School has 10 top student teachers in 8 years.
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June 2019 – Ten Drew graduate students have earned New Jersey’s top honor for student teaching in the past eight years.
The latest is Kaitlin Beggan, who earned the 2019 Distinguished Clinical Intern Award from the N.J. Department of Education for teaching during the 2018-19 academic year.
Beggan helped teach second graders at Dickerson School in Chester while pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching at Drew’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies. She completed the MAT program in May.
“I appreciate the wisdom the faculty at Drew has shared with me and the opportunities to apply my learning in my clinical practices,” Beggan said. “The MAT program also inspired me to not only be the best educator I can be, but to look for other ways to work in the education field. I plan on continuing my education of instruction and curriculum as well as hopefully becoming a professor myself one day to help future educators.”
The director of Caspersen’s teacher education programs, Kristen Turner, attributed Beggan’s success to “her willingness to receive feedback and to reflect on her teaching.” Beggan earned her MAT in one year of accelerated study. The program is flexible, though, with a track that can completed in two years.
As an intern, Beggan recorded video of her classroom instruction daily and watched it later to think about what worked, what didn’t and why.
“I was able to see big changes in her teaching persona, classroom management and overall confidence each visit, and she admitted that she had been using my feedback and watching herself daily to improve,” Turner said. “Her work with video inspired her cooperating teacher, who told me that she herself wants to turn on the video and reflect. She’s also recommending to her team that everyone engage in this kind of reflective practice.”
More details on the Caspersen’s MAT program can be found here.
Tops in the state
Ten Caspersen students have earned N.J.’s Distinguished Clinical Intern Award since 2011.
2019 – Kaitlin Beggan
2018 – Heather Pollak, Michelle Taliento
2017 – Jonathon Dragon, Noreen Syed
2014 – Anna Elson, Gaelan Noel Johnson
2013 – Rachel Preyss
2012 – Priscilla Sanches Salles
2011 – Frank Sedita
