Arvind S. Grover is the Dean of Faculty at the Grace Church School in New York City. Arvind attended the University of Michigan where he studied biology and computer science. He went on to the Intensive Master’s Program at Columbia University concentrating in Technology Leadership. Arvind identifies as a constructivist educator. He has found personally, through research, and through his teaching, that students learn best when they discover and construct their own meaning. Check out Arvind’s blog, 21apples, and follow him on Twitter @arvind.

Amber Henrey is currently a 4th grade teacher in Southern California. Her position includes Data Management, Technology Lead, and Technology Commitee Member. She attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for her Bachelors and Credential. She is attending Azusa Pacific University to earn her Masters of Education in Technology and Learning. Check out her site, AmberHenrey.com, where she shares resources for both students and teachers. You can also follow Amber on Twitter @AHenrey.

Dr. Todd Whitaker has been fortunate to be able to blend his passion with his career. Recognized as a leading presenter in the field of education, his message about the importance of teaching has resonated with hundreds of thousands of educators around the world. Todd is a professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, and he has spent his life pursuing his love of education by researching and studying effective teachers and principals. Check out Todd’s website, toddwhitaker.com, and follow him on Twitter @ToddWhitaker.

Laurie Westphal is author of the Differentiating Instruction With Menus series offered via Prufrock Press. The series offers teachers everything needed to create a student-centered learning environment based on choice. The books provide several different types of menus that students can use to select exciting products that they will develop so teachers can assess what has been learned—instead of using a traditional worksheet format. Check out Laurie’s blog, Let’s Talk Differentiation, and follow her on Twitter @GTConsultant.

Jessica Lahey teaches English, Latin, and composition at Crossroads Academy, blogs for the Core Knowledge Foundation, and is a contributor to several magazines and newspapers. She spends any free time she can find writing her book, Great Expectations and Hard Times: Coming of Age in the Middle. Jessica earned her B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Massachusetts in 1992 and her J.D. in Law from the University of North Carolina in 2000. Check out Jessica’s blog, Coming of Age in the Middle, and follow her on Twitter @jesslahey.

Safina Noorani is a life-long learner, department head and teacher from Aurora, ON. She hosts a blog entitled Emerging Thoughts, whose mission is learning to unlearn how to teach and relearn what learning is all about. Her latest post discusses developing a cultural consciousness. Safina argues that maintaining a healthy understanding what defines one’s own culture is a vital aspect of learning that is currently lacking as a priority to the 21st century student. Check out Safina’s blog and follow her on Twitter @SafinaN.

Dan Mourlam is the Technology Specialist for the Teacher Quality Partnership at the University of Northern Iowa. His blog, Technology Tips, offers general educational technology guidance and information. Dan’s initial mission as a tech blogger was to let the faculty/staff at his school know more about technology resources that were available to them at the school and over time has evolved into more of an advocate blog for technology and education. Check out Dan’s blog and follow him on Twitter @dmourlam.

Lauren Scheller graduated from Rutgers with a double major in Biological Sciences and French. As an elementary and secondary science teacher, Lauren became the initiator and foremost authority in inquiry and project-based learning and differentiated instruction at her school. Upon transitioning to teaching French, Lauren’s student-centered approach contributed to the development of thematic-based unit plans with a focus on 21st century skill development and performance-based assessment. Check out Lauren’s blog and follow her on Twitter @Lauren_Scheller.

Dr. Nicola Ward Petty has taught business statistics and operations research at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand for over twenty years. She was awarded a university teaching award in 2006 and has mentored other faculty, and developed innovative and successful courses to help people who find quantitative subjects difficult. Nicola loves to teach just about anything. She has insider knowledge on Autism through her family. Nicola also develops iPhone apps that teach and she helped invent the Rogo puzzle. Check out Nicola’s blog and follow her on Twitter @RogoNic.

Aaron Mueller is an online educator with the Vancouver School Board. He is a founding member of The Buzz, a social media blog of the Vancouver Learning Network (VLN). VLN is the largest virtual school in British Columbia, with thousands of students taking courses as part of their high school graduation requirements. Aaron is passionate about online learning, social media, Web 2.0 and developing PLN! Check out Aaron’s personal website and follow him on Twitter @aaronmueller.

