July 2006
Dear MIT Graduate Student,
Welcome! You are now part of a richly textured, exciting, and demanding Master in Teaching Program which will include approximately 45 graduate students, six faculty and staff, and a variety of guest participants. We are very excited about the program and are eager to meet you! During the next two years, we will work together to gain a deep and sophisticated understanding of the nature and inter-relationships of learning, teaching, and schooling. We will explore who we are as learners and teachers, what it means to "learn", what the current requirements are to become a public school teacher, who the children are in the public schools of this country, how to develop curricula to meet the needs of all children and youth, a bit about the history and politics of education, and what it might mean to create a quality education for all students.
This mailing includes information you will need as you prepare for the coming year. Please read the entire letter carefully and send the requested information to us without delay so that we can be ready for your arrival.
REGISTRATION AND ORIENTATION DAY - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
Your attendance is expected for this registration/orientation meeting. The day will begin promptly at 9 A.M. on Evergreen’s Olympia campus (we’ll give the room number later) and end by 4 P.M. You will have opportunities to meet other folks in the program, ask questions, buy your books for the quarter, register, have your picture taken, apply for your library card, email account, and parking sticker, and complete the forms for the required FBI background check and State of Washington Character Supplement that are required of prospective teachers. Please bring with you the names and addresses of three character references.
You will need to be prepared to pay for the following:
· full time graduate registration and fees (due by 4pm Sept. 20)
· retreat costs
· books
· parking sticker (unless you ride the local buses - TESC students ride free)
· FBI Background check
Our schedule for the first week is slightly different so you should be prepared to be flexible that week. More details later.
You can register at any time on line or by phone. Our Course Registration Number (CRN) is 10543.
The faculty members in this program are committed to developing a community of learners. We want to provide the time and opportunities for all of us to become acquainted, determine the assets we bring to this community, and develop a solid foundation for the year’s work. To support these goals, we have planned a retreat for the first week of class that will allow focused and intense work without requiring folks to be away from their families overnight. Our experience indicates that the benefits are quite wonderful and we hope you will be as excited as we are about the content and format of the first week of study and getting to know each other!
During the first week of classes (September 26th through September 29), we will meet Tuesday through Thursday from 9 AM to 4 PM every day and Friday from 9-12 On Friday evening we will have a potluck tentatively scheduled at the Longhouse on campus for program members and their families and/or significant others. We are planning a two day retreat on or near campus on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week. We will let you know the details as they become available. We will provide you with directions to the site at Orientation.
Bring with you September 26-27: paper and pen/pencil, scissors, glue, ruler, non-toxic markers, magazines that can be torn up, clothes that you can get dirty, and a small box (no bigger than a shoe box).
After the first week of class, you will be involved in MIT program activities four days a week. Tuesdays 9am-3pm; Wednesdays 9am-12; Thursday mornings will be spent in public school classrooms, coming back to campus for classes 1-4pm; Fridays 9am-3pm. The Fall Quarter observation sites have already been arranged. Please see our website for class details for Fall Quarter. Please keep in mind this schedule is tentative and is subject to change as room assignments and scheduling will not be approved until August.
*COMPUTER PROFICIENCY AND LEARNING APPROACHES SURVEYS*
You will find two surveys linked to this email. One asks that you assess your knowledge of computers and computer programs; the other concerns your approaches to learning, reading, writing, and group projects and discussions. At Evergreen and in the MIT program, we believe that the learner must assume significant responsibility for her or his learning. This is your first opportunity in this program to communicate with us about your needs, interests, and abilities as a learner. Therefore, please respond to these surveys and submit them via email right away. We need this information to help us plan learning experiences and instructional groupings that will better support your learning.
The links are below
BOOK LIST:
For those who would like to get a head start on buying and reading the books, please see the cohort website for the book list and syllabus with reading assignments (while we will not delete any reading assignments, please note that the book list and syllabus are still tentative).
We look forward to seeing you on September 16th. We hope you enjoy the remainder of the summer! Maggie Foran, our Advising and Certification Officer, will be sending you a reminder about Orientation with a map of the campus in late August.
Sincerely,
Masao Sugiyama, Faculty
Jacque Ensign, Faculty
Gery Gerst, Faculty
Scott Coleman, current Director of MIT
Sherry Walton, Director of MIT as of September 2006
Maggie Foran, Advising and Certification Officer
Loren Petty, Field Experience Officer