By Dr. Timothy Lintner

The USC Aiken Teaching Fellows were proud to “welcome back” six former Fellows – Alex Kinard, Angelika Davis, Darius Ross, Christa Hipps, Eleanor Powell and Catherine Pullan. These former Fellows shared tips, strategies and some pretty interesting stories about the importance of getting to know your students and building relationships with them. It was wonderful to have these amazing educators back on campus sharing their experiences and insights with our current Fellows.

Submitted by Elizabeth Brown, TF Vice President of Engagement , Coastal Carolina University

Our Coastal Carolina University Teaching Fellows Program is always striving to give back to our community. This year, we are able to support children in the local community by offering free virtual tutoring. The Community Outreach Committee in our program has been working hard on this Virtual Tutoring Program in hopes that our Fellows will be able to help these children who are struggling with school right now. This experience allows our Fellows to learn the importance of helping children while also allows them the opportunity to learn more about teaching. We hope that we can positively impact these children and our local community through this new Virtual Tutoring Program! 

​Anderson University Leadership Conference:
Because of COVID-19, the Anderson University Teaching Fellows Leadership Team had a ZOOM session in May to discuss our 2020-2021 Teaching Fellows events.  After this session, we continued to meet over the span of two days at the beginning of the fall 2020 semester in order to revisit the year's events and our mission statement. On the first day, participants broke into three groups and had a lot fun creating team names and (COVID-safe) "handshakes" before we settled down to work on our mission statement. After a productive second day reviewing the year’s events, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and congenial conversation at Tucker’s Restaurant. Head over to the AU Teaching Fellow website to check out our new mission statement!
Emma Thronsen

By Darcie Goodwin
First Reported in The College Today

Exploration, discovery, discussions and research are all key components of the College of Charleston’s First Year Experience (FYE) program, which is designed to fully integrate new students into the academic and cultural community of the College. FYE usually includes activities outside the classroom, and although the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for the fall 2020 semester, faculty still found ways to connect students with learning opportunities beyond their books.

“During the pandemic first-year students have faced many more obstacles than normal to finding ways to make new friends and interact with one another,” says Sarah Owens, director of the First Year Experience program and professor of Hispanic Studies. “FYE professors have made an extra effort to help students get excited about their course content while providing a semblance of normalcy. I’m proud of the myriad of extra opportunities we have offered our students this semester. Watching the stars with your astronomy professor or attending a local comedy night with your tourism class can very well be the highlight of a student’s first year here at the College of Charleston.”

Through her Teaching Fellows FYE seminar, Associate Professor of teacher education Tracey Hunter-Doniger aimed to show teaching fellows — students who have chosen education as their major and profession and will go on to teach in the State of South Carolina — what culturally responsive teaching looks like in the classroom.

“Culturally responsive teaching is a mindset and way of teaching, which requires that the teacher recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning,” explains Hunter-Doniger. “It’s not a bag of tricks, but a way of teaching and caring about the students — who they are and where they come from.”

Part of that mindset includes learning how to make outings a classroom experience. They walked to the S.C. Aquarium and the Charleston Museum, where they learned how to incorporate these locations into their future curriculum and how to make it relevant to their future students.

Because the teaching fellows couldn’t visit the schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they wanted to do something impactful. Led by students Lily Kruft and Emily O’Toole, the class received a Center for Partnership to Improve Education grant from the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance. With the grant, they purchased culturally responsive books from a local bookstore, which they donated to four local elementary schools.

The teaching fellows took their donation one step further by providing videos of them reading the 32 books. They felt this would be a great resource for the educators teaching online. In addition to sharing the videos with the schools that received the books, the teaching fellows passed it on to other CofC education graduates.

“I am so proud of them,” says Hunter-Doniger of her 15 teaching fellows. “They really worked hard to reach out to the students, and the children were thrilled that college students took the time to read to them.”

And those real-life, hands-on experiences are what the FYE program is all about.

“Even before the pandemic, the out-of-the-classroom experience was one of the hallmarks of the First Year Experience program,” says Ownes. “Students thrive on interactions with their peers and professors, and when you can combine that with an excursion to a local museum or a dinner and a play, the combination is like gold.”

