April 30, 2010, I was awarded "Excellence in Teaching" Award among the tenure-track professors of SUNY Cortland. The picture was taken by Dr. Susana Davidenko, who nominated me.

I always find teaching rewarding in so many ways. On March 24, 2010, I was invited to attend the 2010 Tau Sigma Faculty Recognition induction ceremony. This is a Cortland chapter of the National Honor Society of Education for Transfer Students. Students recognized me for my assistance in their transfer experiences. I have just done what any advisor should be doing if transfer students are my advisees. I was greatly humbled and honored to be recognized.

On March 27, 2010, I was invited to the Celebration of Women of Color annual event in SUNY Cortland. I was recognized as one of the women of color who have made impacts on students' lives. I nominated three of my colleagues to be recognized at the event as well. I was greatly humbled and honored to be recognized.

On this page, you will first review my reflection essay on teaching in general. Second, you will review my reflection on teaching graduate courses. Last, you will review course syllabi, course student evaluations, and my reflections on course evaluations as multiple evidence of excellence in teaching. I can speak with confidence that in terms of teaching, I have exceeded the requirements for continuing appointment and promotion to associate professor.

In terms of teaching, my basic philosophy of teaching remains the same as what I shared in the first and second reappointment portfolio, but I succeeded in teaching effectively pre-service and in-service teachers in both undergraduate and graduate programs with more confidence in the last four years. Successful teaching over the years shows me that teachers' attitudes, beliefs, values, and dispositions have a powerful influence on why teachers teach and why they remain in the profession in spite of difficult conditions that test their resolve. Certainly, there are many dispositions, which include the love of students and subject matter; a view of themselves as lifelong learners and intellectual workers; a deep commitment to social justice; comfort with uncertainty; endless patience; and, of course, a sense of humor. But instead of focusing on dispositions, I want to discuss three actions I have taken in transforming my values as a teacher into successful teaching: learning about myself; learning about my students, and learning from other teachers.

The first action is to learn about myself. As teachers, it is increasingly important for us to become aware of our own identities, abilities, talents, fears, and biases as we teach in an increasingly diverse campus.

The second action is to learn about my students. I have created many opportunities to get to know my students on an individual/personal basis. I have provided opportunities for students to interact with each other in respectful and meaningful ways.

The first two actions were taken through community building activities, conducting midterm evaluations (EDU375-604 and EDU375-602 in spring 2008) and through reflecting upon and refining my philosophy of teaching and learning. Conducting mid-term evaluations helped me identify areas for further improvement. Reflecting upon and refining my philosophy of teaching and learning helped me remain a learner who enjoys learning from teaching. Please click on the blue parts in this portfolio to get to the linked pages.

I learned how to improve my teaching by asking my colleagues in and out of the department to observe my teaching. I am grateful to Dr. Susana Davidenko, who took time to come to observe me teach in my EDU375 class in fall 2007. Here is her observation notes and reflection on my teaching. I invited Dr. Luis Columna to observe me teach a social studies lesson. Here is his observation reflection on my teaching. We look forward to collaborating in the future in teaching and scholarly work.

Learning about myself and the learners in my classroom is not enough. I have taken the third action -- learning from other teachers. I have taken time to observe other teachers teach and ask other teachers to observe me teach. I have also taken time to read books in the field of teacher education and social studies education and keep myself in step with the latest research and best practices through attending academic conferences, participating in professional development workshops, and publishing on journals of the social studies education.

I learned a lot by observing other professors teach. I am very pleased to find out that Dr. Orvil White, for example, after my observation of his teaching, shares many of my beliefs, values and assumptions about students and teaching. When I discussed my teaching with him, our discussion worked to specify exactly what troubled me; I fought the fear that having problems meant I was doing something wrong. Sharing difficult truths and emotions has been necessary for my personal and professional development. Here is my observation notes and reflection on Dr. Orvil White's class. He invited me and other faculty members to observe him teach. In spring 2009, I observed Dr. Shufang Shi's class. Here is my obervation notes. She used creative and authentic ways of assessment in her technology classes.

Since my first reappointment, there are three major areas I have developed in terms of teaching: 1) differentiated instruction, 2) motivating students to learn, and 3) teaching students the wisdom in life rather than just the knowledge and skills in teacher education.

