Dr. Jessica Herring-Watson:
Dr. Jessica Herring-Watson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning. As a practitioner, Jessica works with K-20 teachers and students in a variety of settings as an instructional designer, teacher, and trainer. With over a decade of teaching experience, Jessica focuses her work on cultivating meaningful relationships between technology-enabled learning and engaging pedagogy. Her research investigates preservice and inservice teachers' development and persistent use of technology-enabled learning to cultivate more inclusive, creative, and engaging learning environments and to transform educational cultures.
Dr. Valerie Couture:
Dr. Valerie Couture is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator in the M.S. in School Counseling Program (Department of Leadership Studies). She has provided service at the programmatic, department, college, university, and community levels. This past year Dr. Couture established a new Faculty Mentoring Program for novice faculty to acclimate to the professoriate in her department. This program is geared towards assisting tenure-track faculty making strides towards tenure and promotion, as well as, maintain a positive life and work balance. Dr. Couture has developed a record of service and leadership activities at the state and national levels as she has been a prominent member of counselor education organizations including Arkansas School Counseling Association (ArSCA), Arkansas Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (ArACES), and Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES).
Ms. Catherine Miller:
Ms. Catherine F. Miller is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education. Her passion is to educate future teachers in a way that promotes learning and inclusivity so that they are able to create safe learning in environments for ALL students. Prior to UCA, Ms. Miller taught as a math instructor in the Little Rock School District. During this time she sent students out into a world of discovery through experiential and service learning projects. Catherine grew up in EL Dorado, Arkansas, where she enjoyed the outdoors and spending time with family. When she is not in the classroom, supporting students outside of the classroom, or serving the community, she is busy being a mother to her greatest masterpiece, her son, Asher.
Dr. Stefanie Sorbet:
Dr. Stefanie R. Sorbet is an assistant professor in the Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education. Her experiences include ten years of teaching in both general education and inclusion classrooms and twelve years of experience at the university level instructing preservice teachers. Stefanie currently serves as the K-6 program coordinator and she teaches positive classroom management courses to juniors where they learn the connections between establishing strong procedures in the classroom and building rapport and community with all diverse learners in which they teach. Her students gain authentic experiences practicing managing students, conducting parent and teacher conferences, and implementing social and emotional learning lessons through practicing Morning Meetings both in class and in their field placements. Her research is rooted in supporting preservice and novice teachers in effective classroom management strategies that infuse SEL, consistency with procedures, and engaging the learner.
Stefanie earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in elementary education and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Southeastern Louisiana University.
Shelby Morris:
Shelby Morris (Spring 2023) ELSE intern was recently notified she received the Fulbright Award. As a recipient of the award, she has the opportunity to teach in Taiwan for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program provides participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Grants are available for U.S. citizens to go abroad and for non-U.S. citizens with no U.S. permanent residence to come to the U.S. The Fulbright Program is an important element of the United States' bilateral relationships with countries around the world. U.S. and foreign governments jointly set priorities for the exchanges.
Shelby said, "I am thrilled and honored to have been selected to complete a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. The opportunity to teach abroad seemed far fetched, but the UCA Honors College and College of Education equipped me with the skills and resources I needed to get there. I will be teaching English and American culture in Taiwan starting this August. When I chose UCA, I chose to go anywhere. Go Bears!"
Brittany Scroggins:
Brittany Scroggins, current Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) student, was recently observed in the classroom as part of Jessieville High School's Boundless Learning Co-Teaching initiative. Johns Hopkins University School of Education Center for Technology in Education representatives were joined by Arkansas Department of Education representatives to conduct the observation.
According to an article in the Sentinel-Record on 3/28/2023, The Arkansas Co-Teaching Project collaborates with Johns Hopkins to offer the year-long professional development, designed to assist schools in creating sustainable and effective co-teaching programs.
According to the ADE, Co-Teaching involves a classroom teacher and a special-education teacher sharing responsibility for planning, delivering, and evaluating instruction for a group of students, some of whom have exceptional needs.
Dr. Vicki Groves-Scott:
From article:
UCA is an Apple Distinguished School, the only one in Arkansas for higher education and one of only a few across the country. Dr. Victoria Groves-Scott, UCA College of Education dean, said this prestigious designation allows the school to use iPads and other types of mobile technology to prepare future teachers to embed technology in the classroom.
“It is about using the technology to engage K-12 students to give them a voice and choice, including teachers creating videos to teach subjects like history and science,” Groves-Scott said. “In one collaboration, fourth grade math students are engaging with math educators at the university using video technology and answering questions. Children are getting coaching on how to approach math or science problems. Students are using iPads, smartphones, and videos at a very, very early age. We are just taking a child’s natural curiosity and expanding it to create learning spaces.”
Groves-Scott said it is exciting to see that technology-based education can help meet students where they are at in their development, whether they are struggling, learning at a normal pace or gifted. If a high school student needs additional support in a physics class, there are online modules that can help. For advanced students, personalized video instruction gives them more opportunities.
Groves-Scott has a background in special education and has been amazed at how students who struggle to speak can be fluent on a communications device. “People thought for years these kids had limited intellectual abilities,” she said. “Give them a communication device, and you are stunned at how bright they are and what they can do. The teacher has to really moderate it and be trained to use the technology. It is a real skill. It is a science. When it is applied correctly, it expands the horizon of the classroom.”
She sees this work being vital to preparing students for a wide range of jobs. “We have to make sure we are preparing our children in Arkansas to be competitive in all job markets when they leave school,” Groves-Scott said. “The other issue is equity. We have to make sure all of the children in Arkansas have access to technology. If we don’t do that, we will see the gap widen. Broadband is really important in rural areas across Arkansas, and we need to make sure all of our students in all of our schools have access to technology appropriate for their age group. It is good for all of us because it creates a better workforce and prepares us for the future.”
To read the article in its entirety, please go to:
https://www.armoneyandpolitics.com/technology-innovations-creating-more-jobs/
Dr. Patty Kohler
Dr. Patty Kohler, Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education, recently had an article published in Labyrinth Pathways (16th Edition, January 2023). Her article, "Reflection on the Stone Labyrinth in Stone County, Arkansas", reflects upon the Mountain View Labyrinth in Mountain View, AR. You can read the article by clicking on the PDF below.
Ms. Catherine Miller:
Ms. Catherine Miller, Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education, has been selected as a recipient of the Inaugural Periclean Voter Engagement Humanities (PVEH) Fellowship Award. PVEH Fellows receive a $1,000 award to connect academic content with the social justice issues students are passionate about in a Spring 2023 humanities course. She will get the opportunity to participate in Professional Development as well as use and contribute to the Periclean Voting Modules.
