Sarah Wong ’22 Receives Fulbright to Taiwan</h1> <article> <h1>Sarah Wong ’22 Receives Fulbright to Taiwan</h1> <p>anagy — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 15:14:36 +0000</p> <span>Sarah Wong ’22 Receives Fulbright to Taiwan</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2022-06-07T11:14:36-04:00" title="Tuesday, June 7, 2022 - 11:14">Tue, 06/07/2022 - 11:14</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>As a Taiwanese and Cantonese American, spring graduate Sarah Wong never had any question about where she would want to live and learn abroad. And now, following two years of the pandemic, she is thrilled to spend a year immersing herself in the culture and education system of Chiayi city, in the southwestern region of Taiwan, with a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.</p> <p>“Through family trips and learning about my family's long history on the island, I developed a strong connection to Taiwan,” says Wong, a <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies">musical studies</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society">law and society</a> major with an <a href="/education-studies">education studies</a> concentration. </p> <p>Wong says Chiayi is home to a diverse population in Taiwan, including Taiwanese aborigines, Han Taiwanese, and other ethnic groups. She is looking forward to bringing her experiences to the Taiwanese classroom and society while immersing herself in a language-learning environment. </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Professor of Music Education Jody Kerchner, left, is director of the education studies program.</figcaption> </figure> <p>“I am eager to learn about how schools operate outside of the United States, and how Taiwanese educators teach their students. I highly value my heritage languages, and I’m excited to improve my fluency in Mandarin and Taiwanese,” Wong says. “Fulbrighters around the world represent the United States in all of its complexity and diversity. As a Taiwanese and Cantonese American, I look forward to sharing my own personal version of America with my new community in Taiwan.”</p> <p>Wong says �鶹��Ƶ has provided her with many opportunities to grow as a student, teacher, and person. She came to �鶹��Ƶ having spoken some Mandarin in her home. She took some intermediate Mandarin classes in her first year “mostly for fun.” For the last four years, she has been an America Reads tutor. She worked in �鶹��Ƶ's elementary school classrooms and in the afterschool program as a literacy, language arts, and homework tutor. She also taught the Introduction to Taiko <a href="https://oberlinexco.org/">ExCo</a> course for four semesters. </p> <p>Wong acquired additional teaching and coalition-building experience as a teaching fellow for the Bridging the Gap (BTG) program at �鶹��Ƶ for two years. Through this program, she worked with other BTG facilitators to share coalition-building and dialogue curriculum with college students in New York and Tennessee.</p> <p>Outside of the classroom, Wong has been a member of �鶹��Ƶ’s Asian Diaspora Coalition and served as secretary of the Asian American Alliance. She also worked as a program associate in the <a href="/mrc">Multicultural Resource Center</a>.</p> <p>A resident of Monterey Park, California, Wong’s post-graduate goals include law or graduate school to focus on education advocacy and reform. </p> <p>“If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught me, it is that I can never be completely certain about my future plans,” she says. “No matter what I do, I will bring my experiences from both �鶹��Ƶ and Taiwan with me. Whatever path I choose, I will remain committed to Mandarin language study and hope that I will use my language skills in my professional life, not only as an education advocate but also to promote understanding between the U.S. and Taiwan.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Wong is looking forward to bringing her experiences to the Taiwanese classroom while immersing herself in a language-learning environment.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2022-06-07T12:00:00Z">Tue, 06/07/2022 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25226">Education Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jody-kerchner" hreflang="und">Jody Kerchner</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" hreflang="und">Law and Society</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies" hreflang="und">Musical Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Sarah Wong '22 has been selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Chiayi city, Taiwan.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jonathan Clark '25</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Winter Term: A Plan to Improve Education for Students</h1> <p>ygay — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 14:39:30 +0000</p> <span>Winter Term: A Plan to Improve Education for Students</span> <span><span>ygay</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-09-30T10:39:30-04:00" title="Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 10:39">Wed, 09/30/2020 - 10:39</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>“This internship allowed me to see first-hand how federal education regulations are enforced at the state level,” says Smith, who started working with the program in June and continued throughout Winter Term. “My family's experience is definitely what inspired me to work in the field. Though I don't know exactly what I want to do in the future, I know that I want to work to improve the lives of students like my brother.”