Other Posts

• Learning from your classmates
• My surprise? The overall quality of the MAT@USC and the Rossier School of Education.
• Advice for New Students Beginning The Framing Experience
• Irene Villanueva

Hello! I am a part-time MAT TESOL student in the April 2010 cohort, and my experience in the MAT@USC has been absolutely amazing! For two years, I have managed to balance graduate school with working part time for a real estate investor, teaching children’s yoga and theater, and parenting a very, very cute 5-year-old boy. In my spare time I love to paddleboard on any open waterway I can find!

I have been teaching theater, yoga and dance for 12 years. Most of my background has been in theater and event production, having performed and produced theater in New York City, Chicago, Austin, Bali, London and Amman. I am quite interested in three areas in teaching these days:

• 1. Finding new ways to integrate arts and multimedia into the ESL classroom;
• 2. Creating innovative teaching with little to no resources;
• 3. Promoting learner autonomy through cooperative learning.

As a TESOL student, I truly believe in the power of education and cultural connections to promote global citizenship as a catalyst for peace and understanding around the world.

I have lived abroad in the United Kingdom and Jordan, and I have travelled to Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain, Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Slovakia, Palestine/Israel and my favorite… India! (Almost a tie with Indonesia.) I produced many performance art events in New York City, including a multimedia rooftop/subway experience performed in a blizzard, and a time travel radio event between Amman, Jordan and New York City sponsored by Zipcar as part of the East Village HOWL Festival. My most recent and proud work is directing an original verson of “The Three Little Pigs,” written and performed by 3- to 6-year-olds.

While living in Amman, Jordan, I was the event coordinator for the World Culture Forum, a yearly event held to discuss the socioeconomic impact of culture, as well as to advocate for open dialogue and freedom of expression. I was in charge of planning plenary sessions, seminars, workshops, artistic performances, exhibitions and film screenings. The menagerie of people that I collaborated with at WCF, from artists to ambassadors, taught me that anything is possible with the right approach and respect for others.

Through my experience as an artist, educator, and advocate of cultural diplomacy, I seek to empower students to become creative and autonomous learners, to take action for their beliefs and to embrace adversity as a means to strength.

I really cannot say enough good things about my two years in the MAT@USC. The program has been all encompassing by combining online learning with classroom practicum. Completing the program on the part-time track has given me more time for self reflection as a teacher, and more time to process and put into action all of the content, theories, strategies and critical reflection I’ve been exposed to in the program. My favorite part has been putting practice into action and working with the students in my classroom observations.

This semester, I am working with adult TESOL students, and everyday I am truly inspired by their hard work as they strive to reach their language learning goals. I look forward to using my TESOL degree to teach in more countries abroad and to learn about their cultures. Additionally, I hope to start a non-profit organization that connects students in the United States with students abroad through multimedia projects over the Internet. I am always interested in connecting with colleagues about TESOL education, theater, yoga, and paddleboarding, so please feel free to email me at shannomr@usc.edu! Thanks!

Go Trojans!

Other Posts

• Nebraska
• South Carolina
• Hawaii
• Rosa Valdes

There are numerous teaching fellowships available, and perhaps just as many ways to go about your search. The resources MAT@USC offers can prove helpful, as can teaching conventions, connections through friends and even a simple Internet search — but with the rise of networking through social media, a new method of job searching is emerging. Facebook and Twitter are excellent platforms to search for teaching fellowships. Many organizations have their own social media pages, and adding them or subscribing to their updates allows them to share important and timely information with you.

There are online groups of alumni that you can join on Facebook and Twitter. By networking with people who graduated from USC in previous years, for example, you can learn about where they found fellowships and build connections that might give you a competitive advantage. MAT@USC’s social media assets or those of the career center might also post such opportunities.

Certain social media platforms are geared more towards building and maintaining professional connections. LinkedIn, for example, is emerging as the world’s largest professional network. People use LinkedIn to build a professional online presence, and more employers are using LinkedIn every day to search for potential employees. You’re probably also aware of the Educator’s PLN, a personal learning network that serves as an extensive online community for educators to come together and learn from one another. The site features forums to discuss education topics, an events calendar to keep you informed of important conferences, seminars and conventions, and groups geared towards special interests. Edutopia is another network similar to Educator’s PLN. An additional site you should acquaint yourself with is Idealist.org, where non-profit organizations post job and volunteer opportunities for people interested in public service.

