Do you want to be a Field Instructor for a social work intern?
Hannah Gibson, University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work – Field Education
Website: http://www.utexas.edu/ssw/aa/field/

The following information and guidelines are taken from the Field Education workshop packet provided by the office of Field Education on how to host an intern as a Field Instructor:

 “The intent of field education is to connect the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practical world of the practice setting. It is a basic precept of social work education that the two interrelated components of curriculum—classroom and field—are of equal importance within the curriculum, and each contributes to the development of the requisite competencies of professional practice.”
                                        -Take from Council on Social Work Education, Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards.

“Clinical supervision is an interactional process in which a supervisor has been assigned or designated to assist in and direct the practice of supervisees in the areas of teaching, administration, and helping.”
                                    -Munson, Carlton (1993) Clinical Social Work Supervision, 2^nd ed. The Haworth Press: New York.

Responsibilities of Supervisor

-welcoming and orienting the student intern to the agency
-assess student’s learning style, needs and interests in the context of field
-help student to develop strategies and skills for dealing with demands and expectations
-providing weekly individualized educational supervision as well as formal evaluation
-provide challenge and support for student 

Responsibilities of Student Intern

-make use of the structure for supervision in a non-defensive and open manner
-share with supervisor details of work
-provide feedback to the supervisor about needs and identifying learning goals and about the natur of the working relationship 

Responsibilities of Office of Field Education

-designing and implementing field placement processes and policies
-developing and evaluating field instructor training
-representing the field program on school committees, university functions, and the professional community

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Who: 5^th and 6^th graders from Zavala Elementary
When: January 29, 2010. 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Where: Nursing School, University of Texas at Austin

Contact: Christina Stylianou, Breakthrough to Nursing Coordinator, chair of Longhorn School Bus
E-mail:  cstylianou at mail.utexas.edu
Website:http://www.utexas.edu/nursing/html/alumni_friends/nlspring09/outreach.html

Activities include:

1.      Upon arrival, students will be broken up into 4 groups and rotate to 4 different stations.

2.      25 minutes are spent at each of these stations which cover:

-          Cough/Healthy Hand Washing Hygiene

-          Exercise

-          Healthy Eating

-          First Aid/Nursing Knowledge

3.      At 12:00 noon, lunch is either outside on the terrace or at the park near the nursing school.

4.      Children are given a tour of the Nursing School’s  Skills Lab where a presentation is given by either a current nurse or nursing student about possible paths to a nursing career and various opportunities.

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With the recent catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010, many of us here in Austin want to be there to help. In lieu of donating clothes or food for the meantime, disaster relief mobilizers ask us to donate money instead due to the extensive difficulty in transporting packaged goods to the torn nation. 

You can simply text “HAITI” to 90999 to make a $10 donation to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti, or you can donate through other national organizations that are responding to this crisis which include UNICEF, Giving Children Hope, and Plan USA: Helping Children to name a few. CNN has also listed various avenues for everyone to donate here.

Please join the University of Texas at Austin in a solidarity rally on campus in the west mall (west of the Tower across from the Co-Op) from 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM on Thursday, January 21, 2010. A moment of silence will be held during the rally for those that are still missing as well as the victims who have perished in this recent disaster.

At an event in the White House on January 6, 2010, President Barack Obama recognized the UTeach program at the University of Texas at Austin for its efforts in producing more math and science education teachers. In this program, students are able to earn both a degree and teaching certificate within 4 years.

As a global force in cutting-edge science and technology, the United States emphasizes the importance in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education for our nation’s youth and upcoming leaders. The UTeach program is being replicated at several other universities. Click here to read more.

Website: http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/ .

Contact: Christina Cid, Director of Education. E-mail: ccid@austin.utexas.edu .

What is the Texas Natural Science Center?

The Texas Natural Science Center (TNSC) works to encourage awareness and appreciation of the interplay of the biological, geological and environmental forces as they have shaped, are shaping, and will shape our world. The Center’s exhibits and educational programs are located at the Texas Memorial Museum. Research laboratories and collections are located at the Pickle Research Campus and include the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory , Non-vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, and Texas Natural History Collections.

Visitors can find a vast array of rocks, Texas wildlife, and fossils on display at the Texas Memorial Museum. The Center’s educational programs, including guided and self-guided tours of the museum, teacher training, special events, and outreach programs serve both children and adults.

Ultimate Goal

TNSC strives to excite people about science, particularly natural history. As the Director of Education, Christina Cid’s goal is to make the research that the Center’s scientists and scientists from the greater University of Texas at Austin community are conducting relevant, interesting, and accessible to the public.

Needs

The Center is in need of more staff and funding to help develop and implement educational programs, as well as to renovate the museum’s exhibits.

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Website: http://www.wildflower.org/ .

Contact: Kelly Ledford- Education Outreach Coordinator- kledford@wildflower.org .
 

What Is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center? 

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was founded by the former first lady Lady Bird Johnson and actress Helen Hayes to protect and preserve the native plants and natural landscapes of North America.  The center has numerous educational outreach programs for K-12 students, college students, and adults. 

Nature Nights: This program targets families and students of all ages.  On one Friday of every month in March-May and Sep-Nov and four Thursdays in July, the center offers a variety of programs including lectures from scientists, crafts, guided hikes, and informational stations that focus on natured based topics. Nature Nights is completely free for members.  The center is currently expanding into underrepresented communities and looking for ways to translate their programs into Spanish.  School groups are also invited to come out to nature nights.