​Goodwin, D. (2020, December 18). First Year Experience Offers Students Lessons Outside the Classroom. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://today.cofc.edu/2020/12/14/first-year-experience-offers-students-lessons-outside-the-classroom/

By DR. TIMOTHY LINTNER

The USC Aiken Teaching Fellows were honored to have Misty McConnell, Aiken County Teacher of the Year, share her passion, her wisdom, and her “real world, first-year survival guide.” From adversity to accolades, Misty’s story is one of struggle, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to reach and teach every student who walks into her classroom. We are thankful that she shared time with the Fellows – on her birthday nonetheless! She will be speaking to the USC Aiken Fellows during the spring semester about “Leading in a Time of Change.”

By DR. TIMOTHY LINTNER

BY DR. TIMOTHY LINTNER

​You are the heir apparent to a Scottish fortune. Your grandfather, the clan’s patriarch, is found murdered. You are the prime suspect. Yet as you attempt to prove your innocence, dark shadows seek to conspire against you. From this backdrop of intrigue riddled with familial jealousy and revenge, the USC Aiken Freshman Teaching Fellows entered Murder Mansion. The Fellows were tasked with uncovering the clues to who REALLY committed the murder all before the Scottish Constables arrive to surely arrest their most likely suspect. With collaboration, communication, and a few “we need a hint, please,” (begged for by their campus director), the Fellows solved the case with a slim five minutes to spare!

Caroline Graham and Randy Parris, both of whom are sophomore Teaching Fellows at the College of Charleston, developed and sold masks to raise money for local teachers. Graham credits Parris with the initial idea although they collaborated on the project. The Fellows advertised the masks on social media and also shared the news through the education department on campus. A total of 46 masks were sold and the pair plan to use the proceeds to purchase extra masks, hand sanitizer, and other supplies for three classrooms in Charleston County. Graham stated, "As teachers, we want to be very involved in our community and this project has been a great stepping stone for us. We hope to do more for our community in the future." 

According to Elizabeth Brown, Teaching Fellows Vice President of Engagement at Coastal Carolina University, "Our goal as a program is to create teacher leaders. We try to instill important values into Fellows such as the importance of building relationships with one another. We hope to create a community in our program that is built upon respect, trust, honesty, and support. Events during "Welcome Week" allow our freshmen Fellows to feel welcomed into our program as well as allows current fellows to begin getting to know the freshmen. This helps build community."

COVID-19 restrictions impacted this year's "Welcome Week," but the Fellows still feel it was a success. The incoming Fellows were given an opportunity to interact with each of the individual cohorts on campus. Below is a summary of the week's events.

"Welcome Week" began with a Q&A session conducted via Zoom. This event gave the freshmen an opportunity to ask questions about Coastal, the Teaching Fellows program, or college in general. During the next event, hosted by the junior Teaching Fellows, the freshmen tie-dyed masks. The juniors reported that this was a great opportunity to meet more of the freshmen Fellows. A side benefit is that all who participated walked away with a stylish mask to wear around campus! The third event of the week was a "Mentor/Mentee Walk and Talk." The mentors, who are some of the sophomore Fellows, walked their freshmen mentees around campus to show them exactly where their in-person classes would be held. The mentors and mentees began building relationships during the tour. Senior Teaching Fellows were responsible for planning and facilitating Wednesday's picnic and game night. Elizabeth Brown stated, "Bonding and team building are very important to our program. Our goal is to create a family and support system through our Teaching Fellows Program." On Thursday, the freshmen Fellows met with the entire sophomore cohort for a "Mix and Mingle Movie Night." A relaxing movie, a variety of snacks, and new friends proved to be exactly what was needed! The transition committee at Coastal is comprised of Fellows from each cohort and this group was responsible for holding a BINGO night complete with prizes. "Welcome Week" concluded with a sundae social that brought all members of the Coastal Teaching Fellows family together.

The USC Aiken Teaching Fellows recently partnered with the Aiken County Public Schools in a leadership collaborative called LEAD UP. This program is designed to provide multiple opportunities for Fellows to gain critical leadership skills by interfacing with Aiken County Public School principals.

The LEAD UP program consists of two phases:
During freshman year, Fellows will interview an Aiken County Public School principal. The interview consists of a series of questions premised on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens™. Upon completion of the interview, Fellows submit a reflection paper discussing the principal responses within the context of the 7 Habits™.
 
During sophomore year the Fellows will “shadow” an Aiken Public School principal for three (3) hours. This hands-on, immersive opportunity provides critical insight into “real life” leadership that influences school-based decisions and actions. Fellows are therefore better positioned to understand, apply and evaluate their own leadership abilities by observing the skills of their mentor principal. At the end of the shadowing experience, Fellows create a 10-minute video discussing their experience within the context of the 7 Habits™.