Graduate Education Courses

Future Education Course Offerings

NOTE: This is a tentative schedule for planning purposes. Some courses may need to be offered during other terms or days. Fall and spring courses are offered in the evening from 5:00-7:30 with a few exceptions beginning 30 minutes earlier or later. Contact Karen Abbott, kabbott@smcvt.edu, directly with any questions.

Summer 2015 Graduate Education Courses

Courses offered, dates, and times subject to change.  Summer registration for accepted students starts February 2nd and March 2nd for all others.  Paper registration form found under "Academic Forms".

GED 508A Success for All Students (3cr.)

Instructors:  Ms. Glenn Patterson & Andrea Griffin

GED 508B Success for All Students (2cr.)

Instructors:  Ms. Glenn Patterson & Andrea Griffin

This course is designed for any adult supporting students who struggle in school. Participants will discuss and review strategic plans and learning opportunities for individual students in regular education classes.  The course will focus on: effective strategies for keeping struggling students engaged in learning, systems to keep students in classrooms which include safety and transition plans; and ways to involve parents and families in the learning process.  Together we will explore the best approaches for working with students who have a variety of needs including students with ADHD, ASD, emotional disturbance, who are display oppositional behaviors, and students who have experienced trauma.  Assignments will include daily reflections, journal entries, and a short synopsis of a past, current, or incoming student and a set of new approaches or strategies to try with the student.

GED 520 Child and Adolescent Development (3cr.)

Instructor: Janet Stearns

This course provides an analysis of developmental theories for school-age children and adolescents. Students will examine specifics of cognitive, social, emotional, moral and physical development. Stages and theories will be reviewed from an interdisciplinary perspective and related to implications for learning.

GED 526A: Neuroscience, Mindfulness, and Sustainability: Implications for the K-12 Classroom (3 cr.)

Instructor: Sam Crowell

GED 526B Bringing Student Learning Forward through Effective Intervention (3 cr.)

Instructor:  Matt Hajdun

Today’s classrooms are more diverse, and the academic expectations are higher than ever before. Our ever changing classrooms bring about increasing levels of student need which we can address through effective differentiation and intervention.  The emphasis of the course is on decomposing the practice of intervention into its critical components and reviewing the research on best practices for each aspect.  The course will explore the role of assessment in the intervention process and how to use assessment data to form targeted groups along learning continuums.  Participants will examine how differentiation fits into an intervention model, and construct a practical framework for including the RTI model in their classroom/school.  In a summative project, students will design their own academic intervention including the assessments and supports needed for students below, meeting and above the grade level expectation.

GED 535 Children's Literature: Author and Illustrator Study (3cr.)

Instructor: Anita Silvey

After the instructor presents the components of a successful picture book, seven author-illustrators will be traced from their first book to their final work -- Virginia Lee Burton, James Marshall, Ezra Jack Keats, Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle, David Wiesner, and Laura Vacarro Seeger. Class members will read and evaluate the works of these creators and in the final class present an author study. Drawing on forty years of experience in publishing and reviewing books, Anita Silvey will model different approaches to author units and help each student execute a final project that can be used in the classroom or library.

GED 542 Differentiated Curriculum in the K-12 Classroom (3cr.)

Instructor: Beth Peterson

Students will explore the principles and elements of differentiated instruction, a term identified and defined by the work of Carol Tomlinson.  Students will also learn basic elements of Understanding by Design and the connections between the two ideas.  We will study instructional and management strategies that help teachers respond to students according to their readiness, interests, and learning profiles. We will focus on ways to differentiate the content, the learning process and products for all students. We will use the Vermont Grade Level Expectations or the Common Core. This course is specifically designed for practicing classroom teachers.

GED 558 Educator as Researcher (3cr.)

Instructor: James Nagle

This course introduces educators to the world of educational research so that they will be able to read qualitative and quantitative studies intelligently, and design and conduct teacher action research projects. The overall purpose of this course is to prepare educators to use educational research methods as investigative tools to address educational issues. Beginning with an overview of the epistemological assumptions behind different kinds of research approaches, the course will explore various types of research methods. Educators will develop skills in research design, data collection and analysis to create a research proposal for their capstone project. Required writing assessment for Candidacy included in course.

GED 595 Launching & Developing a Writers’ Workshop in the Elementary Grades (3cr.)

