CAPS Teacher Education Off to a Great Start!!

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CAPS Teacher Education provides a transformational environment in which education is studied as a career, as a concept, and as a vehicle for change in the future.  Besides learning attributes of quality teaching and learning environments, students participate in regular collaborative project sessions and plan events outside of the CAPS environment.

Congratulations to Ms. Hannah Spencer, CAPS Teacher Education alumni and current student at the University of Kansas who has been named the recipient of the CAPS 2019 LULA Entrepreneurship Scholarship.  The Lula CAPS Entrepreneurship scholarship is exclusive to students who have successfully completed a CAPS program. Applicants provided transcripts, letter of completion from their CAPS program, resume, and an essay on the topic, “How did the CAPS program help you?

·       Students were also to be enrolled at any 2-year or 4-year university in the Fall of 2019.

  

During the week of September 2, the CAPS Teacher Education students visited Harmony Elementary to view their progressive and flexible physical environment and to discuss how the environment impacts learning and teaching.  They also spent a day at Stanley Elementary, reading to students ranging in age from Kindergarten to fifth grade for National Read a Book Day. 

During the week of September 9, the CAPS Teacher Education students are beginning their “duty assignments” at district elementary schools and soon will be traveling to their “teaching assignments” as well.  For duty assignments, the students travel to one elementary in the distric to help with education activities and responsibilities.  Many assist with car duty, lunch duty, or classroom duties.

On October 9 and 10, Teacher Ed students and Dr. Fry will travel to Pittsburg State University to present to practicing teachers at the Greenbush Teachers Technology Conference.  The student-created presentation will be interactive and is entitled Teachers in Paradise:  A Second Chance for Innovation in Learning.  Students will be presenting twice each day to an audience of teachers and administrators from many Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma school districts.

On November 6, the students will be assisting with hosting the Educators Rising Northeastern Regional Conference at MidAmerica Nazarene University.  Students from Blue Valley CAPS Teacher Education and Olathe’s 21^st Century Future Teacher Academy have worked behind the scenes of the conference to develop theme, branding, web resources, programs, signage, and programming.  In addition, student will be presenting their conference presentation to high school students from across northeast Kansas and will also take part in competitions during the day.  These events will lead up to the Educators Rising state conference to be held at Emporia State University in February.  The logo for the conference was designed by CAPS Digital Design student Chloe Kuckelman.

CAPS Teacher Education already has many projects under way:

·      POZIKC will be selling manipulative dough again this year as a part of our CAPS Teacher Education student-run company, in conjunction with EdCorps and Real World Scholars. 

·      A plan is in the works to assist with curriculum development for autism-awareness puppet presentations for children in conjunction with ChaseKC

·      Dr. Shivers, Director of Elementary Education, Manhattan KS schools and CAPS Teacher Education students will again collaborate to build a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,Math) lesson to be taught to Manhattan 5^th graders virtually by our Teacher Education students.  This year, we will be incorporating alumni who are students in the Teacher Education program at Kansas State University.

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CAPS Teacher Education students will be involved in a research study conducted by LeanLab EDU and Indigo Project.  The study will survey students from various strands at CAPS who will take the Indigo personal assessment to measure

career readiness, self-confidence, and personal direction.  A group of CAPS students will take a 5-hour online course to determine if the content helps to better the students’ career focus, self-awareness, and personal direction.  The study will take place over the Fall semester.

·      CAPS Teacher Education student ambassadors will assist in forming an Educators Rising Club at each of our high schools for students 9-12.  This club’s purpose will be to promote the profession of teaching and to get students involved in educational activities and collaborating with educators and administrators across the district’s schools.  The clubs will be beginning initial activities during September.  http://tinyurl.com/bvedrising

We are excited about what the year will bring to our students and the start of a possible career in education!  Follow us on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/wevegotclass

In "The Changing Face of Teaching," an article in the May 2018 edition of Educational Leadership, authors Ingersoll, Merrill, and Daniel Stuckey present six trends that greatly affect the demographics of teachers today.  Trend 1 Ballooning discusses the increase in teacher hires brought on by smaller elementary class sizes as well as securing teachers in specialized areas which could cause districts financial issues.  Trend 2, Graying, and Trend 3, Greening, discuss both the increase in older teachers retiring and younger teachers entering the workforce.  With both, the trend has seen a downward spiral of teaching experience placed before our students.  The other two trends deal with diversity.  If the trend of teaching as a more female-dominated profession continues, 80% of the teaching force could be female in the near future...not good for elementary students who need male role models. And, in terms of diversity, while there are still many more minority students that minority teachers, there has been more of an increase of minority teachers than white, non-hispanic teachers in the last few years.  All in all, the demographics of the teaching profession are rapidly changing, and this needs to be at the forefront of organizational and hiring practices.

CAPS Teacher Ed Informal Survey Results

In an effort to check in on some of our former student, a survey was released on the CAPS Teacher Education Twitter Account @wevegotclass and the instructor’s Twitter Account @tammyfry, and on the CAPS Teacher Ed Remind and Facebook Groups.

