Matt Kurnick
"One of the things that I like more about ISU is, although it is a larger school, it feels small. Here I feel like I am aware of things happening on campus. It feels much more like a community of other places, I've been. "— Amanda Quesenberry, Assistant Professor of Curriculum & education
(17 July 2009) Amanda Quesenberry, assistant professor in the College of Education, is just shy of completing his first year at Illinois State.
In its first year, Quesenberry taught and supervised students in Early Childhood Education in the Department of Curriculum and instruction. Much of this time spent familiarizing herself with her new job. "As a new Member of the faculty, I'm finding that I learn something new every day," Quesenberry admitted. "Out in the schools to observe and supervise students helped me to become more familiar with the community."
Although it may still be unknown to Quesenberry Bloomington-Normal, the content that you are teaching is something with which she has much experience. Curriculum and instruction 314 occupies as teachers assess children's learning and then fill in the information is collected through assessment in planning for the lessons. The class also provides guidance for future teachers about how to configure the environment of the classroom to maximize student achievement.
"What we talk about is how to make the assessment of what teachers do every day," said Quesenberry. "A teacher you build what you are teaching based on what you know and understand where children are developmentally. What you know and understand about them comes from observing their continual progress over time. "
Quesenberry spent most of his professional career working for Head Start preschool program, a federally funded, locally, statewide and nationally. Last year, he worked at the national Office of head start in Washington, where he coordinated a group that was focused on evaluating the results of the child and children Head Start. Quesenberry grew close to the subject and believes that there is a need for continuous improvement in this area.
"For some reason, people do not often associated with early childhood education assessment, but I feel that the assessment is a critical part of understanding how children learn and what they are capable of accomplishing. I am interested in making sure that students feel comfortable with the evaluation. The course is to help students understand that the assessment is much more than paper and pencil tests. "
Quesenberry, who earned his doctorate at the University of Illinois, research social and emotional development in children, especially children with challenging behaviors. His quest requires you to make connections with people and programs. Out in the community to supervise clinical experiences with his students has provided an avenue through which Quesenberry can make connections with teachers, administrators, and programs in the area. The trip is something that you used to when as a provider of technical assistance and training for head start has worked several years ago.
"I was able to see a range of classrooms across the State. I was working with 29 different programs, and even though I was constantly on the road, I loved seeing the variety of classroom and programs. It opened my eyes to how big is the field of early childhood may be ". Quesenberry feels that she brings with her several levels of perspective on the field of early childhood, however, now she is focused on learning more about Illinois State and the surrounding area.
So far, during his limited time at Illinois State, Quesenberry is not only start to know the community and local training programs, has learned a lot about Illinois State itself.
"It was a nice surprise to learn that we have such strong support for teaching, for searching. I feel supported professionally. One of the things that I like more about ISU is, although it is a larger school, it feels small. Here I feel like I am aware of things happening on campus. It feels much more like a community of other places that I have been. "
At the beginning of a new job in a new community has provided Quesenberry the opportunity to reflect on what he has done and what still has yet to achieve. The beginning of a new career offers some daunting but exciting opportunities. For Quesenberry, focusing on the tasks at hand will help prepare for his future.
She laughs and says: "I would like to get through the next week! At this point I'm still taking things one semester at a time. When I think about life beyond this semester, I think about how I can be of service to the field. Finally, I would like to connect the research I'm doing with the service and teaching. I like to think of how I can make these connections and then take what I learned from my experiences back to my students. I am a big believer that the experiences that I have today will shape what to do tomorrow and the day after ".
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