Instructor: Libby Bonesteel

This course explores the components of writing workshop in the elementary grades (K-6). Participants focus on the structures on workshop teaching; learning the continuum of strategies writers draw from and how to teach those within a conference or small group; planning at the unit, whole group, small group, and individual levels; giving productive feedback to students; and changing our mindsets to support the most challenged writers. Participants will be designing a unit of study to put in action in their classrooms. The Common Core will be studied as a document that centers the work within the writing workshop. TEXTS: The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (And They're All Hard Parts), Katie Wood Ray w/ Lester Laminack, 2001 by National Council of Teachers of English and Seft-Directed Writers: The Third Essential Element in the Writing Workshop 2013 by Leah Mermelstein.

GED 607 Literacy Instruction for Readers Who Struggle (3 cr.)

Instructor: David Mendenhall

The What Works Clearinghouse, the International Reading Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English have all examined research on effective classroom and intervention practices for struggling adolescents. This course is designed to build on this knowledge base as we explore ways to assess and adjust literacy instruction to the strengths and needs of adolescent students.

GED 618 From Assessment to Action: Using Data to Transform Schools (3cr.)

Instructor:  TBD

(Course description may also be updated!)

This course will provide students with an understanding of the cultural shifts inherent in schools evolving from NCLB legislation and the increased focus on monitoring student learning. Students will develop the necessary understandings and tools to make connections between Vermont's grade expectations, the Common Core, local curriculum and formative and summative assessment of student learning. Students will explore ways to use state and local student assessment data to make decisions about instruction, professional development and school/supervisory union based action planning. Students will develop an understanding of curriculum in the context of standards, assessment, instruction and student learning. Students will need access to school assessment data that will be used throughout the course. Students without a teacher license require instructor approval. The course syllabus and reading material will be sent to participants prior to the beginning of the course.

Access to some element of student performance data (class, grade, school-wide) required or otherwise arranged with instructor prior to initial class).

GED 631 Development, Learning, Behavior and Individual Differences (3cr.)

Instructor: Judith Christensen

This course examines cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social development from birth through early adulthood, considering how development impacts learning at all stages.  Students examine how educational learning theory relates to cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social development. In addition to a comprehensive review of developmental and learning literature, each student has the opportunity to engage in self-directed learning by selecting a relevant topic and creating a project that is either student-based or curriculum-based.   

Students will have the second to the last week free of class meetings to work on their selected projects to present the last week.

GED 635 Middle Grades Summer Institute (3cr.)

Must register through Middle Grades Collaborative, see below.Monday – Friday, June 22-26, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Follow up conference is January, 2016.
To be held at Vermont Technical College, Randolph.

The Middle Grades Collaborative offers an annual intensive week-long institute for middle-level educators.  The major goal of the institute is to foster young adolescent development where every student becomes an intellectually reflective person, a person en route to a lifetime of meaningful work, a good citizen, and a caring and ethical individual.  Courses include (Please pick one strand):

• GED 635A:  Middle Grades Organization
  GED 635B:  Middle Grades Curriculum   
  GED 635C:  Embedded Literacy in Middle Grades
  GED 635D:  Brain Based Education for Young Adolescents
  GED 635E:  Middle School is Not a Building
  GED 635F:  Middle Grades Learners and Technology
  GED 635J    Advance Literacy for Common Core Standards
  GED 635K:  Personalized Learning in the Middle Grades 
  
  Participants select one of the above courses. The first four courses can be credited toward a middle level endorsement. Individuals and teams of teachers seeking further professional development in middle grades philosophy and practice are encouraged to enroll in Middle School in Not a Building and Middle Grades Learners and Technology, or Personal Learning in the Middle Grades.

For registration and information please contact James Nagle at Saint Michael's College, jnagle2@smcvt.edu. Costs for the Institute are: $1,300 for non-credit; and $1,800 for credit. Tuition includes room and board, but residency is not required. Checks and money orders are payable to the Middle Grades Collaborative. middlegradescollaborative.org

GED 641 Teaching in an Inclusive Classroom K-12 (3cr.)

Instructor: Beth Peterson

In this course participants will learn how to teach and accommodate students with disabilities in any regular classroom.  Basic special education history and laws will be examined.  Participants will explore the complex nature of serving students with special needs and discover specific strategies for making inclusion work.  Participants will be responsible for finding a student to tutor for 2 hours per week to complete a case study as a part of the course requirements. 

GED 643 Instruction of Students with Learning Challenges in the Area of Language Arts: Elementary Level (3cr.)Instructors: Sarah Schoolcraft and Mandy Couturier

Held at John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Normand Street, Winooski

This course provides an in-depth study of sound instructional practices and materials to use with unsuccessful learners based on an analysis of the learner’s strengths and weaknesses in the area of reading and written language. Methods used to teach reading, spelling, study and writing skills are covered. The emphasis is on working with students in elementary schools. Course times include practicum experience.