</p> <p>Smith’s brother, Nolan, has Down syndrome, but because their father is in the special education field, and knew how to be an advocate, Nolan received services needed to succeed in school. However, Smith recognizes that many parents do not have the time, knowledge, or resources to do the same. </p> <p>By working with the OSEP, Smith was exposed to tasks that ensure that states are meeting federal requirements in regards to services for children with disabilities, from birth to the age of 21. Via Zoom, Smith attended meetings between the department and state officials, helped organize state data relating to meeting Individuals with Disabilities Education Act benchmarks, and helped organize the division's online content. </p> <p>“By attending department meetings, reading state reports/briefings, and working with my division's policy director, I not only affirmed my interest in education/disability law, but now have experiences that I can connect to my law school coursework, too,” says Smith.</p> <p>“The number-one lesson I learned from this internship is to always say yes, even if a task that you're offered doesn't seem directly linked to your interests. By taking on tasks from a variety of people in my division, I not only was able to broaden my understanding of the division's work, but also meet staff that I otherwise would not have interacted with.” </p> <p><br> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-09-30T12:00:00Z">Wed, 09/30/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yvonne Gay</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Bridget Smith ’21, an education and politics major, wants to improve the educational experiences of students with special needs. That's why interning at the Monitoring and State Improvement Planning division of the Office of Special Education Program in �鶹��Ƶ (OSEP) was a great fit.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2402">Winter Term</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25226">Education Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25416">Politics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/politics" hreflang="und">Politics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Bridget Smith ’21 in the Carnegie Building at �鶹��Ƶ College.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Chris Scmucki ’22, 2019</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Pedagogy That’s Out of SITE(S)</h1> <p>tsloan — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 15:50:21 +0000</p> <span>Pedagogy That’s Out of SITE(S)</span> <span><span>tsloan</span></span> <span><time datetime="2017-10-27T11:50:21-04:00" title="Friday, October 27, 2017 - 11:50">Fri, 10/27/2017 - 11:50</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p dir="ltr">If you were to pinpoint the most necessary words to communicate with a group of young children in another language, you may find that knowing how to talk about loose teeth and common injuries are of particular importance.</p> <p>So in the Spanish in the Elementary School (<a href="https://www.oberlinsites.org/" target="_blank">�鶹��Ƶ SITES</a>) program, it is precisely this vocabulary, and other words that are meaningful to the students, that the curriculum is built around.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Your students need to see the point of what you’re doing,” says senior Leah Martin-Rosenthal, who is in her sixth semester of teaching in the SITES program. “SITES does a really good job of making its lessons very centered on students and what they care about, and giving them an urgency to communicate.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Under the direction of Kim Faber, instructor of Spanish and SITES program founding director, students teach introductory Spanish in grades K-2 at Eastwood Elementary school using an immersive and interactive form of language pedagogy. They get students up and out of their seats, teaching in a circle so every student participates and keeping everyone, teachers included, learning as they go.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A lot of language teachers across the world think kids can’t learn a new language quickly, but they can do it if you get out of their way and provide the meaningful chunks of language that they need to put the puzzle together,” Faber says.</p> <p dir="ltr">The strength and importance of the SITES program isn’t just that it teaches children a new language—it also gives the aspiring teachers invaluable tools, providing them with guidance while allowing them the freedom to explore and hone their own pedagogical styles.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The learning curve was really steep my first semester,” says Martin-Rosenthal. “But what’s great about the program is that everyone teaches in pairs, so I had an amazing co-teacher who was a great mentor to me my first semester.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Instructors have weekly meetings with student grade level coordinators, where they collaboratively reflect on the classroom experiences of the past week, and also discuss how to continue improving.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I really like how much independence there is within the program,” says Amanda Medendorp, a third-year Hispanic studies and law and society double-major in her third year with the program. “Being able to teach in your own classroom space and be such an influential person in these kids’ lives has translated into me building confidence in myself and developing my communication skills.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Lilah Drafts-Johnson, a fourth-year politics and Latin American studies double-major, took Faber’s Spanish class, which uses the same interactive and practical method as SITES, fell in love with it, and shortly thereafter began teaching with SITES.