The author, who teaches the English Methods class in the credential program, knew from entries in students' Writer's Reader's Notebooks (Rief) that they were struggling with the articles assigned about a five-paragraph essay. Following a discussion of form-first instruction and CCSS assessments, this article provides concrete suggestions for…

In this collaborative self-study, two teacher educators examined transcripts of preservice teachers' inquiry groups focused on assessment and tutoring of struggling readers as part of a reading methods course. The analysis identified instances of scaffolding by the course instructor that influenced preservice teachers' development. Types of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which preservice elementary teacher candidates designed integrated reading and science lessons that evoked the use of similar cognitive skills in both subjects, such as sequencing, predicting, classifying, or noting cause and effect. The authors provided the candidates with a lesson plan…

This exploratory case study centered on 3 beginning elementary science teachers who experienced variations in practice-based instructional approaches within their elementary teacher development sequence. We define "practice-based instructional approaches" as engaging with teaching approximations that occur in authentic classroom settings…

Researchers have generated a powerful framework that identifies three aspects of noticing students' mathematical thinking: attending to, interpreting, and deciding how to respond to student thinking. Previous research has tended to focus on evaluating how "well" teachers engaged in noticing, and how "well" they connected the…

In this study, we explore the design and delivery of a blended social studies teaching methods course to examine the elements of the blended design that pre-service teachers found most constructive. In focus groups at the completion of the course, pre-service teachers were asked to reflect on their experience in the blended course, identify the…

Pre-service teacher preparation in the United States is becoming progressively more challenging with respect to the demands on teachers. This study examined the impact of tutoring approach on pre-service teachers? skills to work with English language learners through a qualitative research design. Content analysis was used at the thematic level on…

The researchers of this hermeneutic phenomenological study applied Colaizzi's (1978) method to analyze and interpret English Language Arts (ELA) teacher candidates' (TC) learning experiences with literacy quadrants and narratives while attending secondary writing instruction methods courses in diverse institutional settings. Qualitative strategies…

The aim of this study was to research the prospective mathematics teachers' ability to construct a mathematical model for a real life problem and to prove these models by generalizing them to use in similar situations. The study was conducted with 129 prospective teachers determined on a volunteering basis. The data were obtained with the help of…

In this study, we explored the role of reflection at three stages of preparation across a teacher education program. Reflection has long been considered an essential aspect of professional practice for teaching; however, reflection is often vague and undefined. Through an examination of the opportunities we provided for our students to reflect,…

This article explores the critical digital practices and pedagogies of two novice teacher educators. Employing self-study research methodologies, we examine our collaborations and integrations of critical digital practices into two literacy methods teacher education courses. Seeking to emphasize the 'critical' aspects of critical digital…

An elementary mathematics teacher once argued that she and her students held four Rights of the Learner in the classroom: (1) the right to be confused; (2) the right to claim a mistake; (3) the right to speak, listen and be heard; and (4) the right to write, do, and represent only what makes sense. Written as an emerging framework to promote…

This collective case study examines how two teacher candidates' digital story projects created in literacy methods courses made visible their negotiated and evolving visions of teaching and learning. The digital stories were created to show and describe their future literacy classrooms. Using metaphoric analysis, the researchers uncovered the…

We present our approach to a qualitative research methods course to prepare practitioner-scholars for their dissertation and independent research. We explain how an instructor's guide provides consistency and rigor, and in-class activities to scaffold learning, and helps faculty connect the content to students' out-of-school lives. We explain how…

Preservice teachers (PSTs) must be able to link content, effective teaching practices, and student learning; thus, it is critical for teacher educators to emphasize connections between research and practice in methods courses. Reflection plays an important role in this process. In this article, the authors discuss and illustrate a vignette…