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Mentor Teacher Field Placement Information

Mission

The mission of the Science and Mathematics Initiative (SMI) is to encourage science, mathematics and engineering undergraduates to explore careers in teaching by providing opportunities for coursework and paid field placements with mentor teachers in local schools.

Overview

SMI came about as a result of a partnership between California's universities, K-12 schools, and government and industry leaders to address the growing need for mathematics and science teachers in California. The goal of the partnership is to place one thousand new math and science teachers each year into California's classrooms.

SMI Staff

The SMI staff is here to help you with your needs and concerns.

For questions regarding field placements, you can reach:

Judy Headley, the Pre-professional Education Program Coordinator, at jheadley@education.ucsb.edu or at 805-893-3976.

For questions about the program, working with the SMI students or stipends, you can reach Sue Johnson, the SMI Coordinator, at sjohnson@education.ucsb.edu or at 805-893-8091.

SMI Courses

CaT1 course introduces our perspective secondary teachers to how children learn science and mathematics in the elementary grades. It serves as a basis for them to think about learning science and mathematics as a K-12 endeavor. As a part of CaT1 our students also work several hours a week in local classrooms with mentor teachers. Here they experience the learning of science and mathematics first-hand.

CaT2 course looks at learning science or mathematics in junior high and high school. Once again, UCSB relies of the expertise of local mentor teachers to provide the vital classroom experience.

SMI Students

SMI students bring an interest in exploring science and mathematics teaching. SMI courses provide students an opportunity to learn about the field of education as well as an opportunity to work with a mentor teacher in a local school so that they can experience first hand what it is like to be a science or mathematics teacher. Students spend several hours each week in the mentor teacher’s classroom and receive a stipend which is based on the number of hours in that classroom. Students are required to have their mentor teacher sign a copy of an online log that they keep to record their time in the classroom.

Students are required to attend an SMI course where they discuss both the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching.

Having SMI students in your classroom should be both a learning experience for them and helpful to you and your students. We encourage you to consider having your SMI Students:

Learn by observing you work with your students in your classroom
Work with individual students or small groups in your classroom and under your supervision.
Help you prepare and clean up the classroom for a specific activity of which they will be a part.
Lead a short activity

Mentor Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

Mentor Teachers play a vital role in the SMI program by providing our SMI students experience working with teachers and students in K-12 classrooms. In order to make sure that having SMI assistants in your classroom is a positive experience for you, your students and the SMI students we ask that you follow the recommended guidelines below:

Working with SMI Students.

Introduce the SMI student(s) to your students and explain their role.
Tell them about pertinent school and district policies.
Offer them a safe place to store their materials and belongings.
Discuss emergency plans for earthquake and fire drills.
Work with your student(s) to come up with a schedule that works for all of you.
SMI students usually do not grade papers unless they are grading papers connected with a lesson in which they participated.
Under your direction please encourage your student(s) to work individually and or with small groups of students.
Please remain in the classroom with your SMI student(s).
Students receive a stipend based on the amount of time in your classroom observing and assisting the students.

Communication

Please maintain communication and dialogue with your SMI student(s).
Share your philosophy and understanding of science and mathematics teaching, as your expertise is essential to their learning process.
Make sure to inform the students in advance about any schedule changes, assemblies, exams or anything that may mean that they would need to reschedule their visit.
Make sure the student knows how to best contact you if they are unable to be in your classroom due to illness, emergency, etc.
At the end of the semester you will be asked to sign a printout of there hours in your classroom. You will need to sign this in order to get your stipend.
If any issues arise with your SMI student we assume you will want to discuss it with them first, but it will be important for us be informed, as we want to ensure that you are having a positive experience with the SMI program.
Students who are planning to apply to a teacher credential program may ask you to write a letter of recommendation for them about the field placement. Please consider doing this for them.

Using the Online Information System (OIS)

In order for you to receive your stipend, your demographic information will need to be entered into the OIS system.
After we have submitted the stipends for payment, you will be asked to electronically verify the information you have entered into the OIS system before you receive your stipend.

Please contact Sue Johnson and she will send you instructions as to how enter your information into OIS:

Sue Johnson, UCSB SMI Coordinator, sjohnson@education.ucsb.edu

805-893-8091

Receiving your SMI Stipend

It is important that you sign the document that contains the information about your SMI student(s) experience in your classroom. We cannot request your stipend to be processed until we receive that document. You will receive a stipend of $200 for each student that you mentor that has spent at least 30 hours in your classroom. If they have spent less than 30 hours, the stipend is prorated.

The following is a checklist of tasks you need to ask you to complete before you will receive your SMI stipend. Please note that all stipends are processed system-wide through the Online Information System (OIS), and do not come directly from our office.

Enter your demographic information into the Online Information System (OIS).

Sign the document containing information about your SMI student’s time in your classroom.

When contacted, electronically verify the contact information you have entered into the OIS system so that the checks can be printed and mailed to the correct address.

If you have any questions regarding the stipend payment process, or have problems with any of these steps, please contact Sue Johnson at sjohnson@education.ucsb.edu

or 805-893-8091.

Mentor Teacher Recognition

Too often teachers are not recognized for their dedication to science and mathematics education. SMI, therefore, would like to nominate teachers whose lessons, teaching techniques, or mentoring deserve recognition. Please contact us if you or a colleague would like to share your school's science and mathematics education successes. Here are some examples of awards/grants:

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and its sponsors recognize and reward exemplary science and mathematics teachers (preK-college) and principals (middle level and high school) with cash, trips, workshops, computers, science program materials, and more. For more information about the NSTA awards consult www.nsta.org/awards.

National Association of Biology Teachers recognizes biology teacher excellence with several awards. For more information about the NABT awards consult http://www.nabt.org/sites/S1/index.php?p=290
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) honor mathematics teachers with awards and grants. For more information about these awards consult http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=198&LangType=1033

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