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MSU offers Table Top Tuesdays professional development for student teachers

04 March 2021

MSU is offering a new way to provide professional development (PD) to student teachers this year.

The Office of Quality Assurance and Accreditation (QUAA) in the Ernst & Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education has developed Table Top Tuesdays as a new venue to provide ongoing, meaningful PD for aspiring educators. The project started last fall with student teachers who had to quickly learn how to effectively teach online. Students log on from home each week for a PD session. Limited to an hour, candidates voluntarily log in to an online meeting each Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Each session is designed to support student teachers in school placements, as well as introductory foundational knowledge that will help them as the start their careers. Candidates overwhelmingly encouraged the QUAA team to offer Table Top Tuesdays PD for the spring 2021 semester.

“I think that Tabletop Tuesdays are super helpful. They not only allow students to get professional development hours, but they also allow us to learn valuable information about different aspects of teaching,” said Brooke Halsey, a junior elementary and special education candidate from Morehead.

A wide range of presenters have shared sessions at Table Top Tuesdays. Invited guest speakers provide information on everything from working with parents to trauma-based instruction. LeeAnn Flanagan from the Kentucky Education Association (KEA), Lori Dehart and Mandy Carter from the Kentucky Educational Development Corporation (KEDC), as well as MSU, Northern Kentucky University (NKU), and Georgetown College faculty presenters support the professional development initiative without cost.

The interactive sessions provide candidates an opportunity to ask questions and share experiences either through a chat feature or by talking directly with the presenter. Immediate feedback guides discussion on issues that students might not normally address in their internship.

“Table Top Tuesdays are beneficial to me because it allows me to hear and connect with real life teachers and professionals in the field that will help prepare us for our teaching positions,” Dustin Blair, a senior grades 5-9 social studies and learning and behavioral disability (LBD) candidate from Paintsville. “Having Table Top Tuesdays online opens up more opportunity for students to attend that otherwise might not have been able to attend in person, especially for those traveling home in the evenings from their placement.”

For more information on Table Top Tuesdays, contact MSU Associate Professor and Director of QUAA Dr. Kim Nettleton at k.nettleton@moreheadstate.edu.

For more information about MSU’s Volgenau College of Education and its programs, call 606-783-2162 or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/education.