Alumni Panel: "Never Underestimate a Public School Teacher: Voices from the Classroom"
On Nov. 7, MAT alumni shared their experiences as classroom educators in Tacoma Public Schools. Madeline Omdal (2014), Kaitlyn Seltz (2022), Chloe Eklof (2015), Kamrey Humann (2023), & Riley Potts (2021) each shared about what inspires and sustains them in the work of teaching. MAT faculty members Alisun Thompson and Rebecca Wellington moderated the panel. Thanks to the many undergraduate students who attended.
Northwest Teachers for Social Justice Conference 2024
MAT candidates and faculty members Fred Hamel and Alisun Thompson attended Northwest Teachers for Social Justice (NWTSJ) Conference at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle on October 26th. Secondary candidates Sarah Espinoza and Lane Morse participated in a session with Max Anders' 11th grade students from Lincoln High School.
Alumni Panel: “Supporting, Sustaining, and Restoring a Vibrant Teaching Profession"
On October 17 local educational and political leaders, all graduates of the University of Puget Sound’s MAT program, led a discussion on the value of well-supported educators in a democratic society and the ways in which teaching contributes to the public good. The panelists included T’wina Nobles (MAT 2007), a Washington state senator, Jeff Chamberlain (MAT 1994), superintendent in University Place school district, Bernadette Ray (2001), principal at Silas High School, and John Hines (2006), Tacoma’s current deputy mayor.
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Faculty Publication: How to Attend to and Support Mental Health in Online University Settings
Congratulations to Professor Kimberlee Ratliff for the publication of the interview How to Attend to and Support Mental Health in Online University Settings in the Journal of Online Learning Research and Practice. Professor Ratliff describes how student organizations, social media, and special initiatives support students’ mental health.
Faculty Publication: Who is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption
Congratulations to Professor Rebecca Wellington for the forthcoming publication of the book Who is a Worthy Mother? An Intimate History of Adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee Professor Wellington explores the policies and practices of adoption by amplifying previously marginalized voices and exposing the social and racial biases embedded in the United States’ adoption industry.
Faculty Publication: Teaching Through Crisis: Career Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Congratulations to Professor Alisun Thompson for the publication of the report Teaching Through Crisis: Career Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This report focuses on the pandemic’s effect on teachers’ commitment to teaching as a career, details teachers' career trajectories, and explores how working conditions shape career decisions. Professor Thompson is a Principal Investigator of the Suddenly Distant Research Project.
Master of Arts in Teaching Presentation Session
Join the MAT 2023 candidates on August 4, 2023 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Rotunda in Wheelock Student Center for interactive conversations as they present the dilemmas they encountered while student teaching. Hear about culturally responsive and anti-racist teaching practices from grades K-12 and in subjects including math, social studies, science, English Language Arts, and music.
Faculty Publication: School Counseling: Collaborating with School Staff
Congratulations to MEd in Counseling Program Director and Assistant Professor Professor Heidi Morton and Puyallup School District Elementary School Counselor Nita Hill for the publication of the book chapter School Counseling: Collaborating with School Staff in the textbook Foundations of School Counseling: Innovations in Professional Practice (1st ed.). The chapter shares recommendations for staff engagement regarding presentation of data, professional development training opportunities, and school community-building strategies.
Faculty Documentary: The Resting Place
Assistant Professor of Music Education Professor Tina Huynh, Kate Drazner-Hoyt, and Hallie Harper created the documentary The Resting Place. The documentary tells the story of how the Vietnamese community in Tacoma came together to establish a shared cemetery to honor members who have passed. The film is one installment in the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation’s “Our Communities, Our Neighbors” film series.
Faculty Publication: Teachers on Learning and Leadership during COVID-19
Congratulations to Professor Alisun Thompson for the publication of the report Teachers on Learning and Leadership during COVID-19. Professor Thompson is a Principal Investigator of the Suddenly Distant Research Project. Since spring of 2020, the project has documented and analyzed teachers’ lived experience of teaching during the pandemic and implications for the teaching profession.
Faculty Publication: Relational Narrating: Supporting a Reluctant Writer in Writing Workshop
Congratulations to Professor and Director of School-based Placements Professor Fred Hamel for the publication of the article Relational Narrating: Supporting a Reluctant Writer in Writing Workshop in the Journal of Language & Literacy Education. This article uses a narrative methodology approach to interpret the writing of a 4th grade reluctant writer in a writing workshop. The analysis conceptualizes writing as a process of "becoming" and considers the role of “imaginative co-investments” in writing, between peers, as shaping factors supporting writer identity and practice.
Interview with Assistant Professor Tina Huynh
Whether Professor Tina Huynh is collecting Vietnamese children’s music, teaching undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in music and music education at University of Puget Sound, or serving as the Tacoma Refugee Choir’s project scholar, Huynh is passionate about preserving music and passing it on to her students and to the community. Read Five Questions with Puget Sound Assistant Professor Tina Huynh.
Faculty Publication: Grounded Framework for Culturally Relevant and Responsive Music Teaching
Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Music Education Professor Tina Huynh for the publication of the article Grounded Framework for Culturally Relevant and Responsive Music Teaching. Co-authored with a research team, the article presents a framework to provide music educators with guidance, supporting their individual musical growth, facilitating authentic relationships with students, authentic performances, and careful idea development for lesson planning that is inclusive of multiple musical perspectives and origins.
