Fall 2019 Student Teachers: Mark your Calendar

You must attend one of the following Student Teaching Placement Information Meetings:

Wednesday, April 26, 2019 10:00 – 11:00 am
Wednesday, April 26, 2019 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Thursday, April 26, 2019  4:00 – 5:00 pm

You must choose one of these meetings to attend. You do not need to notify us of your choice, unless you are unable to attend any of the specified times because of conflicts with your class schedule. In that case, contact Wendy Kennedy wendyk@maine.edu to make alternative arrangements.

Bullying and School Violence

During spring semester, the College of Education, Health and Rehabilitation is sponsoring a series of events about Bullying and School Violence. These are issues that directly impacted many UMF students during their P-12 years and continue to affect them today.

To kick of the series, the documentary BULLY will be shown on Monday February 4th at 6:00 p.m. in Preble 117. This film is deeply moving, and students will find it relatable and thought-provoking. According to http://www.thebullyproject.com/about_film,

“Over 13 million American kids will be bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the nation. The documentary film BULLY brings human scale to this startling statistic, offering an intimate, unflinching look at how bullying has touched five kids and their families.”

After the viewing, Dr. Christopher Strople, Assistant Professor of Elementary Education, will facilitate a discussion about bullying and its long term impact.

 

Fall 2019 Student Teachers: Mark your Calendar

You must attend one of the following Student Teaching Interview Information Meetings:

Wednesday, January 30, 2019 9:30 – 10:30 am
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 11:45 – 12:45 pm
Thursday, January 31, 2019  4:00 – 5:00 pm

You must choose one of these meetings to attend. You do not need to notify us of your choice, unless you are unable to attend any of the specified times because of conflicts with your class schedule. In that case, contact Wendy Kennedy wendyk@maine.edu to make alternative arrangements.

EDU 302 Students at Kingfield Elementary School

Students from Dr. Swallow’s EDU 302: Technology in K-8 Education class facilitated four stations (Osmos, Wonder Robot, Scratch Jr, Ozobots) at the first ever Math and Computer Science night at Kingfield Elementary School in November. In addition to Dr. Swallow and EDU 302 students, Dr. Good and Eliza Hopkins came with 3d printers and laptops for doing tinkercad design work, and Dr. Lee came to join the conversation.

EDU 302 students felt the students, teachers and parents were extremely receptive of the new technology tools and the UMF pre-service teachers.  The pre-service teachers also felt they were able to engage deeply with a new technology tool that they might not have otherwise.

A pre-service teacher shared her thoughts about the experience, “I fully believe that this experience enhanced my learning. I was able to use a hands-on approach to learn about something incredible and then determine a way to teach it to others in a fun, interactive way. I also feel that being a part of an event that included not only teachers and students, but parents as well was very beneficial. I feel that experiences like these are important and beneficial for every pre-service teacher.”

The evening was designed to engage elementary students and families in computer science activities and hosted during the Hour of Code week. The evening was very successful and the teachers loved seeing new ideas for integration into their classrooms!

See more photos from the evening at https://www.facebook.com/UMFEd360/ 

Free Film Screening: No Small Matter

The College of Education, Health, and Rehabilitation is hosting a free film screening sponsored by Maine Association for the Education of Young Children (Maine AEYC). It’s open to students, staff, faculty, and community members.

Film Screening: No Small Matter
Thursday, December 6, 2018
6:30-8:30pm
University of Maine at Farmington
Lincoln Auditorium (in Roberts Learning Center)

FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Go to the event page to reserve your FREE seat:
https://www.maineaeyc.org/registration/no-small-matter-umf

No Small Matter is the first feature documentary to explore the most overlooked, underestimated, and powerful force for good in America today: early childhood education. Through poignant stories and surprising humor, the film lays out the overwhelming evidence for the importance of the first five years, and reveals how our failure to act on that evidence has resulted in an everyday crisis for American families, and a slow-motion catastrophe for the country.

Visit www.nosmallmatter.com or https://youtu.be/Shm-KRh4LFg to watch the trailer and learn more!