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I took French in high school but could barely speak with anyone after six years of it,” says Drafts-Johnson. “The SITES method is how I learned Spanish, and in teaching it as well, I feel I’ve become more certain in my own Spanish, and more confident and able to go abroad to Chile as a result of it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The benefits of students teaching within the program are manifold, from giving them the space to develop a real love of teaching to preparing them for related careers.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Caitlyn Pineault, a 2016 �鶹��Ƶ graduate, SITES has marked her experience before, during, and after her time as a college student. First hearing of the program as a prospective student walking through Peters Hall, she signed up to be involved in her first semester. Now she is back at �鶹��Ƶ as an adjunct instructor of English as a second language and as a liaison between SITES and the Spanish program at Eastwood Elementary. Before returning, Pineault was teaching English in Mexico as a Fulbright fellow. She credits SITES for being well prepared for her Fulbright experience.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A lot of my fellow TAs had no idea where to begin, but SITES gave me the tools to be able to deal with the challenges of planning curriculum, and planning lessons that were engaging,” Pineault says. “I can’t imagine my life without SITES.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2017-10-27T12:00:00Z">Fri, 10/27/2017 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Chloe Vassot</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Through the �鶹��Ƶ SITES program, college students are able to design and practice their own pedagogy while engaging with students in the community.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2398">Community Education</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/kim-faber" hreflang="und">Kim Faber</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/latin-american-studies" hreflang="und">Latin American Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">�鶹��Ƶ</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Caitlyn Pineault ’16 at the 2014 �鶹��Ƶ Community and Cultural Festival in Tappan Square.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Dale Preston ’83</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>SITES Set on Education</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:25 +0000</p> <span>SITES Set on Education</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:25-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>This year marked the 10-year anniversary of the early language learning program Spanish in the Elementary Schools (<a href="https://www.oberlinsites.org/" target="_blank">�鶹��Ƶ SITES</a>), founded and run by Kim Faber, program director. To celebrate, Faber organized an education symposium, titled Language, Power, and Education, featuring a series of events and panel discussions surrounding the topic of education, simultaneously highlighting the kickoff of the new <a href="/node/10376">Education Studies Concentration</a>.</p> <p>While the entire symposium discussed education in various contexts, the event that honored SITES’s anniversary in particular was a panel called Alumni in Education, in which nine �鶹��Ƶ College alumni of the SITES program discussed their experiences and education at �鶹��Ƶ and the careers that followed. “It has been interesting to see where their lives took them,” Faber says. The panel was followed by breakout sessions and an alumni-student networking session sponsored by the Career Center that allowed current students to have smaller group discussions with an individual alum. “It was good for students to see a lineup of options. I think they appreciated that.”</p> <p>The idea came to Faber during Commencement/Reunion Weekend 2014 when she was talking to SITES alumni who were visiting campus. They suggested she enlist alumni of the program to talk about education with current students, commemorating the program’s anniversary and sparking a discussion in the process.</p> <p>Faber founded the SITES program after discovering that there was no language learning program in the �鶹��Ƶ City Schools until the high school level. At the time, her son was entering kindergarten. To rectify the situation, she started a community-based service learning course in which students taking her Linguistics for Language Students course—already interested in teaching languages—could get college credit and teaching experience, while providing language classes to kids in the city schools. Her initial support was limited to a small grant from the Bonner Center for Service and Learning.</p> <p>After surveying the community, Faber discovered that Spanish was the most popular foreign language choice. Swearing to “underpromise and overdeliver,” in 2005 Faber began training 16 college students to teach one class per week for 10 weeks each semester in four kindergarten and four third-grade classrooms at Eastwood and Prospect Elementary Schools. The next year, Faber expanded the program to include all kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms, more than tripling the number of required college students from 16 to 54. Faber says she was worried at first that they would not get enough volunteers, but 65 students signed up. Fears assuaged, she was able to place teachers in not just elementary school classrooms but preschool classrooms as well.