Faculty Documentary: Songs of Little Saigon
Assistant Professor of Music Education Professor Tina Huynh and James Rael created the documentary Songs of Little Saigon. (Learn more about the documentary at songsoflittlesaigon.com.) The film features Vietnamese Americans whose musical talent, hope and resilience propelled the rebuilding of their lives in Southern California after fleeing a war-torn Vietnam. They have become musically active leaders and role models in the Vietnamese community. From October 15-30, 2021 you can screen the film virtually via Viet Film Fest.
Virtual Panel: Tacoma Public Schools LGBTQIA Professional Learning Community
The School of Education is hosting a special event on Wednesday, March 24 from 6-8 p.m. Join a team of Tacoma Public Schools counselors, advocates, and a school board member to discuss caring for and serving queer youth, their families, and queer faculty in public schools.
Panelists:
- LISA KEATING, Board of Directors for Tacoma Public Schools
- CAROLINE KYLE MENZIA, School Counselor, Gieger Elementary
- JAKE CLAUSEN, School Counselor, Lincoln High School
- BRANDI JUNDERSON, Career Guidance Specialist, Stadium High School
- LAUREN NOBLE, School Counselor, Stewart Middle School
- MELISSA PORTER, School Counselor, Washington Elementary School
- KRISTI GREENAWAY, Implementation Coach, Whole Child Initiative
Advancing Equity Grant Award
MAT program faculty worked in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools, African American Studies, the Race & Pedagogy Institute, and Vibrant Schools Tacoma to write a successful grant proposal for the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) Advancing Equity Grant. PESB developed the grant opportunity to advance equity within educator preparation programs and to address persistent inequities in Washington’s P-12 education system. From 2021 to 2023 the grant team will co-plan monthly professional development sessions addressing culturally responsive and anti-racist teaching to develop racial equity leadership among pre-service and in-service teachers. Learn More.
Virtual Presentation: Are We Learning Yet? Portraits of Online Learning in High Schools
The School of Education hosted a virtual panel presentation on Wednesday, November 18. MAT candidates interning in virtual classrooms shared observations and insights about online learning in the COVID19 pandemic. MAT candidates in the EDUC 620: Adolescent Identities, Literacies, and Communities course engaged in the following questions: In what ways have teaching and learning changed with virtual instruction? What challenges do students and teachers face? How are classroom relationships affected? What strengths & successes are emerging?
To view the recorded presentation, please use the following link: Are We Learning Yet?
Race Matters Panel: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Culturally Responsive and Anti-Racist Teaching
Tacoma Public Schools educators Justina Johnson, AVID & Advanced Program; Jess Stella '08, MAT'10, NBCT, Tacoma School of the Arts; and Audrey Wilson MAT '13, Mason Middle School; and moderator Amy Ryken, School of Education Dean, discussed culturally responsive and anti-racist teaching. Panelists discussed equity initiatives Tacoma Public Schools is engaging and the challenges of the ongoing work.
Race Matters: Continuing the Conversation was a series of online discussions for the Puget Sound community and our neighbors, allowing for courageous conversations about race, supported by the expertise and guidance of Race & Pedagogy Institute leaders.
To view the recorded presentation, view the August 19 session of Race Matters: Continuing the Conversation.
Student Award: Knowles Teaching Fellowship
Jennifer Flonacher MAT '20 was selected as a Knowles Teaching Fellow. The Fellows Program provides professional development focused on practitioner inquiry and community-building to early-career high school science and math teachers during their first five years of teaching.
Special Student Issue of the Race and Pedagogy Journal
A Special Student Issue of the Race and Pedagogy Journal Engaging Teaching Dilemmas to Foster Culturally Responsive and Antiracist Teaching Practice features the master's work of seven MAT '19 alumni: Julianne Bonnell, Erica Gott, Erika Horwege, Sheri-Ann Nishiyama, Hayley Rathburn, Dylan Richmond, and Robbie Wood. They share reflections representing how race and racism are visible, silenced, and/or dismissed in classrooms and schools. Also included in this issue are reflections from teacher educators and community partners who contribute their voices to the journal in response to their engagement with MAT candidates' projects.
Student Award: Knowles Teaching Fellowship
Julianne Bonnell MAT '19 was selected as a Knowles Teaching Fellow. The Fellows Program provides professional development focused on practitioner inquiry and community-building to early-career high school science and math teachers during their first five years of teaching.
Special Student Issue of the Race and Pedagogy Journal
A Special Student Issue of the Race and Pedagogy Journal Undoing Miseducation: Centering Race and Unlearning Racism in Teacher Education features the master’s work of twelve MAT ‘18 alumni: Ryan Baker, Rebecca Bathrick, Ninoshka Chavez, Austin Docter, Holly Keehn, Colin Kelly, Madeline McVay, Beth O’Reilly, Spencer Rake-Marona, Robin Rosenberg, Jordan Ross, Cameron Stedman. They share reflections representing how race and racism are visible, silenced, and/or dismissed in classrooms and schools.
Unlearning Racism: Professional Resources
This collection of print and non-print resources was compiled by teachers, community members, and faculty who collaboratively developed the PreK-12 Teachers and Students Unlearning Racism strand as a part of the Race & Pedagogy 2018 National Conference. A collection is a starting place for continued exploration about centering race and unlearning racism.
Faculty Publication: Choice and Agency in the Writing Workshop: Developing Engaged Writers, Grades 4-6
Congratulations to Professor Fred Hamel for the publication of his book Choice and Agency in the Writing Workshop. Recently, he discussed his new book on National Writing Project Radio, which airs on the teacher–oriented group's website.