SMU Simmons Teacher Education

Mary Cabañas, M.Ed. in Math Education and Charles Butt Scholar, graduated in May 2024 and is starting this school year at North Garland HS, Garland ISD, and is going to teach Algebra 1 to the ESL students!

Today, we celebrate the hard work and dedication of all educators, staff, and students who tirelessly strive to make a positive impact on education 📚

Let’s take a moment to relax and reflect on the incredible efforts you put forth each day 🌟 Thank you for being the driving force behind a brighter tomorrow! 🌍

We asked Simmons educators to share their back to school photos, and they delivered! 🌟

Meet Sergio De Rozas Barrio, M.Ed. and a 4th grade Bilingual teacher from Spain 🇪🇸 who is excited about yet another academic journey with his students in Dallas ISD!🎒📚

"I’m looking forward to connecting with my students and watching them grow throughout the year. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing them overcome challenges and gain confidence in their abilities.

Tengo muchas ganas de conectar con mis alumnos y ver cómo crecen a lo largo del año. No hay nada más gratificante que verlos superar desafíos y ganar confianza en sí mismos."

📸 Send us your picture from the classroom - you deserve to be in the spotlight, teachers! 🍎

Back to School 📚✨

We’re thrilled to spotlight one of our amazing alumni, Grace Kirchof, M.Ed. and Charles Butt Scholar, as she steps into the classroom, inspired for another exciting year of shaping young minds as a 1st grade ESL teacher!🍎

📸 Send us YOUR back to school pictures - we’ll happily share them to kickoff a fantastic school year ahead! 📖 🌟

🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Quentin Sedlacek, Assistant Professor of STEM Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning, for securing a $2.48M research grant from the National Science Foundation's Racial Equity in STEM and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education programs! 🔬📚

This five-year grant, "Amplifying Diverse Voices in STEM Education (ADVISE)," supports a collaborative effort led by SMU with nine colleges and universities. The project will explore how guest lecturers can enhance diversity, inclusivity, and student success in undergraduate STEM education 💡

Learn more about the project ➡️ https://bit.ly/4dZ8C38

Faculty in natural sciences, mathematical sciences, or engineering interested in joining the project should reach out to Dr. Sedlacek! ✉️

Happy First Day of Classes at SMU! 🎉📚

It’s the first day of a new semester, and we couldn’t be more excited to see our graduate students on campus! 🎒

Whether it is your first time or you’re returning for another year, we’re so excited to see what this semester holds for each of you! 📝✨

Which Master's program mood board would you pick? 🏫 🎒 ✏️ 🍎 📐 📚 🖥️ 📖 📒 ✂️ 🔬 🖍️

The Department of Teaching and Learning offers four amazing Master's programs!

While Teacher Preparation, Learning Therapy, and Educational Diagnostician will allow you to get additionally certified, *with our Master of Education you can focus on any of the 6 areas of interest: Literacy, Mathematics, STEM, Bilingualism + ESL, Urban, and Special Education, allowing you to tailor your study curriculum according to your needs!

Visit our website 🔗 https://bit.ly/3WKF823 to learn more about each of them❗

We are happy to join our partner and invite you, our followers, to explore STEM in unexpected contexts and ask questions in this fun challenge! 👀🧠🔭📒📐❓

Send a message to learn more

We are thrilled to welcome all our new Master of Education students who in just two weeks will be embarking on a transformative path toward becoming leaders in education! 🏫

The Department of Teaching and Learning hosted a student orientation event where students introduced themselves, met the faculty, and got their SMU 101 training ✍️ 💻

🗓️ As they get ready to kick off their graduate journey on August 26th, what advice would you give them? 📚

While August is slowly but surely slipping away

(into a moment in time 🎶)

we are looking forward to welcoming new graduate students of education programs into the new academic year! 💻📚📝

With student orientations happening this week, we can say for certain: the faculty and the campus are ready to kick off the 2024-2025 school year refreshed and excited! 🌟

How about you? What are you expecting this year at SMU to bring? 🗓️

Simmons School of Education made a dazzling impact at the 31st Annual Conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading in Copenhagen, Denmark! 🇩🇰

Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba from the Department of Teaching and Learning represented SMU with excellence. She served as a discussant on an international panel with colleagues, sharing insights on peer-assisted learning strategies, and showcased her remarkable research.

