2018 UTeach Conference

photo credit: Danielle Davis
(left to right:  front row; Anita Sanyal, second row; Julie Brenner, Kayla White, Precious Azike, Jahaira Dixon, third row; Steve Karig, Joshua Pooranmal, back row; Anisha Campbell, Sarah Henson-Darko, Tara Tanasavich, Vanessa Wagener)

A large contingent from Terrapin Teachers attended the 2018 UTeach Conference that was held in Austin, Texas from May 22 to 24.  Representatives from 46 UTeach programs around the country met and shared ideas and lessons learned from implementing the UTeach model.

Our Terrapin Teachers staff and Master Teachers were invited to lead several sessions at the conference:

• “Shared Master Teacher Model”, Dr. Anisha Campbell and Julie Brenner
• “Integrating Computer Science in The UTeach Curriculum”, Justin Cannady (UTeach Institute), Lee Meadows (UAB Teach), and Julie Brenner (Terrapin Teachers)
• “Continuing Courageous Conversations: A Model For Social Justice in Early Fieldwork Courses”, Dr. Anita Sanyal, Sarah Henson-Darko, Steven Karig, and Kayla White

Terrapin Teachers undergraduates participated in the conference by presenting in the student poster session.  Listed below are the students and the titles of their presentations:

• “Developing Critical Perspectives in Step 2: Maintaining an Open Disposition While Shifting from Student to Teacher”, Precious Azike and Joshua Pooranmal
• “Creating A Learning Community in An Undergraduate Math Class”, Tara Tanasovich and Vanessa Wagener

(photo credit: Jahaira Dixon)
(left to right: Tara Tanasavich, Precious Azike, Joshua Pooranmal, Vanessa Wagener)

Overall, the University of Maryland, College Park was well represented as each student did an outstanding job during their presentations.  Precious Azike and Joshua Pooranmal walked away as the winners of the 2018 UTeach Conference Poster Session in Course Exposition.

(photo credit: Jahaira Dixon)
(left to right:Precious Azike, Joshua Pooranmal)

2018 UTeach Conference Poster Winners!

Congratulations to Precious Azike and Joshua Pooranmal for winning the 2018 UTeach Conference Poster Session. The title of their poster was “Developing Critical Perspectives in Step 2: Maintaining an Open Disposition While Shifting from Student to Teacher.”

2016 UTeach Conference, May 24th to 26th

In May 20106, representatives from Terrapin Teachers, three master teachers, two students, our co-director, and and an advisor from the College of Education, represented the University of Maryland at the 10th Annual UTeach Conference in Austin, Texas.  While there, the team had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with faculty and students from universities all over the country.  One exciting highlight for us was the showcasing of our Terrapin Teachers undergraduates in the undergraduate poster session.  Neha Soni and Pamela Tarectecan each presented posters based on work they did as a part of a research experience and inquiry into teaching respectively.  Neha’s poster, “Do Sex Steroid Hormone Levels Vary by Obesity among U.S. Adolescent Males?” reported on statistically significant associations found between sex steroid hormone levels and obesity.  Pamela’s poster, “A Close Look at Student Learning in Step 2: Analyzing Evidence of Student Thinking in Middle School Science” presented on how middle school students’ ideas about genetics, elicited during a Step 2 lesson, informed the design of follow-up lesson. Both Pamela and Neha really stood out for the content and quality of their posters, their knowledge, enthusiasm, and confidence. 

Another exciting highlight was the presentation conducted by our three outstanding master teachers, Dr. Catherine VanNetta, Dr. Anita Sanyal, and Sarah Henson-Darko.  As a team, they did a series of two presentations, one intended for undergraduate students and the other for course instructors.  The first presentation, “'Talk moves’: Facilitating productive discussions in K12 classrooms,” engaged undergraduate students by analyzing videotaped class discussions focusing on the teacher’s “talk moves.”  The second presentation, “Using video of classrooms to interpret learning and teaching” presented how we use classroom video to engage undergraduates in close analysis of classrooms in Terrapin Teachers.  Both sessions were extremely well attended (standing room only in the first) and received rave reviews in the conference feedback.