1) Differentiated Instruction

I had little expertise in differentiated instruction before I came to SUNY Cortland. Through teaching, observation, attending presentations at conferences, viewing webinars about applying differentiated instructional strategies, and reading research literature, I came to understand that students differ in their readiness to learn, in particular interests, and in how they learn. Student variance makes a difference in the learning process. I ask myself, "How different are students in my classroom? Did I give adequate consideration to such differences? " Students in my courses presented me a variety of learning experiences in the area of differentiated instruction. I will share two cases here.

First, in fall 2007, I had a WOW Poster assignment for my undergraduate social studies method class -- EDU375. WOW stands for Windows on the World. The assignment requires each student to research a developing country or a third-world country, draw a physical map on the front of a poster, and present their research results in four informational sections on the inside of the poster. With a brief discussion, questions, and answers, I provided a list of such countries for them to sign up. I encourage them to choose different countries so that we could share the information in our presentations afterwards. Please click here for examples (Physical Map of Poland and Ghana) of WOW posters.

To my surprise, right after I explained the assignment in class, one student approached me after class, saying, "Dr. Lin, I had heard so much about Iraq and got so tired of hearing about it any more. I'll present Ireland." Another student shared after class that she would present Portungal since she had just visited the country during the summer of 2007. Yet another student, who missed the class when I shared the assignment, emailed me that she will present France. When I emailed her back that I would strongly recommend that she present on a third-world developing country, she replied that she would present Italy since she couldn't present France, totally igoring my recommendation.

I would have rejected affirmtively all these requests for alternative assignments. My original intention of this assignment is for students to step out of their comfort zone to learn something about a country or a culture they are not familiar with. I did not anticipate student resistance as such. I persisted by emailing all three students that I suggest they consider presenting third-world developing countries. But they were determined to present the country of their choice.

Then I decided to not to insist on having these three students present on a country they did not show much interest at all. After all, France, Italy, and Ireland are great countries with unique history and cultures for students to learn and share with the class. Despite that such adjustment might divert from my original intention, I agreed that three of them presented the countries they were interested to learn about.

So the semester went on till the day of presentations. On that day, students presented on their WOW posters and shared new perceptions about things they did not know but have learned from their own research. The three students presented their posters designed with high quality. At the end of the presentations, they realized what they had missed by having worked on an alternative assignment. We discussed afterwards how much fexibility teachers should have for their students. I asked all my pre-service teachers to reflect upon the process and consider how they would have acted at the request of alternative assignments. I hope through this experience, students would learn how to build up a thoughtful classroom community that really values each student's voice and respect their own interests without compromising the cognitive objectives we had in mind as teachers.

The second case came up when I had a class of students that have a variety of needs and interests that begged for differentiation in spring 2008. One student had special reading needs and had difficulty even working with her eight-year-old son on his homework. Due to the departmental transition from old program to new program, two students took EDU375 with me. They should not be in that course for the new program, but had to take it due to a cancellation of a course they should be taking in the new education program. They both needed alternative assignments so that they would not have to repeat what they had learned in EDU378 and EDU379 in the new program of our department. Two students needed a different course assignment from the joint one I had with EDU314 since both of them had already taken that course the previous semester. They had not taken EDU373 - the Math Method class, so they also needed an alternative assignment for the Community Diversity Analysis Paper assignment. I made whatever accommodations these students needed as much as I could. For the first student who had reading challenges, she had audio books to follow along. I agreed to work with her to simplify assignment instruction and made appointments with her so that we could meet during my office hours to help her out. For the two students who shoudn't be in my course, I provided a differentiated syllabus to include alternative requirements, such as the Virtual Field Trip assignment shared by Dr. Kimberly Rombach.