Now that you know where to look, it’s important to know how to look. Searching on Facebook or Educator’s PLN for teaching fellowships can yield as many broad results as searching on Google. It’s important to have an idea in mind of your ideal fellowship to help narrow it down by location, benefits, subject area or grade level. For example: If you know you want to teach sciene, the National Science Foundation offers fellowships; alternatively, if you’re more interested in instructing mathematics, looking into the fellowships offered by Math for America. If location is more important to your search, some regional groups, like the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows, have a page as well.

Joining particular groups on a social media platform is a good idea because it places you in a network apt to have information relative to your interests. Joining your school’s alumni group on Facebook, for example, puts you in touch with people you may already know, people with the same degree and career goals as you, and people with whom it is easier to sustain your connection. Specific groups on Educator’s LPN, such as the Teacher Mentoring Project, may have information as well.

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• Teaching Certification Programs by State
• Meet the MAT@USC 2010 Graduates: Lauren Gipe
• Full-Time Au Pair & Full-Time Student
• Meet the MAT@USC Grads | Sigrid Wilson | Waikoloa, HI

The extra money you raise for your students can be put towards things that enhance their education. You can fund a field trip to a museum or historical site, bring in a speaker to lecture the class and purchase supplies that are essential to learning, such as textbooks, computers, visual aids, crafts, chemistry sets or an expensive piece of technology, like a Smart Board. The possibilities are endless, and so too are the ways to raise the necessary funds. Traditional fundraisers include bake sales, car washes, school dances, school fairs and book sales — but don’t be afraid to try your own special methods as well.

Brainstorming ideas and pulling resources can seem daunting, but fortunately there are many tools that can help you begin your fundraiser. Teacher Planet, a popular website for educators, has an entire page with articles suggesting fundraising ideas and even a link to a free downloadable e-book, Best School Fundraisers. There are also sites like Teachnology and even an online fundraising newsletter. The New York City Department of Education’s Fund for Public Schools also published this useful Fundraising Tool Kit that walks you through every step of the process.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/

There are also organizations that can you can join to receive funding directly. One popular website, Adopt-A-Classroom, has raised over $16.3 million for 3.59 million students across the country. If you are interested, all you have to do is register your classroom on the site. Donors are able to select a classroom through various criteria, and if they pick yours, 100% of their donation goes towards your students so you can purchase whatever resources you need. There is complete transparency between you and the donor, which allows you to communicate openly with them and hopefully form a relationship that will benefit your students throughout the school year. DonorsChoose.org is another site that allows you to register your classroom and communicate with donors. On this site, rather than just posting information about your classroom, you post the specific projects you wish to fund.

Whatever your fundraising needs, there are places where you can turn that realize the importance of enhancing education and helping great teachers provide more for their students. All you have to do is try!

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• Finding a Teaching Fellowship Through Social Media
• Brandon Martinez
• My Journey with USC
• Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Getting a Master’s in ESL

I began to suspect something was wrong when he turned 3. His speech was delayed and his emotions were out of control. We were having difficulty finding him play dates and trips to the local McDonald’s resulted in fights with other parents over my son’s tendency to hit, kick or bite when cornered.

Photo by Lance Neilson (www.flickr.com/photos/wactout81/)

I fought to have him tested for a year after I began to suspect something was wrong. I fought harder after I began reading about Autism Spectrum Disorders, then I fought hardest when I enrolled him at the same preschool where I’m currently teaching.

I took the job so I could watch over my son and keep him safe. I turned down job offers for more money with benefits in middle schools and high schools to make sure my son would have the best care and curriculum for his needs. Then the pin dropped: Teachers in preschool have no formal training standards for teaching Autistic children.

I am the only teacher at my son’s preschool with formal education in both teaching and teaching children with special needs. My son’s current teacher has no experience teaching Autistic children; none, and she’s been teaching at this school for seven years. The director has no formal education specific to teaching, curriculum or education, and although she has taught two Autistic students during her career, she has never been directly educated on the subject nor the most effective current practices.

Currently, preschools are regulated as daycare centers and not as schools. There are no national standards for preschools, and local standards vary from state to state. This can lead to children being abused and neglected out of ignorance, and it must stop.
—

Most children are being identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder between the ages of 7 and 11. At this point, the child’s self-esteem and grades have been negatively impacted, and he or she will require more therapy in order to enter the mainstream student population. I am among a minority; my son is four-and-a-half and was just given a diagnosis by a school district. He is receiving therapy and will be given special support after I enroll him into our local elementary school.