</p> <p>SITES gives students teaching experience in all three sectors of mainstream educational philosophy: integrative learning, where students connect and combine what they have learned from multiple classes; reflective learning, where they think about and explain what they are learning and how; and active learning, where they put into practice the theories they have learned. Professor of �鶹��Ƶ Sebastiaan Faber says, “The unusual thing is that there are these buzzwords, but you can see from SITES how it works: Students come out of the program with a much clearer sense of how all of this hangs together, with a real practical set of skills that students don’t always have.”</p> <p>Elementary school students receive 30 minutes of Spanish instruction twice a week during the school year. SITES teachers specialize their lesson plans and teaching methods for the grade they are working with that semester so that students are more engaged with what they’re learning. This means “we talk a lot about teeth and blood because their teeth are always falling out and they always have a Band-Aid on. Instantly they say, ‘I’m with you. You’re talking about me and my teeth,’” Kim Faber says, laughing.</p> <p>The SITES program not only benefits elementary school students and college students aspiring to be teachers, but it has also affected the school system, allowing �鶹��Ƶ City Schools to become the first K-12 International Baccalaureate (IB) district in Ohio, and paving the way for a structural integration of language teaching across all grades. Starting next year, students in first through fifth grade will be taught by a certified teacher with IB training. SITES instructors, meanwhile, will continue to teach Spanish in kindergarten, first and second grade, as they work closely with the �鶹��Ƶ City Schools to support language learning at all grade levels.</p> <p>“It’s been a powerful 10 years. I’m excited to see what happens next,” Kim Faber says. “I’ve learned a ton and the students have, too. It’s a safe playground. Obies love being creative and sometimes we, as educators, need to get out of their way and let them learn by doing. SITES is a really great place for that.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-06-12T12:00:00Z">Fri, 06/12/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Rosalind Black</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2398">Community Education</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2385">Community</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2391">Languages & Literatures</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4796">�鶹��Ƶ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25226">Education Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies" hreflang="und">�鶹��Ƶ</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kim Faber </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>From Capstone to Curtain</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:25 +0000</p> <span>From Capstone to Curtain</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:25-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Senior English major Annie Rasiel had never abridged a play before, and she had certainly never abridged Shakespeare’s <em>Macbeth</em> for an eager group of middle school students. That all changed last winter, when she spent her winter term preparing for the first production of what would become the �鶹��Ƶ Children’s Shakespeare Project (OCSP). “There are abridged versions out there,” says Rasiel, “But they’re so sanitized a lot of the time, which does a great disservice to the kids.”</p> <p>Rasiel admits she had some apprehensions about teaching Shakespeare to middle school students, fearing she was “teaching them to worship an old, dead, British guy.” But working with Professor of Theater and Shakespeare scholar Paul Moser, and writing her capstone on the pros and cons of Shakespeare education for youth eased her anxieties. “If you can teach students that Shakespeare’s plays are dirty jokes and hitting each other with swords, but also big, essential human questions that they have just as much right to as anyone else, that sort of breaks down a lot of assumptions about not only the canon, but authority in general.”</p> <p>Since <em>Macbeth</em>, Rasiel has incorporated her organization as a nonprofit and designed summer intensives, after-school semester programs, and one-time workshops for middle school students in �鶹��Ƶ and the surrounding cities of Elyria, North Ridgeville, Norwalk, and Amherst. She has worked with �鶹��Ƶ faculty to design a methodology for teaching Shakespeare to youth, abridged two other Shakespeare plays (with the original language and meter intact), and directed two more shows with middle school actors. Noting that middle school is where a lot of students get left behind academically, her outreach focuses specifically on lower-level English language arts classes. OCSP’s most recent play, <em>The Tempest</em>, went up this spring in the main room of Wilder Hall. Rasiel acknowledges that this play contains heavy themes of colonialism and enslavement, but refused to use an existing abridged version, noting that the content is often censored. “They turn the play into a fairy tale, and my kids are smarter than that.”</p> <p>An actor all her life, Rasiel says she became interested in this project while engaged in research for a comparative American studies class, where she studied the One Direction fan-fiction of local middle school students. “The kids started complaining to me that they didn’t have a school play or a drama club or any kind of outlet for theater. And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s something I can provide.’”</p> <p>Rasiel has long-standing relationships with teachers and students at Langston Middle School, tutoring in social studies and English language arts classes since her first year. She has also pursued many avenues of support through the college, including the Grant Proposal Writing course taught by Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Jan Cooper, the new Arts Management course, and funding from Creativity and Leadership.