GED 651 Hands On! Learning in and through the Visual Arts (3 cr.)

Instructor:  Ann Joppe-Mercure

Classroom teachers and arts teachers are invited to explore and celebrate the power of the visual arts.  Through hands-on activities participants will experience art making in a variety of mediums while learning how to design integrated standards-based lessons with authentic assessment. Students will make connections to interdisciplinary themes, 21st century learning goals and the Common Core.  With guidance and support, participants will work on technique and vision.  Projects will be applicable to both the classroom and to one's growth and enrichment as an artist.  A $50.00 materials fee is required and due at registration.

GED 668 Administration and Interpretation of the Woodcock-Johnson IV (3cr.)

Instructor:  Rich Reid

The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery - Fourth Edition (WJ-IV) is a wide-range, comprehensive set of individually administered tests for measuring cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and oral language development.  The WJ-IV has been updated to reflect the contemporary research on cognitive abilities, to increase utility relative to determining special education eligibility, to provide greater diagnostic capabilities to inform instruction, and to reflect the research regarding language development and overall academic achievement.  Through participation in this course, participants will learn about the tests, factors, and scoring options that result from the administration of this test battery.  Students will also learn to administer, score, and interpret the WJ-IV.  Classroom discussions, demonstrations, and activities will be supplemented by three complete administrations of the battery.  Students who successfully complete this course will have met the training criteria recommended by the authors and publisher of the WJ-IV.  The course will also include a discussion of a variety of essential related topics such as Vermont's special education eligibility criteria as they relate to tests and scoring options.  The WJ-IV will also be thoroughly examined in regard to its use within Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI) model of student support. 

GED 673A Personalized Learning Teaching and Engaging in the Artistic Process: Educator as Artist (3 cr.)

Instructor:  Julian Bradshaw

Do you have a creative passion that is untapped or an artistic avenue you haven’t had the courage to explore yet?  Are you interested in discovering how personalized learning can help you structure your creative process and subsequently help when structuring the learning plans for your students? This immersive course is designed for educators from any discipline and grade level seeking an opportunity to explore how differentiated, individualized and personalized instruction can fuel student interest and engagement.  Together we will model how to build an interactive and supportive learning environment that personalizes investigation in visual art, dance, poetry, music, theater, creative writing, or multimedia. From individualized projects to student-led critiques, peer mentoring to developing e-portfolios, the focus will be on creating personalized learning strategies for the classroom while reigniting your own artistic passion in an area of your choice.  This course is designed for both those who wish to begin again with their artistic journey and those who have experience with art making.  

GED 684 School and Community (3cr.)

Instructor: Valerie Gardner

This course introduces current and prospective educators and administrators to the ever changing, but closely coupled, relationship between school and community. Emphasis will be placed on how the community informs what happens in schools, and how the schools, in turn, influence the community. The course will also look closely at the role played by economic, political and social forces.

GED 695 Teaching K-8 Science and Engineering (3cr.)

Instructor: Tim Whiteford

This course is designed to explore the many facets of teaching science and engineering at the K-8 levels. Course participants will explore Inquiry-Centered Science and Engineering concepts and skills through a variety of hands-on, minds-on activities.  Course topics will include an exploration of the New Generation Science Standards as well as State and local science and engineering standards, instructional resource materials, selected science and engineering programs, the application of technology in science and engineering education as well as ways students construct a meaningful understanding of science and engineering concepts. A $25.00 materials fee is required and due at registration

GED 699 Capstone Seminar (3cr.)

Instructor: Claudine Bedell

This course supports students as they complete the M.Ed. program. Before taking GED 699, students will need to have taken GED 558: Educator as Research, will need to have written their Research Proposal, and will need to have been granted Institution Review Board (IRB) approval for their research. Students will have taken a semester off to collect and record their research and will come to GED 699 prepared to analyze their data and finish the other components of their Capstone research paper. Students will also prepare and perform their final presentation demonstrating their in-depth understanding of their research topic. Research and writing skills, critique and reflection, and expressive presentations are included.

Note: GED 558 and GED 699 are required for the Masters in Education.

Prerequisites:
A research proposal approved by GED 558: Educator as Researcher instructor, an IRB approval letter, and all data collected and recorded. If any part of the prerequisites are not met, please contact the instructor of the course.