Millennium Seed Bank Project: This program is part of the global plant conservation effort developed by the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, United Kingdom which aims to bank 10% of seeds from all native plants around the world by 2010.  The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center focuses on all native plants found in Texas.  The center has monthly seeds cleaning parties where volunteers clean the seeds the biologists collect.  Many high school student groups come to the seed cleaning parties as well as other volunteers on Saturdays. 

School Yard Habitats: This program provides teachers with a small 3 to 4 hour workshop about how to install a native plant garden in their school.

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Dr. Keffrelyn Brown, Assistant Professor.
Curriculum & Instruction.
Cultural Studies in Education.
Website: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/education/faculty/view.php?ID_PK=11CC547D-1422-0F2D-9D52456C2729947D&coedept=ci  .
E-mail: keffrelyn@mail.utexas.edu .

Research Objective

Dr. Brown’s primary research interest focuses on how teachers acquire, integrate, and use sociocultural knowledge with historically underserved populations.  Dr. Brown aims to better understand how teacher educators can provide teachers with effective experiences and knowledge in order to increase students’ academic success. She is currently looking at a group of pre-service teachers, who were her previous students, and will determine how their sociocultural knowledge changes over time. 

Origin of Passion for Education

When Dr. Brown was an undergraduate, she was very interested in the educational experiences of African-American students.  Part of this interest stemmed from her discontent in her own educational experiences.  After completing her undergraduate education, Dr. Brown became a teacher through the Teach For America program and taught for several years afterwards.  She began to realize the power teachers have in the classroom as well as in students’ lives. How teachers acquire and use sociocultural knowledge in relation to facilitating academic success has been a long standing concern and became an important issue for Dr. Brown.  She decided to bring three different aspects of education together that were not usually associated with one another including effective teaching, sociocultural knowledge, and teacher education. 

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Website: http://www.seedlingfoundation.net/

Contact: Sari Waxler, Executive Director.

Who is The Seedling Foundation?

 This community organization focuses on assisting and providing resources, such as mentoring, to children of incarcerated parents. However, they execute a number of programs that have the potential to reach out to all students in surrounding public schools. Seedling Campus Beautification is one of their programs in which they help improve the landscape and exteriors of campuses in AISD with a purpose to build community in the public schools. They also have a post secondary program where a team of specialists work closely with juniors at AISD  High Schools in hopes of more first generation college students being recognized in the National Merit Scholarship competition. The Seedling Foundation also sponsors bi-lingual theater productions at low-income elementary schools in partnership with  Zachary Scott Theater’s Project InterACT. The live performances are hosted at different elementary schools each year.  

Ultimate Goal

The Seedling Foundation’s ultimate goal is 3-fold:

1. Increase the capacity of children in their education

2. Increase resiliency in children – children of incarcerated parents are at a higher risk for dropping out, resorting to drugs, pregnancy, and even running away from home. With hope and by having a caring mentor present in their lives, these children are able to withstand a lot of those risk factors.

3. Positive youth development speaking – encourage their mentors to make the best possible use of their time with the children whether it lasts a year or even five. Through volunteering with The Seedling Foundation, the mentors are able to cultivate the mentees’ social skills as well as expose them to  knowledge about our community and world. 

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Website: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/education/departments/khe/otherprogs/sss/ .

Contact: Dr. Michael Sanders, Camp Director. E-mail: mtsanders@mail.utexas.edu .

What is SUCCESS Camp?

SUCCESS Camp is a one week camp that provides an opportunity for boys and girls from ages 7 to 14 years old to learn about healthy lifestyle choices.  Campers learn about caloric intake, portion sizes, and the amount of fat and carbohydrates in foods by participating in hands-on activities.  For example, students recorded the number of calories from the food they ate that day as well as the number of calories they burned walking around using a pedometer in order to determine their total caloric intake and expenditure.  Campers are also put into leadership roles to develop different leadership skills and become confident adults.  The SUCCESS Camp promotes physical activity through unstructured play, structured play and cooperative games due to the positive research findings that suggest a combination of these activities reduces sedentary lifestyles.   In addition, campers tour The University of Texas at Austin campus, Texas Memorial Museum, LBJ Library, and other campus buildings. 

Ultimate Goal

The mission of the SUCCESS Camp is to educate children about making healthy lifestyle choices and empower them with the knowledge to make these correct choices.  The SUCCESS Camp aims to accomplish this by introducing children to healthy choices in a fun and non-threatening setting.  This camp also exposes students to the university who normally would not have that opportunity. 

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Dr. Anthony J. Petrosino, Associate Professor – College of Education
Curriculum & Instruction, Science & Mathematics Education.
E-mail: ajpetrosino@mail.utexas.edu. 

Objective of research

Overall, Dr. Petrosino is interested in the development of children and the processes that they go through from novice to expertise. Often, we think that only adults can obtain a sense of expertise, however, the process endured transcends things like age. Children are found to exhibit great deals of expertise such as acquiring and mastering a certain basic skill set. In his research, Dr. Petrosino views the developmental process through three different lenses: psychological, education/instructional, and social. His formal work specifically relates to math and science education, focusing on K-12 experimentation and modeling in the classrooms. Dr. Petrosino’s efforts target the creation of instructional environments and sequences that help that trajectory. 

Where it all began…

Dr. Petrosino describes that his passion began as early as when he was in the first grade. He witnessed teachers helping other students in the corner of the classroom and felt a sense of urgency in supporting them. He was helping the instructor teach those students, so there was a notion of teaching present in his life at a very young age. Dr. Petrosino credits his father for being influential in valuing the simplicity of explaining things clearly. However, being a teacher or choosing education as a field did not become relevant until after graduating from Creighton.   

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