</p> <p>In Cooper’s course, students generally partner with existing nonprofits to write a grant proposal on their behalf. Of the 10 to 20 students enrolled in the course each year, Cooper says one or two sign up with the intention of writing grants for organizations they plan to start in the future. Rasiel is unusual, according to Cooper, as her organization is already up and running. Rasiel is currently drafting grant proposals to garner general operating costs and a stipend for her salary next year. “Annie is so enthusiastic about diving in and doing it and not questioning whether it can be done or not,” says Cooper. “Now she’s learning some of the things that might give it longevity.”</p> <p>The transition from full-time student with a theater project into full-time nonprofit director drew the attention of �鶹��Ƶ’s Creativity and Leadership program. This spring the program gave Rasiel a $500 Ignition Fund grant, which provides student ventures capital for early-phase organizational research and development. She plans to use this funding to improve the operations of the organization, meeting with an accountant and others in the nonprofit realm to discuss business plans and best practices.</p> <p>Rasiel says she knows this will be a major transition. Not the least of her tasks is managing fundraising and finances. While presently receiving additional funding from ticket sales, donations, and crowdfunding, Rasiel says she hopes to “live a little less show to show” financially. Rasiel hopes also to pay herself a livable wage and, eventually, rent a more permanent office and rehearsal space. She has managed to save on costs while still rewarding college students for their participation by establishing an opportunity for volunteers to receive academic credit. She has also joined with other local organizations like the Apollo Outreach Initiative to provide the most engaging and supportive educational program for the students.</p> <p>The upcoming summer intensive will run three weeks in July and August, and end with an outdoor production of <em>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</em> in tandem with the �鶹��Ƶ Summer Theater Festival. The summer and semester youth programs cost only $25, with scholarships available. As she transitions into a full-time director, Rasiel says she is ready to build even stronger relationships with middle school students in the �鶹��Ƶ area. “I think of OCSP fundamentally as a literacy program. The kids care enough about their roles, the performance, and the plot that they get so invested in the stories that they want to decode it. That is really powerful.”</p> <p>For more information about registering for the summer program or to donate to OCSP, visit the <a href="http://www.oberlinchildrensshakespeare.org/">�鶹��Ƶ Children’s Shakespeare Project website</a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-05-21T12:00:00Z">Thu, 05/21/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kathleen Thornton</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2355">Student Organizations</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25441">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25226">Education Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/theater" hreflang="und">Theater</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Annie Rasiel ’15 stands with her students and actors in their costumes for their production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The �鶹��Ƶ Children's Shakespeare Project</div> </article> <article> <h1>Educators Unite</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:52 +0000</p> <span>Educators Unite</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:52-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The 2014-2015 school year marks the official beginning of the Education Studies Concentration. Although �鶹��Ƶ doesn’t have an education department, there are many opportunities for students to learn and practice education, and education students now receive more support than ever.</p> <p>The Education Studies Committee, which oversees the concentration, was formed in spring 2012 with Professor of Education Deborah Roose serving as chair. The idea for the concentration came from students interested in education who wanted a way to recognize and synthesize the ways they had been learning about the subject. “A lot of students felt their academic and extracurricular work at �鶹��Ƶ College focused on education in some way, but they had to put it together all by themselves. The concentration is a way to support and explicitly value what students have already been doing here,” Roose says.</p> <p>The concentration requires work in three areas: conceptual approaches, pedagogical approaches, and experiential components. Students write frequent reflections as part of their portfolios, which Roose says has been incredibly valuable to them. “They say they didn’t realize how much it all fit together until they reflected.”</p> <p>The concentration is flexible enough to account for the different directions studying education at �鶹��Ƶ can take. Students can petition for classes and experiences that fall outside of the suggested coursework to count for the concentration. “Do the work you want to do and the concentration can support you,” Roose says.