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Buffalo State PHY 690 - Alternative Certification

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Engineer to Grade School Teacher: My ExperienceJourney in the NY TransitionBthrough the SUNY- Buffalo State Alternate Certification Program for Physics?? withSome Advice for other travellers??Title can be wordy as it is a collection of keywordsDaniel L. AnkromDepartment of Physics, State University of New York Buffalo State College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo NY 14222 <[email protected]>1AbstractThe rise of Alternative Certification brought with it controversy [Feistritzer -2008] that has never completely died [Unger, Nichole - 3/29/07; The Chancellors New Clothes – March 22, 2008], IS THIS APA? I have never seen para used this way, page is the traditional specific – see APA style guides online despite these programs becoming more accepted an even being hosted by traditional teacher colleges [MacIsaac, Zawicki,Henry, Beery & Falconer – 2004; Feistritzer - 2008]. Much Many of the concerns centeraround several important questions: Can an alternative certification candidate be an effective teacher? [Unger, Nichole - 3/29/07, para 4-6] Will enough candidates be recruited through these programs? [Grosso de León, Anne - Spring 2005, para 7] Will these candidates stay in the field over the long term? [Westchester Institute for Human Services Research - April 2004, pg. 3 para 5]My own real lifelived experience in NY the SUNY-Buffalo State Physics AlternativeState's Transition B Certification program [New York State Department of Education – accessed 7-2008 also cite Buffalo State here] is an example where there is evidence to indicate that:1) 1) Yes, Alternative Certification candidates are qualified, and 2) 2) Yyes, Alternative Certification Candidates do remain in the field.3)Success in both of these areas in my personal case, as well as for Alternative Certification candidates in general, seems dependant on 2 main factors:1a) The Alternative Certification program requiring significant content AND pedagogical knowledge of it’s program participants, and2b) The program requiring and providing an effective mentoring component to participants. [Lederman, Sweeney-Lederman, & El-Khalick – April 13, 2007]Acknowledgement: This manuscript was completed in partial requirement for PHY 690: Masters Project and supported by the State University College of New York College at Buffalo Department of Physics under the supervision of Dr. Dan MacIsaac. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Daniel L. Ankrom, 3915 Cherry Ridge Walk, Suwanee, GA 30024. Email: [email protected] a short section 1-2 paras summarizing major literature you have cited in your paper. Don’t interject any opinion yet. The weakest part of this paper is the scholarly literature, which is not yet fully stated nor integrated. Definitely explain your abstract refs here, and probably cite NYSED AC regs and the Buff State program description.BackgroundMy Decision To Become A Teacher This section is very chatty (unscholarly) and needs to be tightened up considerably. Try to retain some of the personal and informal tone, but not to ramble. This is not a book, it needs to be a brief paper. Can you cut it to 2-3 paras from 4? It seems like switching your major during college is almost an expected thing –many students switch multiple times until they find what’s right for them. Perhaps I was an odd-ball then: I knew when I graduated from high school that I wanted to major in mechanical engineering, and had already been accepted at Drexel University in 3Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Once I got there, I remained true to this course –I liked mechanical engineering, and earning a bachelors degree in the subject was something Ihave no regrets about –even today as a high school physics teacher.Upon earning my undergraduate degree I moved back to the Rochester, New York area and within six months I started my first full time Engineering job on the Webster, New York Campus of Xerox Corporation. Though this was a good position with a reputable company, I soon left for what appeared to be greener pastures: Moore Business Forms on Grand Island, New York. This afforded me the opportunity to work in the area I wanted to live at the time, as well as a sizeable increase in compensation. Just under 6 months after I started, however, Moore went through some major restructuring, which included the elimination of the facility I worked in. I was one of many who lost their jobs. Things were looking lean economically, but I was able to start again with another employer about 7 months later. This unfortunately did not last either,and I found myself laid off again 6 months after, amid a recession in early 2002.The job market for engineering was very poor during this time and a year after losing my job I was still without work. Running out of unemployment benefits, I began doing part time & temporary work, including substitute teaching. I felt an attraction to the teaching profession and environment - I felt it was something that I could do, and that I could help kids. With encouragement from friends & family, I started investigatingwhat it would take to get licensed to teach mathematics and physics at the High school level. Looking at Buffalo State College near where I lived, I found it would take a coupleyears for me to get a teaching license for math. When I went over and talked to the physics folks, however, I found things were different: I could get a special teaching 4license in less than a year that would allow me to teach while being mentored by a professional(s). This was my introduction to the concept of alternative certification.Physics Teaching Going through the programCoursework at Buffalo StateIt was around May 2003 when I found myself in the Sciences building at Buffalo State talking to a couple of the professors about this new program for physics teachers: the Transition B alternate certification that they had set up following New York State Department of Education guidelines [MacIsaac, Zawicki, Henry, Beery & Falconer – 2004; New York State Department of Education – accessed 7-2008]. My being out of work for an extended period made new training to facilitate my career change much more palatable. Still, I had to consider how much time – and money – this was all goingto take. The school year was almost over, but September was a few short months away. Would it actually be possible for me to be licensed to teach in


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Buffalo State PHY 690 - Alternative Certification

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