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Pre-professional development for
future and new teachers was a very successful component of the LACTE
project. Events,
fieldtrips, workshops,
internships, and student groups contributed to the pre-professional experiences of LACTE participants.
The Future Teachers Conference, Meet the Teachers Roundtable, and
the Science Teachers Leadership Workshop, originated by LACTE educators,
were effective vehicles to recruit, retain, and better prepare K-12
teachers in mathematics and science.
Internships in both formal and informal educational settings
offered real life teaching experiences for preservice teachers.
Student groups formed at each campus established a meeting place
for future teachers to engage in discussions regarding educational
issues. The student
activities calendar provided a global listing of all the activities and
events collaborative-wide. The
pre-professional experiences provided prospective and novice teachers
with broad and rich educational experiences, a forum to meet others with
similar career goals, and an avenue to establish a support network so
critical to surviving their first years in the classroom.
The Future Teachers Conference is a one-day event
focusing on the skills and information needed to navigate the credential
process, land an initial teaching job, and be successful in the first
year in the classroom.
Meet the Teachers Roundtable is a half-day event
where prospective and new teachers participate in exemplary hands-on
math and science lessons, learn how to present these lessons, and make
appointments to visit classrooms of role model teachers.
The weeklong workshop and week-end follow-up
meetings are designed for new K-12 teachers of science.
During the workshop, participants experience hands-on
inquiry-based activities in the life sciences and learn how to use new
approaches to stimulate student interest in science.
LACTE has supported a variety of field experience
internships with each intern having a mentored teaching experience
guided by a skilled mentor teacher.
Each of the LACTE campuses formed student groups
that joined preservice teachers, college faculty, and K-12 role model
teachers to discuss pertinent educational issues, experience teaching
related activities, and attend field trips.
During the 5 years of the LACTE project, scholarships
totaling $500,000 were distributed to future teachers at the two-year
colleges, four-year institutions, and to post-baccalaureate students
working on their teaching credentials.
A collaborative-wide calendar was created each year
to inform all future and new teachers about events, activities, conferences,
meetings, and field trips.
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