Research indicates that it is much easier to intervene the younger the child is and begin effective therapy options sooner, rather than later. But what therapies are most effective?

Schools employ Occupational and Speech Therapists. Their techniques are effective and available through public schools, depending on funding and legislation. There is also a holistic style of therapy, called “The Handle Approach.” Judith Bluestone, an Autistic woman herself, created this form of therapy and founded the Handle Institute, which trains facilitators and therapists in her techniques. She based her therapy on her own insights into Autism. She also wrote a book called The Fabric of Autism: Weaving the Threads into a Cogent Theory that sheds light into how Autistic children think, feel and act, and, more importantly, why they behave in the ways they do. She also demands that the people who care for, teach and try to help those who have Autism Spectrum Disorders learn to see the world through their eyes before doing more harm than good.

Photo by Camera Eye Photography (www.flickr.com/photos/camera_is_a_mirror_with_memory/)

His problems have always been social. He cannot understand all the social cues that come at him on a daily basis in rapid succession. He also struggles with his speech. This goes beyond cute speech impediments, like “hospible.” There are times, many throughout every day, when he simply cannot remember the vocabulary he needs to communicate or the sentence structure necessary to put his thoughts into a cohesive form. Just in the last month he has begun saying “I can’t remember what that called” and “say the name” as he points to an object. He used to become frustrated and angry very quickly, and give up on what he was trying to say. Now he stops and asks for specific help. I am then able to fill in the blanks of what he’s trying to say, and he can relax long enough to complete his thought.

I’m learning that Asperger’s is really about a failure to communicate. I am helping to build my son’s vocabulary and sentence structure as his first teacher. I am fighting to get him the support he needs in school. I am choosing to be his voice until he is able to speak for himself.

Please join me and my son in giving Autism a voice. Go to Autism Speaks, and see how you can help. If you’re a teacher, consider educating yourself on the symptoms of Autism. With 1 in 110 children, and 1 in 70 boys, having some form of Autism, the odds are they’re already in your classroom or soon will be. If no one has identified them yet, will you be prepared to talk to parents, administrators and colleagues? Will you know how to differentiate for these special, amazing and challenging students? Will you harm or help? It’s up to you.

Other Posts

• A Class Act: My Ninth Grade Class
• A Salute to the MAT@USC
• Teaching with enthusiasm…
• The Framing Experience

I started the MAT@USC with the September 2010 Cohort. When I began the program, I was a full-time fourth grade teacher at a private school in Los Angeles, a full-time mother of two-year-old twin girls and a full-time wife. I realized that focusing on my education was important, however, it was extremely difficult to balance a career, family and school. I switched to the part-time route and will complete the program with my Master’s in Teaching and Credential in May 2012.

I earned my liberal studies bachelor degree at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2007. Upon graduation, I was hired as a fourth grade teacher for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles School. There, I worked with wonderful students who allowed me to gain experience in the classroom. I was there for four years before resigning last June. Although my experience in the classroom had given me the opportunity to grow as a professional and an instructor, the MAT@USC program reignited my passion for genuine learning experiences for diverse students in our local public schools.

Growing up in inner city Culver City, California, I have experienced firsthand the challenges facing our minority youth today. The MAT@USC is helping me reach my goal of becoming a genuine teacher who can make a difference for these children by being a role model from their own community. I want to make positive impressions on my students and inspire in them aspirations they might not have otherwise possessed.

The professors in the MAT@USC have taught me theoretical perspectives that will ensure I am successful in my diverse classrooms. The program has challenged me to reflect and learn more about who I really am as a person, and how my own beliefs have an impact in my classroom. I know that, by the end of the program, I will be ready to embark on a teaching career and feel confident that I will be a successful teacher.

Becoming a part of the Trojan family is a dream come true. As a girl, I always imagined what it would feel like to be accepted into such a prestigious school. Graduating from USC will be one of the proudest moments of my life. My twin daughters have been my inspiration to make the greatest effort and to work hard in accomplishing my goals. This journey couldn’t have been possible without the support of my husband and family.

MAT@USC has changed my life tremendously. In the future, I hope to reach out to the Los Angeles urban population and make a difference, one student at a time. The MAT@USC has taught me to be a passionate, creative and confident teacher for our 21st century youth. It has inspired me to incorporate technology in my classroom to engage students and cultivate a more meaningful learning experience.

