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Friday, October 18, 2013

TPI October Update



It is mid-October, and TPI is in full swing! Below is a summary of recent and future TPI activities.  

Three of our Working Groups will be meeting over the next two weeks:

   * Prepare will be focusing on refining their proposal regarding the selection, support, evaluation and   
      compensation for University Supervisors and Cooperating Teachers. 
    
    * Recruit will be working with the proposals that have come from the Recruiting, Retaining, 
       Graduating and Supporting Teachers of Color with Diverse Cultural Backgrounds and Growing 
       High Needs Focused Teams.  We anticipate these proposals will come to the Coordinating Team in 
       November.  The Focused Team members worked very hard and have some great ideas that we are 
       looking forward to exploring.  In addition, Recruit will be focused on identifying a marketing plan 
       based on feedback we received from a marketing company (Haberman) that was provided by the 
       Bush Foundation.

    * Support is focused on the inclusion of faculty in the support of our graduates during their first three 
       years of teaching. Their proposal, “Faculty Involvement in P-12 Induction Programs,” was 
       supported by the Coordinating Team and now goes to TEAC. The next proposal will focus on 
       utilizing technology to meet the needs of our graduates working outside of our regions.

Our Assessment Working Group is just finishing up being populated and we anticipate they will be meeting soon.

The New Teacher Workshop, “Ready, Set, Teach: Tools for Success” was implemented in early August and was highly rated by participants. December 2012 and May 2013 SCSU Graduates were invited along with new teachers from the six partner school districts. On October 29th, new teachers and recent SCSU graduates will return to campus for a half day workshop with a focus on classroom management.

We also have several Focused Team meetings occurring: 

    * We had a great first meeting of the Educational Foundation Core Focused Team that is exploring 
       the model proposed by the Prepare Working Group to identify ways we could meet the goals of 
       that core for all of our teacher candidates.  The proposal can be found at 

    * Both the Advising Undergraduates & New Teachers and Placement-Employment Focused Teams 
       will be meeting and continuing their work.  We hope to have proposals from both of these teams to 
       share at a November Coordinating Team meeting.

You can find out who is on each of these Collaboration Structures on our website: (http://www.stcloudstate.edu/tpi/initiative/whosinvolved.asp).

I would encourage you to consider adding “TPI updates” to your department/program meeting agenda so that your colleagues can share their TPI work. 

You can also find notes from recent meetings on our website: (http://www.stcloudstate.edu/tpi/events/meetingsandevents.asp

This week at TEAC we will be discussing the proposal from the Support Working Group regarding Faculty Involvement in P-12 Induction Programs.  This proposal was shared via the TEU-list last week.  It is also posted on our website: ((http://www.stcloudstate.edu/tpi/events/meetingsandevents.asp)

Finally, we have also shared a proposed model for an institutionally recognized Teacher Education Unit with decision-making power for all stakeholders in Teacher Education.  It has created quite a buzz and we look forward to continuing the conversation about this important topic.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Stress Management and Teaching


As part of our approach to supporting new teachers, TPI has been providing three New Teacher Workshops spread throughout the academic year.  One recurring theme of these workshops has been stress management.  Dr. Steve Hoover, from the Department of Counseling and Community Psychology  at St. Cloud State University has helped to develop and lead these sessions.

Dr. Hoover shared with me the following study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison regarding teachers and practicing mindfulness for reducing stress:  http://www.news.wisc.edu/22069

The study found that teachers who were trained and practiced mindfulness showed decreased stress levels, improvements in classroom organization, and increased their self-compassion in comparison to the control group.

As we think about preparing our future teachers whose positions require them to care for others, we should also provide strategies that allow them to care for themselves. 

How do you manage the stress that comes with being a teacher?