Dr. Al Otaiba presented "Growing Early Literacy and Motivation," a paper she co-authored with Dr. Kyle Roberts, Dr. Dayna Russell Freudenthal, Dr. Wilhelmina van Dijk, and Mai W. Zaru. This work is part of the IES-funded Project GROW, where she serves as the Principal Investigator 📚✨

In addition, Dr. Al Otaiba shared two insightful posters:

“Examining Early Elementary Students’ Reading Growth Using a Computer-Adaptive Progress Monitoring Test: Focusing on Students at Risk for Reading Disabilities” - Collaborated with Dr. Dayna Russell Freudenthal, a former Simmons doctoral student and now faculty at Mount Saint Joe. This research stems from the IES-funded Project FOCUS, led by Dr. Al Otaiba.

“Peer-Assisted Writing Strategies (PAWS): Preliminary Findings of an Efficacy Study” - Presented alongside Dr. Cynthia Puranik, part of an IES-funded project on a curriculum co-authored by Dr. Al Otaiba ✍️📈

Congratulations to Dr. Al Otaiba and all involved in these groundbreaking projects! We will be looking forward to what you do next! 💫

We are proud to announce that our esteemed STEM Research Fellow from the Department of Teaching and Learning, Dr. LeaAnne Daughrity, Ph.D., has accepted a new role as Head of Learning and Research at Stemuli!

Dr. Daughrity's innovative work in integrating game-based learning and AI-driven educational tools has been instrumental in advancing our research initiatives. Her work with Dr. Lin Lin Lipsmeyer and Dr. Candace Walkington in learning technologies has been pivotal in shaping our understanding and application of cutting-edge educational tools.

Dr. Daughrity's collaborative work at SMU led to a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant and an NSF iTest Grant in partnership with Stemuli. We are thrilled to see Dr. Daughrity continue to drive transformative education in her new position.

Join us in celebrating Dr. Daughrity's incredible achievement and her exciting future with Stemuli! ✨

🎉 Big congratulations to Dr. Candace Walkington on receiving a National Science Foundation ITEST grant worth $1,296,683!

As Principal Investigator, Dr. Walkington will lead the research and work with teachers on using large language models to create personalized math problems for middle school students.

Teaming up with co-PI Dr. Tiffini Pruitt-Britton, a Ph.D. SMU Simmons graduate, currently at American Institutes for Research (AIR), the project kicks off on August 1, 2024! 🚀📚

This summer SMU Simmons goes international! 🌐

In June, Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba traveled to the beautiful city of Florence 🇮🇹 to take part in the Kent State University International Summit on Learning and Behavioral Health https://bit.ly/3RZZ8fK

Dr. Al Otaiba gave the presentation "Supporting Social and Emotional Learning through Dialogic Reading: Project GROW', a work that was co-authored by Dr. Kyle Roberts (Department of Teaching and Learning), and by Dr. Dayna Russell Freudenthal (Mount Saint Joseph University and SMU PhD grad) and Dr. Mai Zaru (SMU PhD grad and current SMU post doc to Dr. Alexandra Pavlakis).

Project GROW is an IES-funded design grant that is combining an evidence-based early literacy practice (dialogic reading) with principles for social and emotional learning. The program shows initially positive effects for “growing” young children’s social and emotional learning vocabulary. Themes include “I can name my feelings,” “I can learn from my mistakes,” “I can persist,” “I can be kind to others and myself,” and “ I can work toward and achieve goals.”

🔗 Learn more about Project GROW and other Simmons School research here: https://bit.ly/3SooWm3

Congratulations to Dr. Corey Brady (in the center), who has been selected to deliver the opening keynote at the annual convention of the Asociación Nacional de Profesores de Matemáticas (ANPM) in Mexico https://bit.ly/4eAl6Q5 ! 🇲🇽

The conference is scheduled for September 20-22 in Puebla, Mexico, with an anticipated attendance of 600-700 teachers. Dr. Brady, who is fluent in Spanish, is the sole American speaker on the agenda.