2) Motivation

The second area of reflection on teaching is motivation. How to motivate students to learn has always been on my mind. What Confucius said reminds me a lot about teaching and learning. Confucius in 550 BC said, "The teacher opens the door, and the students enter themselves. " Learning must happen within students, not "to" them. Students must stay engaged in the learning process to have any real learning to occur. Yet, teachers have their responsibility to motivate students with hands-on and inquiry-based learning that is relevant and meaningful to learners. In the past semesters, on the first day of the semester, I asked all students to write on an 5 x 8 index card their long-term goals, questions they had about themselves, and questions about the world. Here is a collection of my findings in spring 2008 -- EDU375 -602 and EDU375-604. These goals and questions helped me structure my syllabus and lesson plans. These goals and questions helped students think deeply about their career choice and professional development. I continued to do this in my courses in the following semesters and used students' goals and challenges in a new course assignment when I taught EDU378 - Social and Academic Curriculum I. I designed a course assignment to require pre-service teachers to design learning centers to focus on cultural universal themes such as food, shelter, clothing, family living, childhood, transportation, communication, money, and government. Such topics and themes are basic human needs in every culture and society. Learning about them will help students realize each culture has these basic human needs, yet each culture has different cultural features due to its special locations and limited available resources. One's personal goals and challenges are closely related to issues we discuss in social studies. When resources are limited, and when needs and wants conflict, one's decisions bring about consequences, both negative and positive, that will have impacts on the future. Using students' own list of goals and challenges brought social studies alive and relevant to their lives. At the end of the fall semester of 2008, I collaborated with a fourth grade classroom teacher to encourage our pre-service teachers to teach "real" fourth grades using their lesson plans. Such a collaborative project was well received.

3) Wisdom in Life

The last area I would like to reflect upon is how to share with students the wisdom in life rather than just the content knowledge and skills in teacher education. I take the responsibility to educate students rather than just come to spend 75 minutes in a classroom and hand them a final grade at the end. It is the teacher's responsibility to teach students as human beings as well as the content knowledge and skills. Each student needs and deserves a teacher who will be an active partner in helping that student identify and build upon personal strengths, identify and address areas of weakness, and develop a sense of self-efficacy that comes from accomplishing important goals.

I define wisdom as a trait of being able to make the reasoned and informed decision for the public goods of others. My late father was a retired high school physics teacher all his life. He was an avid learner of history. He reflected on world history and Chinese history through the books he read in his spare time. He always shared with me and my brother that those who commited crimes against humanity are smart and intelligent people. For example, some of the perpetuators of the Holocaust were scientists and experts in their academic disciplines. In the same token, terriorists who flew the planes to crash into the World Trade Towers were educated people. However, none of them was wise. We all have witnessed that highly educated people cannot get along with each other. Therefore, It is of great importance to educate our students and children to be wise as well as smart and intelligent.

I strive to be the most effective and inspiring teacher who uses assessment information to develop and modify instructional plans so that the classroom "works" for all students in it. Classrooms that are effective for academically diverse populations define "fairness" as making sure everyone gets what he or she needs to succeed -- not as treating everyone exactly alike.

Over the years, students asked me, "Why do you teach?" Why do I teach? When I was in China teaching English as a university teacher, my friends nagged me to change for a more lucrative job with my language skills. I did not. When I came to the United States and studied in a Ph.D program in social science education, my friends advised me to change to an MBA program so that I could be more wealthy being an executive or manager one day than making a meagre salary as a college instructor. I said no.

So why do I teach? I teach for the joy that comes when I see the light in a student's eyes. I teach for that moment when a student says, "now I understand!" I teach for the moment when I saw the glow on the faces of the students when I showed them the Quicktime movie I created for them based on their Raquette Lake experience and learning activities in my courses.

Since my last reappointment webfolio, I continued to teach in two new programs in our Department. I taught in the undergraduate Childhood Education teacher preparation method block program for grades 1 through 6, Social Studies Methods for Elementary Teachers. The course was EDU375. When the new program in childhood education required me to teach EDU378 - Social and Academic Curriculum I - a new course to integrate classroom management with early grades social studies curriculum, I successfully made the transition from EDU375 to EDU 378, which has distinctive course content and assignments. The CTEs for the first round of teaching EDU378 were highly encouraging and students' feedback was full of positive comments and constructive suggestions. At the end of each course, I would email students and remind them that taking this course is only one of the many steps they need to take towards their professional and personal goals. Here is an example of such letters I sent to one class at the end of spring 2008, the second day after a huge earthquake took place in China.

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Reflections on Teaching Graduate Courses

On this page, you will continue to review my reflections on teaching graduate courses, course syllabi, examples of class assignments, student evaluations and recommendations, reflections on course teacher evaluations, and reflections on academic advisement and curriculum development. For all the courses I have taught at Cortland, I set up WebCt classrooms to communicate with students and manage course materials and students' assignments. To view my WebCt classrooms, please contact me at linlin@cortland.edu for username and password.

