Donna Ross

Learners Need Purposeful and Systematic Instruction

A science teacher assigns Chapter 14 in the textbook and tells everyone to answer the questions at the end of the chapter (full sentences, please).Are you asking where exactly did the instruction occur? While most agree that teaching is more than simply causing or assigning an activity, the teachers in the examples above moved almost immediately to independent work. Did you notice that students were not given an opportunity to try new content while be-ing supported? If this is common practice, is it any wonder that the needs of so many adolescent students are not being met?Our experience suggests that teachers who are addressing the learning needs of all students employ a recursive instructional process that includes

CSU Digital Ambassadors: An Empowering and Impactful Faculty Learning Community.

Abstract This article chronicles the work of the California State University Digital Ambassador Program (DA), a Faculty Learning Community (FLC), which brought together 13 faculty members across the state to create ongoing, targeted spaces of support for colleagues and educational partners to learn about innovative technological and pedagogical practices on their respective campuses. Three different faculty development activities within teacher education are analyzed: (a) a faculty study hall model, (b) preservice classroom activities, and (c) large-scale professional development activities. As a capacity development model, the DA program and its projects promote experimentation, collaboration, mentorship, and professional self-renewal among faculty and influence credential classrooms and clinical practice.