Although my journey has not been easy, I am willing to share my story in hopes of inspiring my students to always believe in themselves. “Never give up on your dreams and always believe” will be my classroom motto.

Fight On!

Kareli Rodriguez

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• Pat Gallagher
• MAT@USC Commencement Live Streams
• Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week: #TAW2011
• Academic Nourishment

The semester has started! And wow, I am loving my classes so far! We are learning about all sorts of educational theories, how to best teach in multicultural classrooms and the wonderful types of new media technologies we can integrate into our future lessons.

This semester I have classes three days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Monday morning in Los Angeles is Monday evening in Berlin, so I am taking all of my classes after I finish work in the evenings. Currently, I am working as an au pair, looking after a two-and-a-half-year-old boy and an eight-month-old baby girl. I work five days each week, mornings through afternoons, and it equals a total of 30 hours per week (this amount is restricted by VISA restrictions).

While I love school and my job, managing my classes and workload often feels like having two full-time jobs. In order to balance everything, I keep 80 percent of my weekends clear for schoolwork, and having a class on Saturday night helps keep me in check. As I recently moved to Europe, I am anxious to take trips and explore during weekends — however, trips are something I have to promise myself as a bonus treat at the end of the semester. My extra time in the evenings are all about reading and reading (I have to say that twice because I do it so much!), and keeping up with assignments and papers.

I try my best to stay balanced and positive in order to not get too overwhelmed. I make sure I plan a few workouts a week (currently I am training for a 5k), get as much rest as possible and eat lots of healthy meals in order to stay balanced. I also try to focus on the little things that bring me joy throughout the day to maintain a positive attitude. Rather than think, “After work, I still have to work out, read and work on my paper for an hour,” I adapt my attitude. I try to think, “Yes, I have finished work and now I am halfway done!  Next, I get to space out and rock out to awesome music on the treadmill, then I get to get cozy on my couch with an awesome read about education today. Finally, I can pound out my paper for an hour, and reward myself with some dessert and an episode of my favorite comedy.” I also try to take a moment, after a long day, to ruminant on my elevated feelings of accomplishment. Of course, if I am feeling really overwhelmed, I can always talk with my boyfriend, and he helps me to remember that this experience is a blessing, that I have a wonderful life now, and a bright and beautiful future to look forward to.

So good luck to everyone else that is currently participating in the MAT@USC! I would love to hear any other tips or tricks you have for staying focused, balanced and positive, so please feel free to comment below or to e-mail me at lomazzi@usc.edu.

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• How to Prepare for Your EDUC 516 Class: The Framing Experience
• Upcoming Testing Information
• Engaging students in texts
• The Little Slideshow That Could

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• MAT@USC Commencement Recap
• Sundt and Ephraim To Talk MAT at Stanford
• Student Facebook requests: Accept or Decline?
• Indiana

Enjoy the below Tweets from the day!

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• Jon Eyler
• The Intersection of Research and Practice
• Obama Talks Education: State of the Union Recap
• Florida

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• Learning from fellow students
• President Obama Recognizes Importance of Teachers During State of the Union
• I’m a blogger!
• Brandon Martinez

Digital Learning Day is the kick-off of a yearlong campaign to celebrate teachers who are innovative in their use of digital learning. The goal of the campaign is to “expand innovation into every city, town, school and classroom in America.” The focus of Digital Learning Day is on digital tools that provide students with rich personalized educational experiences. The day’s events will showcase successful uses of technology in educational settings while encouraging students, teachers and administrators to “try something new.”

The Alliance for Excellent Education, a non-profit advocacy group, describes digital learning as any form of instruction that makes effective use of technology to strengthen the student learning experience. The tools of digital learning range from online tests to online content and courses to software applications that support the learning process. Digital learning also encompasses the concept of blended learning, which mixes traditional brick-and-mortar classroom instruction with material delivered online and accessed at the student’s convenience.

Two major national events are scheduled for Digital Learning Day:

• The Digital Learning Day Webcast (9 A.M. – 12 P.M. EST) will feature video footage of educators from across the nation discussing different applications of digital technology. Classroom demonstrations of instructional strategies for science, languages and social studies will be shown. A portion of the webcast will also be dedicated to the use of digital technology for teacher preparation and professional development.