I continue to teach two graduate courses in the Master of Science in Education Program. The two courses are EDU640 - Conflict and Controversy in Social Education - and EDU524- Democracy and Social Education. Both courses have been favorably received by the students. With an online course development grant, I developed an online EDU524 course to offer during summers of 2008 and 2009. The online course of EDU524 has been successful. Here please click to read a student's letter at the end of the summer online course of 2008.

Thanks to Dr. Andrea Lachance's grant, in fall 2007, I organized a field trip for EDU 524 graduate students to visit Cortland Historical Society, where they saw how the classroom history instruction could be related to local history in their local communities. Students' reflections after a visit to Cortland Historical Society showed that they learned how to utilize primary sources such as census data and street maps of 19th century to teach the concepts of time, change, and continuity using local history. The trip to Cortland Historical Society affected graduate students' teaching as one of the students designed a lesson plan to help 3rd graders in class to appreciate local historical landmarks and the contributions of their local community in U.S. and New York history. In the following semester, I paid out of my own pocket for students in EDU524 to visit the society again.

I always share with my graduate students that I was fortunate to be assigned to teach EDU524 Democracy and Social Education. In fact, it is one of my favorite courses to teach in the United States. Education is a controversial issue. I had in-service and pre-service teachers in my classroom who brought with them classroom teaching experiences and personal views about controversial issues in education. For that course, I make sure I provided learning experiences for students to define and discuss the role of democracy in social education and the purpose of public education in the role of developing interpersonal intelligence. After we reviewed major educational theories and their impacts on current educational practices, we defined and discussed critical pedagogy. More and more students began to critically think about the foundations of education in the United States and many students started to make extra efforts to promote their students' critical thinking skills.

In the graduate courses, I proposed to adopt an issue-centered curriculum in social studies. As a class, we compared an issue-centered curriculum with New York State Learning Standards for the Social Studies and critiqued how the standards could be more focused on an issue-centered approach to promote skills of social analysis and critical self-reflection. As a result, students created projects teaching a controversial issue of their choice. (Project samples 1 and 2).

In our discussions of multicultural education in the United States, we studied all approaches to multicultural education and critiqued their limitations and impacts in today's classroom. We reviewed lesson plans that do not teach from a multicultural perspective and made suggestions on how to make them more culturally appropriate in classrooms of diverse learners. I could have explored more on how to integrate technology into social issue discussions.

In all the courses I taught, I encouraged students to use primary and secondary sources to make sense of historical interpretations. Undergraduate and graduate students met me in TMC -- Teaching Material Center at the Cortland Memorial Library to learn how to use Jackdaw packages in history instruction. Students commented that they learned a great deal from the experience and many of them integrate the use of primary and secondary sources into their classroom instruction. I knew I was doing the right thing when I got invitations from students to invite me to participate in their graduation ceremony. Please click here to view such an invitation.

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Examples of Student Performance Assessment

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching -- Unsolicitated Messages and Anecdote

2013 Unsolicitated Emails from Student Teachers (who used the strategies I shared in class regarding writing women into social studies curriculum.)

2013 Unsolicitated Emails from Student Teachers (who used the strategies I shared in class)
EJ Using the Tug of War Game to Teach the American Revolution

2012 Comments from Students after graduation

In fall 2011, I encouraged students to look at history from multiple perspectives. One of the units I shared with students is Rethinking Columbus. I used a Battery Park Statue to encourage reflections upon our own stereotypes and misconceptions. Close to the end of the semester, I received an email from a student, who went to the Battery Park in New York City and took a picture of the statue we discussed in class. Her comment greatly encouraged me to continue with my inquiry approach and the approach to view history from multiple perspectives.

In fall 2011, another unit on Rethinking Thanksgiving seems to have interested many students. Here is a message I received after I posted the lessons on eLearning.