The survey was active for only two days during which 44 CAPS Teacher Ed alumni responded.  Plans are to continue to collect more expansive data.

Of the 44 respondents,

Year of Graduation	Percentage
2010	2.3%
2011	13.6%
2012	6.8%
2013	18.2%
2014	13.6%
2015	11.4%
2016	6.8%
2017	20.5%
2018	6.8%

Of the 44 respondents,

Number of Semesters in CAPS Teacher Ed	Percentage
1	22.7%
2	59.1%
3	4.5%
4	13.6%

Based on years of high school graduation, it is proposed that approximately 60% of those who responded are still students in college.  This slightly slanted the results of how many of the students are actively teaching: 52.3%

86.4% of those still in college indicated that they were planning to teach and/or were currently in a teacher education program.

Colleges represented by respondents:  Avila University, Baker University, Pittsburg State University, Emporia State University, Johnson County Community College, Kansas State University, University of Kansas, University of Central Missouri, Missouri State University, Northwest Missouri State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Nebraska-Kearney

Of those who answered “no” to currently teaching, respondents were still actively working in ancillary positions:

Summer Day Counselor

Substitute Staffing Specialist

Early Childhood Worker

Graduate School student and school substitute

Leadership Consultant (for 2 years) then planning to teach beginning 2020

Student Teaching

Autism ParaEducator

Student

Of those who answered “no” to currently teaching, respondents named the following other career positions:

Construction Science Management

Accounting (mentioning possibly teaching)

Architecture (vacillating between between architecture and art education)

Journalism

Veterinary Technician

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Teacher Education Survey

Data & Results 

5 April 2019

CAPS--WHERE STUDENTS LEAD Premiere

We are getting ready for our premiere of CAPS--Where Students Lead.  We will be able to enjoy this at one of our metro theaters, and we are all excited to share the CAPS model with everyone.  For ten years, I have been part of a progressive, forward-thinking, futuristic, positive teaching environment, and I couldn't be prouder to have a part in such a great organization and network.  The connections my students have made and the opportunities with which they have been presented are really unbelievable.  Thanks to all of my past and current colleagues for helping to build such a great community! And thank you to the Blue Valley School District for its visionary leadership!

Check out the information and view the trailer here:  http://www.wherestudentslead.com

CITIZENS’ DAY, TOPEKA KS January 18, 2019

Taylor Falkner, senior, and third-semester CAPS Teacher Education student presented to state board of education members, legislators, and other Kansas CTE organization officers and sponsors. 

See Taylor's speech here...

Eastern Kansas Regional Educators Rising Conference 2018

"Calling All Teachers" Kansas
Regional Easter Region
Educators Rising Conference
MidAmerica Nazarene U
November 7, 2018

On Wednesday, November 7, CAPS Teacher Education students joined in with a group of over 300 other students, teacher leaders, and administrators, to attend the Kansas Eastern Regional Educators Rising Conference held at Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe, KS.

Opened by student officers, two of which are Taylor Falkner, state co-vice president and current CAPS Teacher Ed student, and Megan Andrievk, current K-State student and CAPS Teacher Ed alum, and members of the planning committee, including Emma Hines, CAPS Teacher Ed student, the conference got off to a great start with keynote speaker Rachael Mann, co-author of The Martians in Your Classroom and founder of Teach Like TED.

The keynote presentation was followed by three sets of sessions, all themed by social media:  "Snap That" focusing on applications that can help students openly discuss their ideas and thoughts on educational activities and featuring ideas to help enhance learning in an innovative way to benefit every student in the classroom, "Tweeter" featuring information about branding and social media Do’s and Don’ts and building one’s digital image, "Find My Path" focusing on encouraging students to think about the opportunities in and magnitude of future career options, "Instacapture" focusing on how students/future teachers can openly share ideas with other students while maintaining a more focused and active engagement in a classroom environment, "Team Time" focusing on how the use of communication tools  allows students to enter a teamwork-based environment, which allows students/future teachers to improve their teamwork skills while also allowing them to engage more openly in classroom settings, "U-Moji" encouraging students and future teachers to create and realize the importance of  their own personal brands in both the business and social world, and "Charge Me" helping to recharge the conference experience with snacks and visit displays on innovation and teaching, including displays by Microsoft, TeachLive, MNU Progressive Technology, a concession stand, and more. Students attended various sessions of their choice throughout the day, and some students competed in education-related competitions.
CAPS Teacher Ed students who placed in competitions:

LESSON PLANNING & DELIVERY
Amanda Epperson, 1st Place
Maddie Nei, 3rd Place

IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
Hanna Patterson, 1st Place
Sal Norris, 3rd Place

ETHICAL DILEMMA
Jada Harper, 2nd Place

TED TALK
Jacqueline Keith, 3rd Place

 CAPS Teacher Ed students also presented their concurrent session:  Relationships, Technology, and Mental Health.  

The conference came to a close with the words of another keynote speaker, Erik Erazo of the Olathe, KS, School District. 