• The Digital Learning National Town Hall Meeting (1 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. EST) will include live interaction via Skype with schools around the country, profiling teachers who are leading innovative projects that demonstrate the effective use of digital technology in the classroom. The Town Hall will also feature a special joint announcement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The Webcast and Town Hall Meeting will be available online for later viewing by other U.S. time zones.

A variety of state and local events are scheduled for Digital Learning Day. In California, the California Writing Project is hosting a live event in Sacramento called Writing Our Future that will celebrate digital learning of writing. In Michigan, a kick-off will be held for a yearlong initiative called The Year of the Digital Learner. Kansas will have Digital Learning Day Open Houses at schools across the state. A complete list of state Digital Learning Day events is available on the Digital Learning Day website.

Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia and a member of the Digital Learning Council, stated in Education News, “Digital Learning Day is more than just a day. It is about building a digital learning movement that provides teachers with better tools to truly provide a quality education for every child.”

Complete information about Digital Learning Day is available at www.DigitalLearningDay.org. Teachers, students, parents, school administrators and educational leaders can officially become a part of National Learning Day by registering on the website. Those interested in the event can also visit the Digital Learning Day Facebook page and follow the event’s Twitter chat by using the #DLDay hashtag.

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• I Get By With A Little Help…
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Yesterday, I watched a fourth grade teacher teach a lesson on fractions. She used a PowerPoint presentation to teach the children. Everyone was bored with the lesson, including the teacher. She was also frustrated. She spent 22 minutes trying to get them to pay attention, she told them, and now they were behind the other fourth grade classes. I couldn’t help remembering the times I used PowerPoint with older students and watched their eyes glaze over as time passed. These students did not sit patiently and wait for the presentation to finish. Instead, they talked among themselves and fidgeted in their seats — a few even walked around the room without permission.

The problem was that she did not use the right tool for the job. PowerPoints and fourth graders do NOT mix. This class was a classic example of “Death by PowerPoint.”

A PowerPoint is just as useful in education as television: Both require passive recipients of information; students just sit there and watch the teacher read from the slide and make some notes using the SMART-Board pen. This was not even the teacher’s PowerPoint; this was from a canned mathematics program that all the teachers at this school are using.

So, there were two problems here:

• 1. The students were bored because they were passive recipients of information rather than active learners.
• 2. The PowerPoint was not based on where the students are in their understanding of math, but where some educators think they should be.

What have I learned from this experience? Well, I am more committed than ever to active and collaborative learning. I have seen firsthand, again, the effect of extensive lecturing on the students’ ability to focus on the lesson. We are teaching a generation of “doers,” digital natives who are used to manipulating devices and objects. We must respond to their skills by building lessons that use those strengths to help them learn.

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• Oklahoma
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Carrie Gelson is a grade 2/3 teacher based out of Vancouver, B.C. Along with her teaching partner, Ms. Hibbert, she runs the Seymour Division 5 blog. This site was created as a resource for parents to keep track of the class schedule and maintain active participation in their children’s learning experience. While Carrie doesn’t believe homework is appropriate for primary aged students, she strongly believes that her students should foster a healthy love for reading and set aside 15-20 minutes a day for independent reading. Check out Carrie’s blog and follow her on Twitter @CarrieGelson.

Dayna Laur has been a high school social studies teacher in Pennsylvania for twelve years. She currently teaches Advanced Placement U.S. Government, U.S. History, and Law. She has her National Board Certification, a B.A. in History from Virginia Tech, an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.S. in 21st Century Teaching and Learning from Wilkes University. Find out more about Dayna at her site, laurprofessional, and follow her on Twitter @daylynn.

Brian Robison is an online education expert who mentors and trains professionals worldwide. He received his Masters Degree in Criminal Justice Administration in 2000 from Ferris State University in Big Rapids Michigan. Brian has over a decade of law enforcement experience and has been teaching online since 2004. He is a prominent educator and well respected in the online education environment. Brian hosts the E-Learning Blog which shares practical tips and tricks to help take your e-learning to the next level. Check out The E-Learning Blog and follow Brian on Twitter @E_learningblog.

Marilyn Curtain-Phillips is a dedicated high school mathematics teacher who has a passion for helping students overcome their math anxieties. She has published the book MATH ATTACK: How To Reduce Math Anxiety In The Classroom, At Work And In Everyday Personal Use and published various articles. Bringing her expertise to the digital space, Marilyn created a site for MATH ATTACK whose mission is committed to reducing math anxiety by providing effective math learning tools and knowledge to students, parents and educators. Check out her site and follow Marilyn on Twitter @MarilynCurtain.