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Letters/emails from Students/Advisees and Recognition Cards from Graduates

Spring 2013

Unsolicited message from Student Teacher SF about learning useful lessons in my method course
Invitation from two students to attend Undergraduate Commencement 2013
Invitation to attend SENDOFF Party for Seniors at the Interfaith Center of SUNY Cortland

Fall 2012

Graduation Congratulation Cars from Graduates in 2012

Email from Student who took my course in fall 2011

Spring 2011

Meaningful Feedback from Graduates (spring 2011)

Advisees' Comments 1 March 23, 2011

Fall 2010

In November 2010, I received a letter fro the Graduate Survey Coordinator congratulating me again for having made positive influences on students' life in Cortland. The letter, congratulation cards from 16 students were more rewarding than a pay raise.

Spring 2010

student's email and Thank you note.

Thank you card from RL, spring 2010

I believe all teachers have received such emails and letters from students and advisees to show that they appreciate our assistance and support through teaching and advisement. Here are four examples of such letters/emails I saved for the purpose of demonstrating my efforts in teaching and advisement. Two of them were from my advisees and the other two were from the students in one of the courses I have taught.

In Novermber 2008, I received a letter from the Graduate Survey Coordinator congratulating me for having made positive influences on students' life in Cortland. The letter, congratulation cards, and recognition cards from six students I have taught over the years were more encouraging and rewarding than the DSI approval letters. I believe other colleagues must have received many more such recognition cards. I look forward to receiving more in the future.

In spring 2009, I got recognized for my support for non-traditional students on campus.

Students' Feedback and Support: Thank-You Card from students and Student Support Letter
Students' Whole-Class Thank-You Card, fall 2008 (Sample)
Student's Individual Thank-You Card, fall 2008 (Sample)
Student's Thank-You Card, fall 2008 (Sample)

Recognition Cards from Graduates from SUNY Cortland with letter forwarded to me by Career Services, fall 2009

Thank-You Cards (Card 1 and Card 2) from Students who asked for letters of references/recommendation in fall 2009

Selected Thank-You Card (Card from HS) from students who asked me for letters of recommendation for graduate schools in spring 2010

Selected invitation from students to attend their commencement, spring 2010

Selected Thank-You Card from Students in fall 2010
Card 1 from student JL
Card 2 from advisee and student SP
Card 3 from advisee and student HS

Selected Invitations/Thank-You Notes from Students in spring 2011
Invitation to Commencement, spring 2011

2011 Fall at this time of the year, I always receive from Career Services a letter with cards recognizing my positive impacts on students, who participated in the Grad Survey and the survey asked each graduate to recognize up to three instructors who had positive impacts on their experiences in Cortland. This year, I received 22 cards. These cards are better than a pay raise, which I do not mind receiving as well

2011 Fall, a graduate student I taught in my first year at Cortland wrote me to ask me to provide a quesiton or two for his comprehention exam in his master program of secondary social studies. Here is the response I provided for him.

2012 the bunch of cards arrived in my mailbox. Here are the letter from Career Services and the cards from graduates who named me as one of the professors who have made changes in their lives.

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Course Syllabi and Course Bibliographies

I have taught five different courses since I started teaching at SUNY Cortland in August, 2005. I have been teaching all these courses on WebCt since spring 2006. If you want to access the WebCt classrooms that I am currently having this semester or the WebCt classrooms I had in the past, please let me know so that I could share the username and password for your access.

EDU480 Social and Academic Curriculum (II)
View Syllabus EDU480, Fall 2009
View Bibliography EDU480
View Syllabus EDU480, Spring 2010
View Bibliography EDU480 (updated)

EDU 640 Conflict and Controversy in Social Education
View Syllabus for EDU640 Independent Study Fall 2007
View Syllabus for EDU 640 Fall 2005
View Syllabus for EDU 640 Fall 2006
View Bibliography EDU640

EDU 524 Democracy and Social Education
View Syllabus For EDU524 Fall 2007
View Syllabus for EDU 524 Spring 2006
View Syllabus for EDU 524 Summer 2008 online
View Syllabus for EDU 524 Summer 2009 online
View Syllabus for EDU 524 Spring 2010 online
View Bibliography EDU524

EDU378 Social and Academic Curriculum (I)
View Syllabus for EDU378 Fall 2008
View Syllabus for EDU378 Fall 2009
View Bibliography EDU378