The conference was a great experience for our CAPS Teacher Ed students and all other students in attendance.  CAPS Teacher Education students in attendance (and who presented) were Jacqueline Keith, Madalynn Nei, Hannah Patterson, Maddie Peterson, Christian Spitz, Sean Suchma, McKenzie Allen, Paige Archambault, Cole Clayton, Amanda Epperson, Taylor Falkner, Ally Farris, Katie George, Savannah Greathouse, Jada Harper, Emma Hines, Lorily Mitchell, Sal Norris, Madelyn Slaney, and Macy Talkington. First and second place winners of the competitions will advance to the State Educators Rising Conference to be held on February 27, 2019 at Friends University, Wichita, KS.

“Conversational Leadership is the … intentional use of conversation as a core process to cultivate the collective intelligence needed to create business and social value.”

~ Carolyn Baldwin

On Friday, November 16, CAPS Teacher Education students will connect with students from an elementary classroom in Edmonton-Alberta Canada.  We are planning a Mystery Skype (Microsoft) to share concepts of culture and learning with the students there.  The school uses the Nehiyaw Pimatisiwin Cree Language and Culture Program which provides students with an education that promotes an appreciation of cultural diversity in all aspects of learning.
Our students will engage in a conversation with these students in order to learn about their culture and to share aspects of their own culture in the United States.  The experience proves to be an enriching one for both groups of students.  Dr. Tammy Fry, CAPS Teacher Education Instructor, and Mr. Bryan Strong, 1st Grade teacher at the elementary school in Canada, will guide the students through the conversation process as a means of establishing cultural appreciation and opportunities for deeper learning.

Just another week at CAPS Teacher Ed...

Are you Ready?

Every year, a new group of students walks into the CAPS Teacher Education program in the Blue Valley School District.  Never knowing the students' backgrounds or abilities, it is always a great deal of fun watching emerging leaders and shaping our activities to the interests and passions of each of them.  

Last week, students were able to join other students in the other CAPS Strands for an all-CAPS Hackathon.  The Teacher Ed students worked on varied teams with other CAPS students to come up with solutions for issues presented by some of our business and professional partners!  It was fun listening to all of their pitches, and the clients were blown away by the professionalism of all of the students!

Just this past week, we had our first full week of classroom time.  Though we only had five days, we packed a great deal into our schedules.

• Students brainstormed on topics for presentations of concurrent sessions at conferences and came up with "Relationships, Technology, and Mental Health:  A student-focused conversation" The thoroughness of our discussions is revealed in the conference session description: "Technology has had a positive place in education with its resources for learning and communication, but it also has received negative press considering addictions to devices, time on task, and isolation of students.  Students, however, feel that they are not connected to devices but rather connected to a network and community in which they live. Educators could feel more comfortable with this concept if technology could be viewed as an asset rather than a distraction.  Join us to hear from students on how teachers can leverage technology to not only build better relationships with students and each other, but also as a way to promote mental health, confidence, positivity, and acceptance into a lifelong community of learners.

This session is created by and presented by eleventh and twelfth grade high school students who are a part of a Teacher Education program at the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies.  They work with practicing teachers and their students and also research and study innovations in learning."

We have submitted our proposal to present at the Greenbush Educational Technology Conference this Fall and are now waiting to see if our proposal will be accepted to present.

Students, this week, were also introduced to the professional side of Twitter, many being asked to create a Twitter account just to use with education professionals with whom they associate as a part of our class activities. Time was also spent playing a game of Family Feud and participating in an activity to get to know each other better. In addition, the students went on a virtual scavenger hunt using the Goosechase App, to learn more about the CAPS building and some of the people in it.

All students set up their Educators Rising accounts at educatorsrising.org so that they can collaborate with future and practicing teachers across the nation.

Projects were discussed, and students had an opportunity to designate some as those they might want to pursue because of their interests or passions. We are still coming up with project ideas as well. Some of the projects we are planning are the following:

• WHITEHORSE-working with the Indigo Project on developing curriculum for students of the Navajo Nation who attend school in Utah
• STEM virtual teaching-working with Dr. Lucas Shivers, Director of Elementary Education in Manhattan, KS, to design a STEM workshop for 5th graders and teach it virtually using a Double Robot
• LITERACY project-working with Stanley Elementary on reading strategies and mentoring 5th graders as Instructional Coaches as they work with 2nd graders
• CAPS KIDS--what would happen if we could start our own school?  Many students are interested in researching and looking at the possibilities!
• …and other projects are possibilities as well!

Students also took the INDIGO surveys this week which provides to them information about their strengths, skills areas, and dynamics of group interactions.  We will continue to look at these results as we work with each other and with students and teachers in classrooms.

Very soon, our students will be entering classrooms to work with students and teachers.  After this week's discussions on design thinking, growth and fixed mindsets, and project/problem based learning, our students will have a very authentic approach to working with their students and creating learning activities.

I'm sure this next week will be packed with more incredible genius and fun!  Please watch our website for upcoming events and information: http://tinyurl.com/capsteachered and follow us on Twitter: @wevegotclass

I have seen the future of education,( I see the makers every day), and it is great!

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