Hailing from Abruzzo, Italy, Janet Bianchini is a freelance teacher/teacher trainer with a passion for teaching and an unquenchable thirst for new knowledge. When she is not teaching, learning new things or writing her blog, Janet loves to spend time in her rather wild garden and also look after an ever increasing motley crew of Anglo-Italian furkids. She also hosts janet’s abruzzo edublog, a blog of random thoughts on ELT, Web 2.0 tools and about her life in the spectacularly beautiful region of Abruzzo with her menagerie. Check out Janet’s blog and follow her on Twitter @janetbianchini.

Dr. Ilona Buchem works as senior researcher, lecturer and coordinator at Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. She studied Applied Linguistics, Communication Sciences and Educational Sciences at the University of Warsaw (Poland), Concordia University (WI, USA) and University Duisburg-Essen (Germany). She graduated with a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics. She studied (post-graduate) Educational Sciences at Humboldt University in Berlin, where she obtained her PhD degree (Dr. phil.) in Adult and Vocational Education. Ilona hosts a blog about learning with social media, Mediendidaktik 2.0. Check out her blog and follow Ilona on Twitter @mediendidaktik.

Annie Murphy Paul tweets about how we learn and how we can do it better. She is the author of Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives and is at work on a book about the science of learning. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Discover, and Health. Annie also has a weekly column on Time.com about learning. Her most recent column discusses how our minds are filled with folk science and how it gets in the way of real learning. Follow Annie on Twitter @anniemurphypaul.

Vanessa Cassie is an Education Consultant for Sharp’s AV, an audio visual solutions provider based out of Calgary, AB. A former high school Social Studies teacher, Vanessa prides herself on being a social media geek and new mom. Her latest blog post for Sharp’s AV discusses the growing entry of iPads into the classroom setting. The post highlights Apple’s Digital AV Adapter which allows iPads and iPhones to be mirrored onto a television set – perfect for viewing presentations or videos in class. Vanessa is also a lover of all things tech, sports and political. Follow Vanessa on Twitter @VanessaSCassie.

Jennifer Sommerness is an educational consultant, teacher and advocate with a background in inclusive education, educational administration, and staff development. She works with teachers, administrators and families to create collaborative school cultures and engaging school experiences for all learners. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to work with and serve as a research and teaching assistant to her advisor and mentor, Dr. Jennifer York-Barr, at the University of Minnesota. Check out Jennifer’s blog and follow her on Twitter @JenSommerness.

Theresa Day followed a career in Fashion for 12 years, from designing to personal image consulting. She has worked with some of the leading names in the industry. Theresa also explored the hydraulic and electronic industries. Her marketing, life coaching and DreamBoard expert qualifications have given Theresa the ability to work with so many diverse individuals using a variety of coaching methods that are uplifting, motivating and filled with a pace that is exciting, fun and packed with rewards. Check out Theresa’s site, AbstrACT Coaching and follow her on Twitter @AbstrACTCoach.

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(Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)

Increase corporate training partnerships with colleges
President Obama cited a single mother from North Carolina as an example of how businesses should be teaming with colleges in order to provide classes that will equip students and the unemployed with the skills they need to land a job. Jackie Bray was laid off from her job as a mechanic, but with the help of a partnership formed between Central Piedmont Community College and Siemens, she was able to enroll in a laser and robotics training course. This put Jackie in a position to receive a job offer from Siemens to help operate a plant they had recently opened in Charlotte, NC. Siemens also paid for Jackie’s training course. Obama emphasized that this should be the natural course of events for unemployed citizens across the country. Our unemployment system should be streamlined such that it becomes more of a re-employment system that citizens look to in an effort to head to a new job.

Reward great teachers who inspire; replace those who stifle learning
The president noted that, for the first time in a generation, we’ve managed to convince every state to increase their standards for teaching and learning, a feat that cost us less than one percent of what the United States spends each year on education. He also acknowledged that thousands of teachers have been laid off due to tight budgets across the states; in order to remedy this, the president proposed that the government offer schools a deal. The terms? Give schools the resources they need in order to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best ones. In return, schools will be given the flexibility to teach students with the creativity and passion needed to impart validated learning. This will also give schools incentives to replace teachers who are simply not helping students.

