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The OSCP Progress Report The Quarterly Newsletter of the Office of School & Community Partnerships

Quarter 1 - February 2021

The Student Teaching Journey

No one could have ever guessed that we would begin the 2020-2021 school year in various modes of virtual instruction. COVID-19 has completely upended the way students are taught and instruction is delivered. It has shed greater light on the digital divide and lack of equity for the most vulnerable students. I am constantly amazed at the resilience and creativity of our candidates. My hope is that through your resilience, you are confirming why you have become a teacher.

Despite all the uncertainty, we are so proud of our student teachers and clinical educators this semester. We constantly hear how you are supporting your teacher colleagues, students, and parents. While we are looking forward to the next time we can physically be together, we continue to marvel at the creativity you show in the classroom.

Hayley McNeil named Student Teacher of the Year for Fall 2020!

Each semester, Faculty Site Coordinators are asked to nominate student teachers for the Student Teacher of the Year Award. This honor recognizes students who have gone above and beyond in areas such as leadership, reflection, positive response to feedback, and demonstrating innovation and creativity. The nominees write a narrative reflecting on their student teaching semester and secure three letters of recommendation for their nomination. Those documents are then sent to a committee and one winner is selected.

Our Fall 2020 Student Teacher of the Year was Hayley McNeil. Hayley was an undergraduate elementary education major who student taught at Patriots STEM Elementary in Cabarrus County. Her Faculty Site Coordinator, Dr. Moody, noted that Hayley maintained a positive outlook on teaching virtually and even created a teaching corner in her home with charts and visuals to support her kindergarten students. She shared that she was “never afraid to be silly, dress up as a character, and do whatever it takes to make learning meaningful and fun for her students.” Hayley’s Clinical Educator, Ms. Vermeire, noted that she dressed up as letterland characters, created yoga videos tied to movement and letter formation, and sent postcards to each individual child. She stated that, “the world is certainly a better place because of Hayley’s love for teaching and her willingness to think outside the box to do what is right for kids.” Congratulations, Hayley!

Teacher Toolbox Tuesdays - Free Professional Development

Kappa Delta Pi will be offering 30-minute "bite-sized" PD for student teachers this spring. All sessions will be via Zoom and registration is required.

  • Teacher Toolbox Tuesdays for Student Teachers
  • Virtual 30 minute "bite-sized" Professional Development from 4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
  • February 16 - Management/Building Community: Virtually/In-Person
  • March 9 - Wellness and Self-Care
  • April 13 - How to Get the Teaching Job You Really Want
  • Registration is required to receive the link to join.

Important Dates

  • February 24, 2021 - Deadline to apply for May 2021 graduation
  • February 25, 2021 - edTPA submission to Pearson for ELED & CHFD
  • March 2, 2021 - Teacher To Teacher Conference
  • March 11, 2021 - edTPA submission to Pearson for SPEL, ARTS, & SPED
  • March 18, 2021 - Last day to withdraw from course(s); subject to the Withdrawal Policy.
  • March 23, 2021 - Virtual Educator 101 (required for all student teachers who are not in teaching in their own classroom).
  • March 25, 2021 - edTPA submission to Pearson for MDSK, TESL & FLEDThe Cato College of Education and the Chancellor's Diversity Challenge Fund is pleased to present the annual Teacher-to-Teacher Conference. The purpose of this conference is to provide affordable yet meaningful professional development opportunities to North Carolina educators. This mini-conference is designed by teachers for teachers. P-12 teachers are invited to participate as well as present at the conference. The event will take place online via Zoom.

Teacher to Teacher Conference

The Cato College of Education and the Chancellor's Diversity Challenge Fund is pleased to present the annual Teacher-to-Teacher Conference. The purpose of this conference is to provide affordable yet meaningful professional development opportunities from educators to educators. This mini-conference is designed by teachers for teachers. P-12 teachers are invited to participate as well as present at the conference. The event will take place online via Zoom. Registration ends February 24, 2021.

Educator 101

The North Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (NCASCD) and the UNC Charlotte Office of School & Community Partnerships (OSCP) are pleased to sponsor and host the annual Educator 101 event on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. virtually. Educator 101 targets future educators to network, learn, and benefit from current school practitioners from across the state of North Carolina. Pre-service educators will have the opportunity to learn from master teachers, interact with a panel of principals and first year teachers, and attend a variety of sessions on high interest topics. These topics include, but are not limited to: how to use data to maximize learning; working with exceptional children; involving your community in your classroom; and best practices for beginning teachers. All spring 2021 student teaching candidates who have a clinical educator and are not teaching in their own classroom are required to attend. The registration deadline is March 15, 2021.

