Through funding provided by the Trustees Education Initiative and the UW College of Education, the Wyoming Coaching Laboratory (WyCOLA) is looking forward to partnering with fifth graders, pre-service educators and in-service teachers for an enriched summer school experience.
The aim of WyCOLA is to introduce high leverage teaching practices to the three groups involved. Fifth graders that participate will be given the opportunity to receive mathematical instruction from both pre-service and in-service teachers in the morning and get to explore campus with the pre-service teachers in the afternoon.
“We were chosen [for funding] because we have this three-part innovation, one is enriching the pre-service education program here at UW, the other one is sort of elevating the craft of teaching at the in-service level and then the third one is really trying to develop partnerships with the College of Education and school districts across the state,” Associate Professor in the School of Teacher Education Kate Muir Welsh said.
Math is the chosen subject for this summer’s focus with the hope that the program will make the subject more approachable. This will be done by implementing opportunities for fifth graders to learn math in small groups and play math games with the college students (pre-service teachers) that help teach.
“WyCOLA is going to be a very exciting opportunity this summer for a group of pre-service teachers,” Associate Lecturer in Literacy for the College of Education Amy Spiker said. “They will have a chance to plan for and work with fifth grade students individually and in small groups.”
By implementing the use of small groups, the pre-service teachers will be given the chance to hone in on their ability to interact with young children and also plan and implement lessons in the classroom.
“We hope that with a common experience of watching the fifth graders being taught, teaching in real time will provide a very fruitful shared experience where the teachers will be able to talk about the practices and teaching that really can move kindergarten through 12th graders in learning content and skills,” Welsh said.
A few concerns have come to the forefront of English Education major Kylie Woffinden, who doesn’t necessarily see the benefit of staying in Laramie over the summer to participate.
“I’m a [future] secondary education teacher, so I don’t think that teaching fifth graders would be practical job experience for me, but I think it’s a good idea for people who are teaching younger grades,” Woffinden said. “It sounds really awesome to get that experience, especially alongside mentors and people who already know how to teach.”
Perhaps a pull factor in favor of K-12 pre-service teachers is the fact that WyCOLA is encouraging diversity in the program.
“It doesn’t matter whether you teach mathematics, or whether you teach US history,” Welsh said. “We’re just trying to have a diversity of grade levels, a diversity of school districts [and] a diversity of teaching experience to really provide this laboratory of ideas and thoughts to try and think seriously about the craft of teaching and elevate whoever we can in the practice of teaching.”
Not only will this provide job experience to future educators, but they will also receive the chance to take an online course over the summer to focus on the ideals of high leverage teaching practices. The students will also receive a $1,000 stipend at the end of the two-week teaching period at the end of June.
WyCOLA is encouraging all majors and subject concentrations to apply for the program, as it promises to be an experience that will enrich the education program at UW with diversity.
Under the collaboration of UW’s Welsh and Spiker, as well as Albany County School District’s Ariane Eicke and Kate Kiniss, this program is beginning recruitment for the upcoming summer. Those interested may email wycola@uwyo.edu or call 307-766-2013 for more information.
