Investigating symmetric dot patterns provides opportunities for foundational mathematical learning that is not restricted to multiplication alone. Students have opportunities to learn about the properties of symmetry, about the generalization of patterns, about writing and interpreting equations--all areas of study in grades 3-5. And symmetric dot…

A coteacher huddle occurs when two or more teachers use short, focused meetings either before, during, or after a lesson, to discuss shifts or adaptations to coplanned instruction. In a recent study Soslau, Kotch-Jester, Scantlebury, and Gleason (2018) determined how teacher candidates' participation in huddles changed over time. Tracking how…

At a time when there is great emphasis on teacher quality and the preparation of excellent teachers, this portrait explores the process of one such aspiring teacher, Katie, in the fall of her full-year student-teaching internship. Her mentoring teacher, Kristen, is a veteran fifth-grade teacher at a small elementary school in New Hampshire who…

A common complaint about teacher education programs is that it follows a linear model--where theory and teaching skills are learned at the university and then applied in practicum experiences--that is inadequate and does not accurately represent teacher candidates'(TC) experiences (Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005; Korthagen, Loughran & Russell,…

The purpose of this article is to detail the creation of an assignment, after Covid-19 moved our university's instruction online, that helped students make sense of how K-12 teachers were adjusting their own pedagogy. The assignment included two parts: 1) students conducted an interview of their cooperating teacher to understand how they had to…

Novice teachers often walk into a classroom with very little knowledge of how to conduct lessons and keep students engaged. In this article, student teacher Ashley and veteran teacher Sara share their experiences as Ashley learned how to use drama pedagogy in a secondary English classroom. Using the ideas and activities originally taught in…

Physical education teacher education programs have a responsibility to prepare students in the technical aspects of teaching physical education, while also helping them to develop an awareness of the micropolitical cultures of schools that have implications for the implementation of what has been learned. Without the latter, beginning teachers may…

Conceptualising teacher learning as being immersed in and arising from the totality of professional practice, this paper reports experiences and insights from practice-based teacher education. Initial data are drawn from two sites of seven involved in the federally funded School Centres for Teaching Excellence programme conducted in the state of…

Considering how long societies have been educating their youth, the history of teacher education is relatively brief. From the first teacher education innovation in the 17th century through those of the late 20th century--de la Salle, the American normal school, the flood of student teachers into public schools after World War II, the student…

This article focuses on a cooperating teacher in Norway and her approach to mentoring first-year student teachers in their process of planning the mathematics teaching of third-graders. The purpose of the text is to show how the cooperating teacher's mentoring assists the student teachers' performance in a teaching form that is acknowledged as…

This paper responds to Wassell and LaVan's paper on the transition from a preservice coteaching experience to independent teaching as a beginning inservice teacher. Wassell and LaVan describe coteaching as an alternative to traditional teaching. In our response, we argue that coteaching can also be applied "alongside" independent teaching in…

Foreign Language Elementary Summer Camp is a fantastic way to spend part of the summer. For the past ten years in Glastonbury, Connecticut, the authors have offered a variety of foreign language elementary camps that meet daily for three hours for three to four weeks during July. Currently, they offer camps for Chinese, English Language Learners…

The need to collaborate in the fields of business, health care, and technology is not a new concept. Educational institutions, however, have been slow to recognize the need to teach collaboration skills (Brownell & Walther-Thomas, 2002; Jackson, 2004). This article focuses on the development of the Collaboration Self-Assessment Tool (CSAT). The…

Over the course of nine years as a supervisor of intern teachers, the first author collected observations of game play during lessons taught by intern teachers or their mentors. In general, the observations indicated that the majority of students got limited practice opportunities during game play. A close look at the data revealed an interesting…

The field of early childhood education is growing tremendously, with states designing and implementing prekindergarten programs and universal preschool throughout the country. This is good news for families of young children as well as for the field. With the resulting increased demand for teachers, however, come serious implications for teacher…