Education Events Showcase Student Work

Students, faculty, and alumni recently attended a Trinity event that showcased the work of education and special education students and provided professional development on a new educational reform, the Common Core standards.

Guest speaker Gail Bohnenstiehl presented on the Common Core standards for language arts and mathematics, adopted by most states, including Illinois. Bohnenstiehl has 35 years experience as a classroom teacher, is a member of the Illinois State Language Arts Assessment Advisory Committee, and serves as an Illinois Standards Achievement Test item writer and validator of both reading and writing assessment.

Event attendees also enjoyed presentations from students, who showcased the unit plans and technology projects they completed for their General Methods class.

The unit plan highlighted students’ competence in planning for instruction. In the second project, students used various forms of technology to present their research on such topics as the Common Core standards, online learning, and service learning in the classroom.

The event benefited students in multiple ways, said Dr. Rhoda Mattson, associate professor of education and director of the education unit.

“My students were able to talk about their projects to faculty and alumni and practice professionalism and good communication. An unexpected benefit was that they were the technology experts and were able to explain their use of technology to teachers who hadn’t used it before. Faculty who previously had these students in education courses were able to see them again and affirm the good work their former students are doing.”