Thread about AEPA Social Studies Middle Grades

This thread on teachers.net may be of interest to those required to take the AEPA Social Studies Middle Grades exam.

The thread starts here.

Yuma Sun Article Regarding AEPA

Here’s an article in the Yuma Sun that may be of interest to those required to take the AEPA.

“Northern Arizona University-Yuma is providing emergency certified teachers a way to become highly qualified and remain in the profession beyond the end of the academic year, said a university official.”

The article is by William Roller.

Article by Malcolm Gladwell worth a look

Here’s an interesting article written by Malcolm Gladwell of the New Yorker. The article is about spotting talent. What interested me most about the article is the discussion about finding good teachers. He argues that good teachers are like good NFL quarterbacks – it isn’t clear how what is done in college will translate into the classroom or field, and he states rather flatly at one point that “no one knows what a person with the potential to be a great teacher looks like.” Yet research has shown there is an enormous difference in learning among students who have good teachers and those who have bad ones.

Originally Posted by Malcolm Gladwell
the students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in one school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn a year and a half’s worth of material. That difference amounts to a year’s worth of learning in a single year. Teacher effects dwarf school effects: your child is actually better off in a “bad” school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher. Teacher effects are also much stronger than class-size effects.