CalTeachTogether Club on their visit to the REEF
The students in the CalTeach program at UC Santa Barbara have formed an official club called CalTeachTogether. CalTeach is a University of California system-wide program to recruit, prepare, and support exceptional K-12 teachers in science and mathematics. The initiative began in response to both state and national concerns about the critical shortage of highly qualified elementary and secondary teachers. CalTeach at UC Santa Barbara includes opportunities for both undergraduate students and graduate teacher credential candidates.
The goal of CalTeachTogether is to expand the community of future educators, and provide members with a place to learn and discuss important topics and issues within the field of education. The club also plans monthly activities and excursions.
At the undergraduate level, CalTeach combines quality courses and classroom experiences to prepare students to enter a teacher education program, such as the UCSB Gevirtz School’s Teacher Education Program.
At the graduate teacher education level, those who have taken CalTeach courses and/or participated in the CalTeach Physical Sciences and Engineering or COASTAL programs as undergraduates are given preference for the Noyce Teacher Scholar awards to fund their year in the Teacher Education Program as they earn their teaching credentials.
The most recent CalTeachTogether club activity was visiting the REEF at UC Santa Barbara. The members enjoyed studying the culturally relevant ecology, and held a post-excursion discussion on important topics such as how informal learning environments help academic achievement, and how to connect learning goals in an informal environment to a formal lesson plan.
CalTeachTogether has a few upcoming events planned. On March 2nd at 6:30 pm in ED 4219, CalTeachTogether will be gathering a panel of educators and student teachers to come and speak to UC Santa Barbara undergraduates interested in pursuing a teaching profession. The goal of this panel is to answer undergraduate’s questions regarding the steps and procedures one must take to prepare for a potential teaching career.
The next club meeting, which will be the last one of the winter quarter, will be held on March 3rd from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in ED 4219.