1. NAPDS National Conference 2017 Washington DC
Teacher Candidates Stand Strong and Help Build an Effective Partnership
NAPDS National Conference 2017
Washington DC

2. Introductions Jean Eagle: Partnership Consultant
Michelle Cosmah: University Liaison
Irene Lang Kleiman: University Liaison
Kyle Harris: Early Childhood Education Teacher Candidate
Amanda Mickus: Middle Childhood Education Teacher Candidate
Collen Young: Adolescent & Young Adult Education Teacher Candidate
Kendra Tuttle: Adolescent & Young Adult Education Teacher Candidate
Jean

3. Who We Are
Miami HELPS is a learner-centered professional community that focuses on clinical experiences, professionalism, innovation and reflection, and school community to improve
K-12 learning.
Jean

4. Core Principles
Irene
During each semester, team members participate in 2 school-sponsored activities (ex. science fairs, carnivals, parent-teacher nights, etc.)
Miami HELPS school ambassadors will share the school activity calendar and provide information about specific needs of the school.

5. Levels of Commitment
Michelle-This gives you the framework of Miami HELPS
Now we want the TCs voice to be heard.

6. What We Do Build partnerships with nearby schools
Aid teachers with planning and instruction
Help K-12 learners improve their skills
Participate in school activities
Set and meet professional goals
Work with school administrators
Write grants for funding
Maintain a library of educational resources
Attend conferences
Kyle

7. Clinical Experience What are we giving? Time with at-risk students
What are we gaining?
Working with administrators as well as teachers
How are we growing?
Professionalism & confidence
Clinical Experience
Kendra: Please give an example of a Miami HELPS experience you have had. Include what you gave the school/students/partnership, what you got from the experience personally in terms of your clinical (teaching) experience, and how it is helping you grow as a future teacher.

8. Professionalism Selecting teaching as a profession
Strong observation feedback and high standards
Experience with school administration
Modeling community partnerships led to establishment of student teaching community partnerships
Professionalism
Amanda: Please give an example of a Miami HELPS experience you have had. Include what you gave the school/students/partnership, what you got from the experience personally in terms of your professionalism, and how it is helping you grow as a future teacher.
(Here would be a good spot to talk about the different meetings and partnership forging, and how those helped us grow as not only educators, but professionals.)

9. Innovation & Reflection
Benefits of a living program
Learner-centered program development
Pragmatism as practice
Co-learning between education levels
Receptivity to change
Innovation & Reflection
Collen: Please give an example of a Miami HELPS experience you have had. Include what you gave the school/students/partnership, what you got from the experience personally in terms of your innovation & reflection, and how it is helping you grow as a future teacher.
Rough script:
Just a warning, I might get incredibly meta, as I&R is mostly about the scholarly and academic pursuits of Miami HELPS. Our goals are primarily “what can we do to better serve our partnership schools for helps?”
So what makes HELPS different? In HELPS, our teacher mentors are just that-mentors. While they do work hard to make opportunities available for us (such as NPDS), ultimately, it is all LEARNER-Centered. For example-and I did warn you I would get a bit meta-we, the teacher candidate, were tasked with coming up with this very presentation, holding meetings, and generating our own thoughts, and this is the same thing we ask our teacher candidates to do. I’ve often described teaching as a “Creative Science,” in it requires a combination of objective research with subjective style, which brings us to our next point, Pragmatism as practice. We challenge our teacher candidates, pose difficult situations, make them beneficially uncomfortable in by asking them to form these school relationships, hold these meetings, fix these flaws in the program. *Pause*
By allowing our partnership model to live and change and grow, we create a learning experience for all parts-the K-12 students we teach receieve additional help of course, but the undergraduate students in the program grow as scholars and professionals, learning what it means to be a living program,sometimes even learning how to fail, and to recover from that. Finally, of course, the practicing teachers and professors (you all) grow as a result of not DEVELOPING partnerships yourselves,, but instead meta-teaching undergraduates how to develop partnerships and curriculum on their own. By inspiring innovation, all levels of academia experience a mutual growth.

10. School Community Breakfast with Santa What I gave:
3 hours on a Saturday morning
What I got:
Growth as an educator:
Diverse age groups
Language exposure
Preparation and thinking on my feet
Community investment
School Community
Kyle: Please give an example of a Miami HELPS experience you have had. Include what you gave the school/students/partnership, what you got from the experience personally in terms of your clinical (teaching) experience, and how it is helping you grow as a future teacher.

11. 5 steps for teacher candidates to help build YOUR partnership
Ask your teacher candidates what they need
Provide a structure of support
Model leadership practices
Let go of responsibility
Be reflective and adjust along the way
Michelle & Irene

12. Questions?