GO CAPS Teacher Education
October Newsletter
1st Quarter Wrap Up
It's hard to believe we've already finished our 1st quarter of the 2018-2019 school year. My Teacher Education students have been busy visiting schools and exploring the world of teaching from many angles. The educational community has welcomed us in, giving the GO CAPS students unique access and insight. We will be transitioning to independent job shadowing in November and December. Read on to hear the students' perspectives on our activities during the last month.
Press PLAY for a Peek Inside (and Outside) of our Classroom
Teacher Education 1stQuarter
Power Posing in our New GO CAPS Tees
A Visit from the Big 8 Conference Superintendents
Several superintendents from the Big 8 Conference visited our classroom at Sherwood Elementary to learn about the new Teacher Education strand of GO CAPS. We were excited to share our program with these educational leaders. Students shared their experiences with the administrators and explained what drew them to GO CAPS. Then, the students were offered the tremendous opportunity to ask the superintendents questions, allowing the administrators to share many insights and tips with this group of future educators.
Touring Local Schools
GO CAPS Teacher Education students had the opportunity to visit a variety of local schools in September and October. Touring the u.school and Greenwood Laboratory School helped us gain an understanding of private schools with unique philosophies. A visit to the Health Sciences Academy gave us insight into Springfield Public School's choice programs. Next, we visited Central High School, a large urban school with specialized academic opportunities. Despite the many differences in these learning environments, a passion for teaching and learning shone through at each school.
Health Sciences Academy at Mercy Hospital
Greenwood Laboratory School
u.School Downtown
Child Development Classroom Observations
During the month of October, we were given the opportunity to visit several area schools to complete classroom observations. We visited the Logan-Rogersville Primary daycare and preschool, Sherwood Elementary, Cherokee Middle School, and Kickapoo High School. We observed every age from infancy through teenage to see how children develop in areas such as cognitive development, social development, motor skills, and physical development as they grow. The classroom observations really allowed to view these stages firsthand and to experience them in a better way than any textbook could do for us. ~Written by Noah & Logan
Reflections on Classroom Observations
Overall, it was very educational to see each grade from preK-12th. It really opened our eyes to see what we would want to teach and helped us get a better understanding of what students are going through at each stage. When we observed middle school students, Republic senior Zoie Lakey contacted her home district and set up an event where she was able to observe three different classes. She stated, "I really enjoyed getting a little experience of being on my own because, honestly, sooner or later we will have to be doing this on our own, so why don't go ahead and get some practice?" ~Written by Sydney and Zoie
Making friends at LR preschool
More preschool friends
STEM stations at Sherwood
Innovation Accelerator Kick Off
For two weeks, we will be working in teams on the Innovation Accelerator. This project is pushing us to work on a marketing pitch for a new invention. Each group has to create an innovative invention that is useful to today's society and that solves a public problem. Then, all of the GO CAPS strands will come together to vote on their favorite project ideas to move on to the next stage. By the end of the week, we will present a "Shark Tank" style pitch to a team of judges. Marshfield senior Alexis Hayes said, "This project has helped me build a relationship with the wonderful and funny Brianna." ~Written by Alexis & Brianna.
Meet Our Teacher Education Students
Student Profile: Rowen Kelly
Rowen Kelly is in the 2018-2019 GO CAPS Teacher Education Strand. She is 16 and a junior attending at Parkview High School. Rowen would like to be a high school or college history teacher or professor in the future. She would like to go to Missouri State University when she gets her college degree. Rowen plays soccer for her high school, and she also is amazing at video games. ~Written by Maia
Student Profile: Maia Greiner
Maia Greiner is a part of the 2018- 2019 GO CAPS Teacher Education program. She attends Glendale High School as a senior. Maia wants to attend MU and gain a degree in elementary special education. Maia plays soccer during her school years and has a lot of fun with it playing goalie. She is a big fan of sushi and has a major coffee obsession (thank Starbucks for that). ~Written by Rowen
You can follow our GO CAPS journeys at the following locations:
Email: krcox@spsmail.org
Website: https://gocaps.yourcapsnetwork.org/
Location: Sherwood Elementary School, South Golden Avenue, Springfield, MO, USA
Phone: 417.380.0914
Facebook: facebook.com/gocapsedu
Twitter: @gocapsedu