We are looking forward to the event and to hearing about Dr. Brady's experience!

Join us in congratulating our doctoral student, Theodora Beauchamp, on her first-authored article on Generative AI and its transformative use in teacher education! 🧠

Guided by her mentor, Dr. Candace Walkington, Theodora's article "Mathematics Teachers Using Generative AI to Personalize Instruction to Students’ Interests" explores the potential of generative AI tools, like Magic School, to create personalized learning opportunities for students. We are convinced that her pioneering research will contribute to better understanding of generative AI's functionality for K-12 classrooms and shaping the future of teacher education! 📚

🔗 Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/4cddQrM

Today, we celebrate freedom, resilience, and the enduring spirit of the African American community. This Juneteenth is extra special as we once again honor Opal Lee, the "Grandmother of Juneteenth", a civil rights icon, and Medal of Freedom winner, who recently received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Southern Methodist University at the May commencement ceremony 2024🎓✨

Opal Lee's tireless advocacy and dedication have played a crucial role in making Juneteenth a national holiday. Her work teaches us the importance of remembering our history and continuing the fight for equality.

Watch the ceremony https://bit.ly/3VzbPyS and join us in celebrating Juneteenth and congratulating Opal Lee on this well-deserved recognition!

🌟 Mark your calendars! 🌟 Join us for an enlightening session with Dr. Jeanna Wieselmann, Simmons Teaching and Learning Professor, on July 17th! 🗓️

As part of the Summer Research Symposium hosted by the Office of Engaged Learning, every Wednesday through July promises captivating discussions and insights🔍

Spend your lunch hour with us, engaging with outstanding speakers!🧠

Check out the full schedule ➡️ https://bit.ly/4eq7B5q

JOIN US TOMORROW to find out how SMU's online Master of Science in the Learning Sciences (MSLS) can fuel your career and help you shape effective learning experiences in a wide range of settings during a free webinar on 🗓️ Wednesday, June 12, at 6-7 p.m. CT 🕕

❗ REGISTER to save your seat: https://bit.ly/45c9AGg

SMU's online MSLS program can elevate your potential in an educational landscape where innovation, technology, and data converge. Join a diverse community of professionals seeking to harness cognitive science, instructional design, and cutting-edge technology to revolutionize how we learn and teach 💻

BACK TO SCHOOL!

For the summer! 🌼

While school might be out for their students, a lot of Simmons educators opt for June and July classes to advance in their graduate programs! 💻

Today is the official first day of the summer semester, and we wish you to have a good one! 📚

Any summer students here? 👋

🎓 We congratulate now Dr. Mai W. Zaru for her successful defense of the dissertation "Exploring Literacy and Translanguaging Practices to Support our Palestinian Diaspora." 👏

“I’m a Palestinian American researcher, educator, Fairess Simmons fellow at SMU, Jeanne Chall Research Fellow, and a poet. Throughout my journey, I've come to understand the transformative power of spaces, a translanguaging space, harnessing the bidirectional use of languages and modalities to advocate for our Arab diaspora. Therefore, my research interests are grounded in capturing the home literacy practices of refugee and immigrant families and carving out dialogic spaces for cultural and linguistic experiences to emerge” - Mai W. Zaru, Ph.D.

Grateful for her committee members Dr. Kristen McMaster, Dr. Meredith Richards, and Dr. Alexandra Pavlakis. The dissertation was supported by the Jeanne S. Chall Research Fellowship from the International Literacy Association and the SMU Simmons Dean Enhancement Grant.

Are you thinking about pursuing a Ph.D.? Please see what we have to offer: https://bit.ly/3V8EryJ

We can't get enough of celebrating our amazing graduate students' successes! 🌟

(left to right) Zella Bergman, Rachael Adler, Grace Kirchof, and Kyleigh Campbell attending this year's Dallas ISD WINNERS CIRCLE event as the recipients of the Teacher of Promise Award! 🍎

Every year, Dallas ISD schools choose one outstanding early career teacher for the Teacher of Promise honor. Teachers of Promise are defined as educators in their first three years of teaching who excel in both the classroom and school community 🏫