EDU 375 Teaching Elementary Social Studies Methods
Drescher Leave, Spring 2009
View Syllabus EDU375, Fall 2008
View Syllabus EDU375, Spring 2008
View Syllabus EDU375, Fall 2007
Unpaid Family Leave, Spring 2007
View Syllabus EDU 375, Fall 2006
View Syllabus EDU 375, Spring 2005
View Syllabus EDU 375, Fall 2005
View Bibliography EDU375

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Unsolicitated (Emails, Letters Initiated by Students)

Comment from a Student during Her Student Teaching fall 2012

Comment from a Student during Her Student Teaching spring 2012

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Self-Solicitated Students Comments Fall 2011

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Course Teacher Evaluations - CTEs

Spring 2013

EDU480 601 CTEs with Students' Comments
EDU480 602 CTEs with Students' Comments

Fall 2012

Spring 2012

EDU480 601 CTEs with Students' Comments
EDU480 602 CTEs with Students' Comments

Fall 2011

EDU480 601 CTEs with Student Comments
EDU480 602 CTEs with Student Comments
EDU480 604 CTEs with Student Comments

Student Course Evaluation Responding to Instructor-Designed Questions (Same as above "Self-Solicited Students Comments fall 2011)
601 Comments
602 Comments
604 Comments

Spring 2011

EDU 480 601 CTEs with Students' Comments
EDU 480 602 CTEs with Students' Comments
EDU524 CTEs with Students Comments (Online Course, not solicited)

Fall 2010

EDU480 601 CTEs with Students' Comments
EDU480 603 CTEs with Students' Comments
EDU480 604 CTEs with Students' Comments

Spring 2010

EDU 480 601 CTEs with students' comments
EDU 480 602 CTEs with students' comments
EDU 524 online CTEs with students' comments (Online, not solicited)

Fall 2009

EDU378-601 CTEs with students' comments
EDU378-602 CTEs with students' comments
EDU480-603 CTEs with students' comments

Spring 2009

Drescher Leave Award semester -- With no teaching assignments, I conducted the LESS project in local schools. You will review my reflection about this project in Scholarly Work section.

Fall 2008

EDU375 600 CTEs with students' comments
EDU378 602 CTEs with students' comments
EDU378 603 CTEs with students' comments

Spring 2008

EDU375 602 CTEs with students' comments
EDU375 604 CTEs with students' comments
One Course Release (View Fine Teaching Award letter)

Fall 2007

• EDU524 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU375-600 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU375-603 CTEs with students' comments

Spring 2007, I was on unpaid family leave.

Fall 2006

• EDU 640 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU375-603 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU375-604 CTEs with students' comments

Spring 2006

• EDU 524 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU 375-601 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU 375-602 CTEs with students' comments

Fall 2005

• EDU 640 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU 375-601 CTEs with students' comments
• EDU 375-602 CTEs with students' comments

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Reflections on CTEs and Students' Course Reflections

EDU378 ~ Reflections on Student Evaluation Fall 09
EDU480 ~ Reflections on Student Evaluation Fall 09

No Teaching Assignments in spring 2009 (with Drescher Leave Award)

EDU378 ~ Reflections on Student Evaluation Fall 08
EDU375 ~ Reflections on Student Evaluation Fall 08

EDU375 ~ Reflections on Student Evaluation Spring 08

EDU 375 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluation Fall 07
EDU 524 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluation Fall 07

EDU 375 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluations Fall 06
EDU 640 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluations Fall 06

EDU 524 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluations Spring 06
EDU 375 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluations Spring 06

EDU 640 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluations Fall 05
EDU 375 ~ Reflection on Student Evaluations Fall 05

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Observations of Colleages in and outside the Department

Observation report written by Dr. Cynthia Benton, Childhood/Early Childhood Ed. Dept.
Observation report written by Dr. Susana Davidenko, Childhood/Early Childhood Ed. Dept.
Observation report written by Dr. Luis Columna, Physical Education Dept.

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Academic Advisement and Counseling

Academic advisement and counseling are an essential part of being a teacher at Cortland. You may find my reflections on advisement by clicking here.

