Ph.D. University of Minnesota
B.S., M.Ed. State University College of New York at Buffalo
Areas of Expertise:
Inclusive education; effective utilization of paraprofessionals; curriculum design and adaptation for students with moderate and severe disabilities
Courses I Teach:
- Graduate: Designing Programs for Student with Disabilities
- Implementing and Evaluating Programs for Students with Disabilities
- Undergraduate: Cognition and Individual Differences
My Saint Michael's:
In my Cognition and Individual Differences class, students have the responsibility of providing direct instruction to one or more students with disabilities for the entire semester. While this may sound like "fun," students learn the huge responsibilities associated with this job. My students are planning instruction, preparing materials, teaching, evaluating and reflecting on their work every week. They constantly receive feedback from students and teachers.
My research typically takes me beyond the Saint Michael's community. As I learn new information about the education of students with moderate and severe disabilities, there are always practical implications for teachers. Because my role on campus is to prepare new teachers, I find this to be a perfect match.
I present and write extensively on the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals in public schools. I am author of The Paraprofessional's Guide to the Inclusive Classroom: Working as a Team (Brookes Publishing, April 2008). I also wrote the article "Paraprofessionals: The Sous-Chefs of literary instruction" in Teaching Exceptional Children (2007).
Life Off Campus:
I enjoy skiing, biking, and gardening.
Mary Beth Doyle, professor of education/department chair, has adapted technology from the campus “Tegrity” system in clever and innovative ways for their classrooms. So reports Susan Breeyear, technology center associate director, and Jim Millard, senior instructional technologist.
This is the college's third year with the system. Jim says its uses "run the gamut, from traditional 'lecture capture' to making recordings for 'flipped classes' to solely recording student presentations and guest lecturers.” Because Mary Beth’s classes are more interactive, she found students just weren't going back and reviewing the class recordings she made. But she was intrigued by the system's "Bookmarks & Notes" feature, and became one of the first instructors to use this feature, often adding her own comments to the class recordings.
Now she's having her student-teachers record many working sessions with children from the local Boys and Girls Club. The St. Mike's students then watch these recordings of their teaching, and use Bookmarks & Notes to evaluate their performance. Mary Beth adds her own remarks that "stick" to the recording at the appropriate location on the recording timeline. This helps both students and instructor assess incremental progress.
The Bookmarks & Notes feature has been so successful that Mary Beth is mandating their use in her class - each student is assigned an iPad from the circulating cart, with the Tegrity app installed. All notes are taken on the app - paper notes are not allowed in this class. Jim meets early on with her class and instructs students on using the technology. Mary Beth and Jim will be presenting a paper on this project at the Tegrity User Conference this year.