Facts of Farmington

Founded in 1864 as the state’s first publicly funded teacher college and named the Western State Normal School, the school merged into the University of Maine system in 1968, and became known as the University of Maine at Farmington in 1971.

Since 2006, seven UMF Education graduates have been named Maine Teacher of the Year

Since 2014, three UMF Education graduates have been named Maine Elementary Principal of the Year

UMF has been ranked among the top schools in the liberal arts and comprehensive college categories by U.S. News & World Report 21 times since 1998.

Learn more about our national reputation at http://bit.ly/nationalreputation

There are 1,673 full-time undergraduate students at UMF with a student to faculty ratio of 13-to-1. Creating an environment where you work closely with your professors who will know you by name, and receive their full attention in a supportive, but intellectually challenging one on one environment. UMF offers small class sizes with 64% of classes having fewer than 20 students allowing for individualized attention.

81% of students enrolled at UMF are from Maine, however 18% of students are from out of state and 1% of students are from international countries!

UMF offers a variety of academic programs to study including Art, Business, Education, Rehabilitation Services, Sciences, International and Global Studies, and Pre-Professional Degrees and over 30 minors. 

UMF has so much to offer both on and off campus! With over 60 clubs and organizations to choose from; UMF offers it all! For more information about what is offered, click here.

UMF is environmentally friendly:

  • In 2016, UMF opened a state-of-the-art Biomass Central Heating Plant heating 83% of campus with Maine wood chips
  • Opened in 2006, the Kalilow Education Center earned UMF’s second LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council
  • UMF made the Princeton Review Top Green College list in 2017, 2014, 2013 and 2012

Learn more about our commitment to environmental stewardship at https://bit.ly/environmental-sustainability

UMF is where many opportunities can begin. To learn more about some of the successful UMF graduates, click here!

Fall 2019 Student Teachers: Mark your Calendar

During pre-registration you picked up a Fall 2019 student teaching application but before completing the application, you must attend one of the following Student Teaching Application Information Meetings:

Tuesday, November 13, 2018 12:00-1:00pm
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 11:45am-12:45pm
Thursday, November 15, 2018  4:00-5:00pm

You must choose one of these meetings to attend. You do not need to notify us of your choice, unless you are unable to attend any of the specified times because of conflicts with your class schedule. In that case, contact Wendy Kennedy wendyk@maine.edu to make alternative arrangements.

Alumni Spotlight: Lindsay Gorman

Lindsay Gorman is a 2018 graduate from UMF’s Special Education program with a minor in International and Global Studies. We had the chance to connect with Lindsay over social media, where she shared her story and all of the great experiences she encountered as an undergraduate student. Gorman has traveled all over the world and is currently working in South America.

Lindsay Gorman
Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator
Special Education
UMF Class of 2018
North Berwick, ME

UMF College of Education, Health, and Rehabilitation (CEHR): What was the best experience that you encountered in your UMF education program and how did that prepare you for your professional career?

Lindsay: Oh that’s a tough one! The best experience I had at UMF wasn’t a single experience, more so whenever I had classes with the Special Education faculty. They all put a lot of energy into their classes that made them so enjoyable. At one point I didn’t think I was cut out to be a teacher, and almost changed majors, and they all encouraged me to stay. Thankful I did, because I absolutely love the field of Special Education! I feel that my experience with them prepared me for my professional career because I witnessed first hand how important it is to build strong relationships with your students.

UMF CEHR: That is so important. I agree that the UMF faculty rocks! How has your UMF career shaped your post-UMF experiences!?

Lindsay: I had the opportunity to study abroad twice at UMF (once on a short term travel course to Tanzania and once for a semester in Ireland with the George Mitchell Peace Scholarship), and with my minor in International and Global Studies, I fell in love with studying other cultures. I decided to take a year off before becoming a teacher and I’m currently volunteering with an educational non-profit in Ecuador! My position is the “Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator,” and I work with other educators on how to improve their lesson planning and make it more inclusive for students with all learning abilities!