Evidence of Excellence in Teaching - Curriculum Development and Collaborative Teaching

In all courses I have taught, I highlighted the goals of citizenship education, global awareness education, history and social science education, and critical thinking and problem solving education of the students. I provided students with learning and teaching experiences through reading assignments, issue discussions, role-plays, experiential exercises, analysis of primary and secondary sources, and social inquiry projects. The goals of social studies are to educate young learners to become critical and responsible citizens in an increasingly interdependent and diverse world. With similar course objectives, I collaborated with Prof. Ellen Newman, Dr. Susana Davidenko, Dr. Shufang Shi, Dr. Gail Tooker, Dr. Katina Sayers-Walker, and Dr. Orvil White by sharing our understanding of the professional dispositions, which all teacher candidates in our programs are required to be acquainted with so that they understand the high expectations for them as professional teachers.

In collaboration with the other faculty members teaching the same cohort of students taking Block I, we have begun to sensitize them to the important transformative role that teachers in public schools can play in the lives of children and families. Some of the activities that we have provided or planned for the students include a three-day trip to Raquette Lake, and field trips to Cortland Historical Society and local elementary schools to work with children. These trips prepared teacher candidates to put methods they learn in the classroom into practice. Unfortunately, due to lack of child care at home, I could not particicpate in the trip in fall 2008.

I worked with Dr. Kim Rombach and Prof. Karen Hempson on a syllabus proposal of a new course EDU480 in our new program of childhood education. Compared to what Dr. Rombach contributed in the curriculum development, my participation was not much. I would be willing to get more involved as I get more acquainted with the curriculum in our program.

Dr. Shufang Shi and I had a joint project for EDU375 and EDU314. Students in our linked and unlined block would learn the technology skills in EDU314 and design a Social Studies WebQuest inquiry project. We also collaborated for her EDU651 research method course. I always come to her final presentation day to offer insights to students' research proposals. She wants us to be her master students' mentors so that we could provide research literature assistance to her students.

I collaborated with Prof. Ellen Newman to share with students the Professional Dispositions. She always shared with me her rich experiences in field placement and supervision of student teaching. Working with her is not just a lot of fun, but I grow as a new faculty member in the department. Dr. Thomas Lickona was so kind to have agreed to come to my EDU640 class in fall 2005. Students asked him questions after he shared the wonderful work he and his Center for the 4th and 5th Rs had done in promoting character education. Collaboration with new faculty members is also enlightening. Dr. Shufang Shi has been teaching EDU651 - Action Research Project in our master's program. We met to discuss ways to enhance students' learning in doing research in their own classrooms. (letter from Prof. Ellen Newman and letter from Dr.Shufang Shi)

In Spring 2008, I worked on a thematic block entitled evTMB. Dr. Beth Klein and Dr. Andrea LaChance have been working extensively in this thematic block. They organized trips to the Raquette Lake, local elementary schools, and Lime Hollow Nature Center, where our students got to meet with "real kids" in a classroom and practice what they learned in our method block. I was willing to work collaboratively with them. One of the course assignments Dr. Klein and I shared in spring 2008 was Wolf Journal. Students learned to adopt an interdisciplinary approach in elementary curriculum through this joint assignment to integrate science and social studies.

With the help of Dr. Klein, Dr. LaChance, and Dr. Tony Lee, I had another new assignment in my EDU375 course in spring 2008 -- Multimedia Webfolio, through which students integrated technology into method courses in all subjects and conceptualize what they learn in method courses. I looked forward to more collaborative work with them and other teams.

Collaboration went beyond our department. Dr. David Smukler, Dr. Judy Bentley, and Dr. Ji-Ryun Kim from the Department of Social Foundations and Advocacy shared with me a common belief that all classrooms should be inclusive and that teachers should be able to design learning activities to meet all learners' needs. In Spring 2008, they came to present on the topic of UDL - Universal Design of Learning, and had me over in their method class to teach a social studies lesson. In Fall 2008, Dr. Smukler invited my students to his class when he demonstrated a lesson activity that required more students than he had in that class. His demonstration was effective and all students could tell that science and social studies lessons could be interesting and meaningful, and therefore powerful. Our collaboration brought new elements to our respective course and modeled collaboration for pre-service teachers. Through collaborative activities, we shared with our pre-service teachers that flexibility is one of the key dispositions for a teacher. We will make efforts to develop more collaborative learning activities.

Excellence in Teaching through Continued Support for Students

Writing recommendation letters for students who pursue master degrees and who apply for teaching positions.

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