🎓 Today's Alumni Spotlight features Grace Kirchof, M.Ed. specializing in Special Education and ESL '23, a Charles Butt Scholar, and the recipient of the Outstanding Student Award from the faculty of the Teaching and Learning Department at the SMU Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

"Both in my undergraduate and graduate studies, SMU’s Education programs have been instrumental in shaping me into the teacher I am today. In 2020, I took an Education service-learning course that changed my life forever. In this class, I provided twice-weekly literacy tutoring to a newcomer Dallas ISD student at the Northwest Community Center in the Vickery Meadow Community where I was extremely lucky to complete my field observations and internship. Thanks to Dr. Richardson’s mentorship, I have been working at that elementary school for the past 2 years where I was able to reconnect with my tutee from 2020 and see how much growth she has made in her English language and literacy skills.

The Master’s program has transformed my approach to instruction as an ESL teacher, empowering me to become a more effective advocate for my students. Throughout the program, I gained a comprehensive understanding of the socio-cultural backgrounds, linguistic challenges, and educational disparities that many ESL learners face. The program has also equipped me with a deep knowledge of ELL and special education laws to address the unique needs of my students and create an inclusive learning environment in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive academically and personally.

With the majority of my students being refugees, differentiating instruction is essential to help them succeed in the classroom, and I am grateful to Dr. Warren and Dr. Go for teaching me everything I know about tailoring instruction to my students’ diverse needs.

My proudest academic accomplishment was when I received the Outstanding Pre-Service Educator award from the faculty of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from such amazing educators and alongside exceptional students throughout my studies at SMU. As a teacher, I am proud of the Dallas ISD Teacher of Promise award I received this year alongside five other SMU Master’s of Education students and graduates." 🌟

👩‍🏫 Looking for a career in education? 👨‍🏫
Check out our page for Master's of Education with various graduate specializations ➡️ https://bit.ly/454rQRV

Kathryne Bishop and her daughter Kate Morris attended the reception for Dallas ISD teachers who received Kathryne and Gene Bishop scholarships to pursue Master’s degrees in Education with a focus on Special Education and ESL at SMU Simmons.

Sixteen teachers, chosen out of 80 candidates, were joined by their principals, other DISD administrators, and family members, who celebrated their achievements at the event that took place on May 22.

🎉 Congratulations to the 16 Dallas ISD teachers who were awarded prestigious scholarships towards completing Master’s degrees in Education at SMU Simmons School of Education and Human Development! 👏

Eight teachers were honored with the prestigious Kathryne and Gene Bishop Scholarships, supporting their Master’s studies focused on Special and Bilingual Education/ESL. Kathryn and the late Gene Bishop were dedicated advocates for children’s health and education.

Eight more Dallas public school teachers received the distinguished Simmons Scholarships, which will fund their Master’s degrees with specializations in Special Education and STEM.

We are looking forward to seeing and sharing their accomplishments!

Are you a current SMU employee?

Drop by at the SMUSA Fair happening today❗
📍 WHERE: Moody Hall
⏰ WHEN: 1-3 pm

Meet Dr. Amy Richardson and learn about the variety of M.Ed. programs in Education we offer, along with groundbreaking research of our faculty, and career opportunities after graduation! 🚀

See you there! 🤩

🎓 Congratulations to all of our incredible graduates! 🌟

Your hard work, dedication, and passion have brought you to this moment, and whether you’re stepping into the classroom, pursuing further studies, or venturing into new career paths, know that you have the power to make a difference in the world! ✨

We at the Department of teaching and Learning and Simmons School of Education and Human Development wish you all the best in your personal and career endeavors ahead! Keep shining bright and never stop learning! 📚💫

Reflecting on a great session! 📚

In our recent PhD workshop, "Navigating the Academic Job Market," Dr. King, exploring tenure track opportunities herself, generously shared her insights and resources, enriching our community with her valuable experience.

❗ Join us for the second workshop "Building your Academic Identity
and Paying it Forward" with Dr. Aleshia Hayes, founder and director of the SURGE XR Lab and Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas 🔬

📅 Date: Wednesday, May 16th
🕛 Time: 11am - 1pm
📍 Location: Harold Clark Simmons Hall, Room 116
🥪 Lunch will be provided

Stay tuned for more enlightening events!