UMF CEHR: Wow, that’s amazing! Would you mind sharing how the educational experience varies in those different cultures?

Lindsay: Unfortunately I didn’t get to see schools in Ireland and Tanzania, but I know quite a bit about Ecuador! In my community, the schools are so overcrowded that students only go to school for half the day. For example, there’s a morning group and an afternoon group. The class sizes are huge. My host sister is 11 and has 55 students in her class. The teachers are extremely underpaid and overworked. It’s challenging for the students too because often teaching positions aren’t able to be filled, so they just continue on without a teacher in that subject. So if they don’t have a math teacher, the students just don’t learn math until the school can find one. The program that I work for helps fill those gaps for students, because even if they don’t have a teacher to teach the subject, they are still expect to pass their exams. Even though public education is free in Ecuador, there are still a lot of expenses with schooling, such as uniforms and textbooks. My program also offers scholarships to help with the cost of schooling to our students!

UMF CEHR: It’s surprising yet fascinating how education varies with different cultures. What did you do as a student to be able to land this position abroad? What advice do you have for students aspiring to work in the education profession abroad?

Lindsay: I think minoring in International and Global Studies definitely helped! Even for student who don’t want to live abroad, Maine is quickly becoming more of a multicultural state, so I recommend that minor to all education majors! Taking advantage of the study abroad opportunities definitely helped me as well, because I was able to talk about my previous international experience during my interview. My advice to students who aspire to work in the education profession abroad is to network! I found this position because of a leadership experience I did in high school. The more people you meet, the more opportunities you will have!

UMF CEHR: You mentioned a leadership experience you did in high school. Can you explain what the program was and how that helped you as an education student at UMF?

Lindsay: The program is called the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership, also known a HOBY! Farmington actually hosts it every year! It’s an international program for high school sophomores who want to make a difference in their community. The co-founder of the non-profit I work for went to HOBY herself, which is how I got connected! That program not only taught me how to have confidence in myself as a young person, but now as an adult, it has taught me how important it is to encourage our youth to strive for social change regardless of their age.

UMF CEHR: It’s a totally awesome program! It’s great how you were able to build your resume from a young age! What importance does your community have and do you encourage our current students to engage in a similar rewarding experience?

Lindsay: So, our program welcomes all students in the community, and about half of them qualify for the scholarship. Along with the financial assistance, we also provide leadership training and community service opportunities for those students!

UMF CEHR: That is awesome that there is a program that provides that to students. It sounds like your travels play such a big role in your professional career. So far, have you encountered any hardships and how did you overcome those? What are your plans after your year abroad?

Lindsay: The language barrier has definitely been challenging! I studied Spanish for four years in high school but didn’t touch it in college. I’ve also been homesick a bit, so that has been hard as well. However, I’ve been learning more Spanish every day, so I know eventually the language won’t be a problem anymore! When I’m feeling homesick, I just remind myself that Maine will be there when my year in Ecuador is up and I’ll always be able to return there, but I wanted to take the opportunity to go abroad while I still had the chance (before I settled into my teaching career). I’m hoping to teach Special Education when I return to the states, and possibly start a Spanish club at my school!

UMF CEHR: That’s a great way to deal with the stresses. New languages can be hard to learn and adapt to, but it sounds like you have an open mind and willing to learn new things. What you are doing is totally awesome and will give our current students lots of things to consider and think about if they are hoping to go abroad! What was the best advice that you were given as a new employee in the education field?

Lindsay: The best advice I was given was to be flexible. In any field, but especially education, flexibility is so important because so many things can change on a dime! I applied this advice to the classroom, but also my life. I didn’t get the first position abroad that I applied for, so instead of giving up on working abroad, I kept looking and found this one!

UMF CEHR: It’s so great to keep an open mind. Is there anything else that you would like to add for advice to current students?

Lindsay: My last piece of advice is that if you’re even curious about teaching abroad, go for it! There is no better time to go abroad than right after college. Teaching jobs back home will always be there!