Raise the standards of education to keep kids in school
President Obama reminded his audience that one of the key factors in maintaining good graduation rates is requiring students to stay in school. To that end, the President called upon states to increase their requirements on school attendance to keep students in school at least through high school or age 18.

Increase student aid and budget allocation for higher learning across states
The president implored Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling in July. He also recommends that we extend the student tuition tax credit and increase the number of work-study jobs to double over the next five years. Obama admitted that continuing to subsidize increasing tuition costs is not a solution to the problem. That is why he called upon states yet again to do their part by making higher learning a bigger priority within their respective budgets. Additionally, he put colleges and universities on notice to find whatever ways they can to keep tuition costs from rising. Obama warned that if they are unable to do so, it will decrease the amount of funding they receive from taxpayers.

Take on the issue of illegal immigration
Another point President Obama made regarding the nation’s education challenges is that many of the immigrants currently in the United States were brought here as children and are just as American as the next native born citizen. The President explained that it makes no sense for us to allow these individuals to learn in the United States if we’re just going to deport them once their education is completed; it detracts from the amount of innovations and jobs that could be created for our country had we allowed for these immigrants to stay after graduation.
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While this country still has quite a way to go in solving all of our education-related problems, we certainly have enough on our plate to keep us busy for the time being. What other measures do you think we can take to overcome our education roadblocks? Let us know in the comments section!

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Just before the holidays, I was fortunate to join a roundtable discussion with education leaders as part of the California State STEM Task Force. Chaired by 11th District Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, our task force is charged with refining California’s state-wide vision for STEM education in California and creating an action plan that will improve the instruction of STEM disciplines. There were superintendents, chancellors, Chevron leaders, teachers, capitol staffers and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory employees. So what did we chat about?

One of the things we talked about was instruction. California kids need more minutes of science instruction and more engaging lessons — USC students, does this sound familiar? As an MAT grad, one of the most exciting things to hear on this topic was Assemblywoman Bonilla say, “A lot of what needs to be done will not take place in a traditional classroom.” It was refreshing to know that an elected leader — a teacher herself — was onto the idea that our education system, designed for 19th century industrialism, needs to undergo a major transformation.

What might a science classroom revitalized to train 21st century workers look like? How about an Inventatorium? In the Summer/Fall 2011 issue of Futures (the USC Rossier School of Education magazine), I read an article in which my former professor, Dr. Gary Scott, discusses a moment of cognitive disequilibrium he had while visiting the Exploratorium in San Francisco. He realized that the engaging aspects of the Exploratorium needed to be connected to students’ creativity and invention abilities. So he brought the idea to the 93rd Street School in L.A. and the Inventatorium was born. The whole idea is built on creation: Kids can build structures, motions, machines and navigation-stargazing into activities. Scott hit the nail on the head when he observed: “When kids establish emotional connections to STEM concepts through their inventions, they will be more likely to fully engage in STEM subjects in school and consider careers in STEM fields later in life.”

So instead of lectures on Newton’s three laws of motion, there must be design challenges in our classrooms. And at the head of that classroom, there has to be a superb STEM teacher. We all know that President Obama has called for 100,000 new STEM teachers in the next decade. Through the “100K in 10” partnership, a powerful private/public collaboration is trying to address this challenge via goals like recruiting and preparing highly skilled individuals to enter the field of STEM teaching. I would love to know the strategies that will be employed to achieve this goal — higher salaries? Consistent engaging professional development? Being part of a National Science Service Corps? As a USC alum, it is thrilling to know that Rossier Dean Karen Symms Gallagher is part of the “100K in 10” partnership; perhaps she will share the new developments with the Rossier community as they unfold.

Another topic that came up at our roundtable was post-secondary degree training at community colleges. Chancellor Helen Benjamin of the Contra Costa Community College District offered many valuable insights on this topic. One of the things Professor Benjamin talked about was how some of the 1.7 million California community college students could benefit from taking 9-12 units in reading, math and writing that directly relates to auto, electronics and other engineering specialties. This thought made sense to me; writing is about thinking, so if we can get our students to see the writing process as being part of their craft, we may develop a whole new generation of students who love to write — and to think!

We talked about much more: how to incentivize schools to move to pathway programs and why we need to change the 12th grade curriculums at many of our public schools. And of course, how we need to work together to advance, strengthen and support STEM education in California and beyond. The time is now!

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