NC TEACHer Feature: Paul Cancellieri
NC TEACH Host University Attended: UNC-Chapel Hill
Current Teaching Position: Eighth Grade Science Teacher
Current School of Employment: Durant Road Middle School, Wake County Public Schools
Previous Career: Research Assistant/Graduate Student at NC State University. I planned and conducted scientific experiments and studies, maintained cultures of toxic microbes for research purposes and wrote scientific articles describing research findings.
How have you used your previous professional experience to enhance your teaching?
My “real world” science experience helps me put science concepts into perspective for students and incorporate the latest breakthroughs and scientific findings into my lessons. Also, former colleagues visit my classroom to share their experiences as professional scientists. Most importantly, I have actively used science as a process, not just as a collection of facts, and I try to provide my students with opportunities to do the same.
Why did you choose NC TEACH?
As I was completing my Master of Science degree at NC State, I began to realize that I belonged in the classroom. I looked into routes to licensure, and learned NC TEACH provided me with the only practical way to get licensed and be teaching in less than a year.
What was the best part about NC TEACH for you?
The best part was the instructors, the courses, the “ice breaker” activities and especially the other members of my cohort. We supported and encouraged each other and many of us have remained good friends.
What would you consider your greatest success so far as a teacher?
Being named Teacher of the Year for my school in 2004 and passing the National Board Certification.
What is the hardest part about your new teaching career?
The most difficult part is meeting the needs of the diverse population that pass through the doors of my classroom. Each class has a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, academic levels, special needs and languages. I consistently try to reach out to one while trying not to neglect the other.
What is your favorite part about your new teaching career?
I love making connections. By this I mean links between science concepts that allow students to assimilate new knowledge and also personal connections with students that engage them in the learning process. Click here to read more NC TEACHer Features.
Curriculum Highlight: NC State's Super Saturdays
Starting with the May 2007 cohort, NC State’s program is expanding to include face-to-face cohorts in Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, and Sanford as well as the original site in Apex. Since teaching is such an interactive profession, NC State’s NC TEACH program is 80% face-to-face with a 20% online component. NC State’s program is now being renamed as “NC State’s NC TEACHing Communities” in order to better illustrate our ultimate goal which is to not only produce exceptional teachers, but also to embed them into their communities. NC State’s NC TEACHing Communities are working with community colleges, local school systems, and local governments to ensure that our NC TEACHers have the connections that they will need to be both successful in their careers and to become an integral part of their communities.
NC State’s NC TEACHing Communities have taken the original NC TEACH modules (e.g. curriculum & instruction, classroom management, content-area teaching methods), worked them with NC State’s traditional education program, and adapted them to the time-sensitive needs of the first-year teacher. Instead of presenting these modules one after another in sequence as traditionally done, the topics are taught to a depth appropriate to the first-year teacher’s needs at different times throughout the program. NC State’s NC TEACHing Communities courses begin with the fundamentals of all topics during the Summer Institute, moving to the intermediate level during the Fall courses, and finally to the advanced level in the Spring semester.
During the Fall and Spring, NC TEACHers attend monthly Super Saturdays. Holding these one Saturday per month instead of one evening per week greatly reduces travel time for our NC TEACHers. The Super Saturday courses go in-depth into topics such as the First Five Days of School, Classroom Management, Student/Teacher Misconceptions, Writing across the Curriculum, and Diversity in the Classroom. One of the most controversial and highly praised Super Saturdays is the one devoted to “Emergencies in the Classroom.”
A glance at the newspaper or five minutes of the evening local news and you will almost certainly see a story about a violent confrontation in a public school. Because of the overcrowded schools and the volatile nature of adolescents, teachers have found themselves in the frontlines more often than we would like to admit. The goal of the “Emergencies in the Classroom” Super Saturday is to prepare teachers for the possibility that they might find themselves in such a situation. The day begins with an informational session delivered by the Wake County sheriff department on gang awareness and being able to identify the presence of gangs in the schools. A discussion of recent news stories follows – weapons brought to school, verbal/physical threats, school shootings, what happens when your school goes on lockdown, etc. Then, we offer some solutions. A teacher’s best defense is his/her ability to behave calmly in a dangerous situation and to use verbal techniques to combat physical threats.
NC TEACH in the News: Innovative E-Mentoring
NC TEACH and the NC DPI Division of Secondary Education: Mathematics and Science were very excited to have had the opportunity to partner with the e-Mentoring for Student Success (eMSS) program this past year to offer high quality e-mentoring to beginning middle grades and high school science teachers in North Carolina. eMSS is a partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the New Teacher Center at the University of California Santa Cruz (NTC) and Montana State University.
This innovative program was sponsored by a National Science Foundation grant awarded to the National Science Teachers Association, the New Teacher Center, and Montana State University’s Science/Math Resource Center. The North Carolina e-MSS program was co-coordinated by NC TEACH’s Online Learning Manager, Tracey Keeler and NC DPI’s High School Science Consultant, Benita Tipton. It utilized trained mentors and scientists, and included eight online modules on topics ranging from managing student behavior to effective labs to specific science content goals, through which new teachers prepare, implement, and reflect on instructional activities in their classrooms.
Over 100 applications were received from master science teachers for NC mentor positions. Of those, over 65 completed the rigorous training course and offered mentor support to over 120 new teachers across the state of North Carolina. For more information on this program, please visit the eMSS website.
Resource Spotlight: UNC's World View
For K-12 teachers and administrators, the globalization of the world brings two major challenges directly into our classrooms. First, young people from all over the world are now sitting in our classrooms. Dozens of languages are represented and helping these newcomers adjust to a new culture is a great challenge for educators. Second, all students need to understand the world outside their borders and acquire the skills and attitudes that will enable them to live and work effectively within it. These issues touch every teacher regardless of the subject being taught.
This is where UNC’s World View comes in. World View offers K-12 teachers and administrators opportunities to attend professional development seminars, symposiums, leadership training and workshops locally as well as opportunities to travel abroad on international study visits. Please visit World View’s website for more information and excellent resources on these topics and more.
For additional resources please visit NC TEACH's new Resources webpage.
NC TEACH is a program of the University of North Carolina Center for School Leadership Development |