</p> <p>Opportunities to study education at �鶹��Ƶ include the <a href="http://new.oberlin.edu/office/bonner-center/cbl-programs/ninde-program/index.dot">Ninde Scholars Program</a>, in which students provide academic support and college access services to 7th-12th graders in the �鶹��Ƶ City Schools, many of whom would be the first in their families to attend college; a Language Pedagogy course that can be taken in conjunction with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZUcIPd_HDs">Spanish in the Elementary Schools (SITES)</a> program, in which students learn to teach Spanish at local schools, or another teaching program; and the Teaching and Tutoring Writing Across the Disciplines course, which trains students to work as writing associates in the <a href="https://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/rhetoric/writing-associates-program/writing-center.dot">Writing Center</a> or in specific classes.</p> <p><a href="/news/sarah-gord-15-receives-fulbright-norway">Sarah Gord</a>, a senior history major and English minor with an education studies concentration who was awarded a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant in Norway, says her experience as a writing associate has influenced her desire to teach English. “I love talking to peers about their ideas, frustrations, and realized drafts. Teaching and Tutoring Writing Across the Disciplines has helped me develop the tools to discuss students’ work with them in an encouraging, positive, and thorough manner,” Gord says. “I learn new things every time I read someone’s work, and I thrive on the energy of collaborative problem solving.”</p> <p>Kasey Cheydleur, a senior English major with a concentration in creative writing within the English department as well as an education studies concentration, says she likes that the education concentration mixes theory, practical pedagogy, and experience. “That combination has helped me feel more prepared to teach, and to teach well, because I understand education as a discipline and not just a skill,” she says. Cheydleur also says she had a great experience with the Writing Associates Program. “Teaching and Tutoring Writing Across the Disciplines got me thinking about pedagogy,” she says. “Being a writing associate has allowed me to put some of the theoretical knowledge I have learned into action and to test my own boundaries as an educator.”</p> <p>Roose is currently working with 11 seniors who have declared the education concentration, in addition to a mixed group of 12 first-years, sophomores, and juniors. The concentration has already had a big effect on many students, says Roose. “They have more knowledge and understanding of the field of education than they did before.” As for the future of the concentration, she says she trusts that the students will continue to articulate their needs.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-05-08T12:00:00Z">Fri, 05/08/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Madeline Raynor</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Boyz and Girls in Motion at the Big Parade </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Sela Miller</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Sarah Gord '15 Receives Fulbright in Norway</h1> <p>Anonymous — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:52 +0000</p> <span>Sarah Gord '15 Receives Fulbright in Norway</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:52-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Sarah Gord ’15, a history major with an English minor and an education concentration, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Bergen, Norway.</p> <p>During her time at �鶹��Ƶ, Gord has filled the role of educator in many situations, allowing her to experience working with various ages of students. A native of Wellesley, Massachusetts, Gord works with students at Langston Middle School as an America Reads tutor. She spent her winter terms working in middle school classrooms in Massachusetts and taking the Museum Education class at �鶹��Ƶ’s Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM). She also student-taught a year 4 (third grade) class while studying abroad in Bath, England. Currently, Gord works as a docent in the AMAM and serves her peers as a writing associate in the <a href="https://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/rhetoric/writing-associates-program/writing-center.dot">Writing Center</a>. Her work as a writing associate directly applies to her upcoming work in Norway, where she will be helping college students write in English, but all of her experiences contributed to her confidence as a teacher, she says.</p> <p>�鶹��Ƶ’s education-related course offerings such as Children and Society, Alternative Pedagogies, and Teaching and Tutoring Writing have also contributed to her skillset as an educator, Gord says. “They inspired me to think critically about education and to articulate my educational goals.”</p> <p>Inspired to return abroad and interested in secondary-level teaching, Gord will teach English writing workshops to university students and co-teach a high school English class. “I am excited to gain valuable experience planning lessons and collaborating with more experienced staff members and to think about how their perspectives on education resemble and diverge from my own,” she says. She is also eager to explore an education system unlike what she has participated in so far, she says. “At this point the differences are only faintly sketched out in my mind, and I am excited to more fully understand how Norwegian education works.”</p> <p>Besides learning from and practicing her passion—education—Gord also looks forward to exploring Scandinavia and traveling to other areas in Europe where she has yet to travel.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-05-04T12:00:00Z">Mon, 05/04/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Rosalind Black</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2416">Education</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25226">Education Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jennifer Manna</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>