Teacher, Education, Advising, and Licensure Reminders for Student Teachers

  • TEAL will share information regarding licensure, exams, and the licensure application process throughout the semester. Please be on the lookout for these emails as they will contain important information about your professional educator license! If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Brad Smith at bradleysmith@uncc.edu.

NC Education Corps

North Carolina Education Corps (NCEC) had a productive start to the new year. In January, the Corps worked with 20 school districts across the state to onboard 135 inaugural corps members as tutors and contract tracers. NCEC launched our inaugural corps via a virtual kickoff on January 28 and raised support for significant future growth. The Corps is recruiting up to 150+ more tutors and contact tracers by February 20 to work this spring-summer in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Halifax County, Wake County Public Schools, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

  • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) is looking to hire 70 K-2 literacy tutors to work 20-25 hours/week (M-F) in person from April 1 - July 31, 2021.
  • CMS is looking to hire 35 contact tracers (who can work remotely) to work 20-25 hours/week (M-F) from April 1 - May 31, 2021.
  • Halifax County is looking to hire 4 tutors to work 20-25 hours/week (M-F) in person from April 1 - June 30.
  • Wake County Public Schools is looking to hire 30, K-2 literacy tutors to work 29 hours/week (M-F) in person from April 1 - July 31, 2021.
  • Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools is looking to hire 20 tutors to work 28 hours/week (M-F) in person from April 1 - June 8, 2021.

Corps members will be paid a living wage of $13.15 or more per hour. Applications are open through February 20, 2021 and are reviewed on a rolling basis. Candidates are encouraged to visit nceducationcorps.org/application to review job descriptions and to apply.

COVID-19 Reminders and Information

Click here for a link to COVID resources and information

Below are links to Student Teacher COVID information for specific school districts

Here are links to resources created by the UNC Charlotte COVID Community-based Learning Group:

Office of School & Community Partnerships Job Board

One way our office seeks to both support our student teaching candidates and partner schools is through a job board. We update the job board weekly and post positions from our partner schools and districts. It is one of the best places to go for those seeking teaching positions.

Clinical Educator Webinars

We are excited to offer Clinical Educator (CE) Webinars to support you this semester with your Student Teacher! Based on your feedback we have created the schedule below for CE Webinars.

These webinars are completely optional, but if you would like to receive CEU credit, we require attendance at a total of 8 hours combined (the CE training plus 3 additional webinars if you have a full-time student teacher). A connected quiz will be required for each webinar that you complete and all quizzes are due by April 12, 2021. Quiz links will be available on our website at: https://osacp.uncc.edu/webinars

Spring 2021 Webinars

  • Monday, February 1 (Asynchronous) Supporting My Student Teacher with edTPA Presented by: Dr. Thomas Fisher, Faculty Site Coordinator. The video is posted on the OSCP website: https://osacp.uncc.edu/webinars
  • Monday, February 22 (Asynchronous) Co-Planning Strategies Presented by: Kate Gilbert and Dr. Joyce Frazier, Faculty Site Coordinators. The video will be posted on the OSCP website: https://osacp.uncc.edu/webinars
  • Monday, March 8 (Synchronous) In the Moment Coaching 4:30 p.m. Presented by the NC New Teacher Support Coaches. Click here to join the Zoom session. Meeting ID: 912 2803 9642 Passcode: 596717
  • Wednesday, March 31 (Synchronous) 4:30 p.m. Wellness Wednesday: Strategies for Wellness and Self Care Presented by: NC New Teacher Support Coaches. Click here to join the Zoom session: Meeting ID: 917 5365 6629 Passcode: 141950

Clinical Educator Modules

The Office of School & Community Partnerships (OSCP) has revamped our clinical educator (CE) training. OSCP has created six (6) self-paced modules for CEs to complete that includes important information about supporting your student teaching candidate. The modules may be found here. The deadline for CEs to complete the modules was January 18, 2021. The modules remain open for those who have not been able to complete them. Once modules are complete, we ask that CEs complete this quick attestation statement here. The link to the Confidentiality Agreement can be found here. Both forms and financial information must be completed in order for CEs to receive the $200 honorarium.

Special thanks to Dr. Victor Mack for co-editing the OSCP Progress Report

Created By
Tisha Perkins Greene
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Created with an image by Kelli Tungay - "Back to School"