New Ļć½¶Ö±²„Grisham Master Teacher encourages faculty to be āconnoisseurs of educationā
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
Ļć½¶Ö±²„ Associate Professor Joanne E. Beriswill said the best teacher finds ways to motivate and engage students throughout the learning process.
An eight-year faculty member in the Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development, Beriswill told faculty members āweāre all teachers in different waysā during her Monday [Oct. 23] presentation in Mitchell Memorial Library as MSUās newest John Grisham Master Teacher.
āAs a constructivist teacher, youāre not the sage on the stage; youāre the guide on the side. You give raw information from different perspectives that your students can read, so they can come up and discover their own learning,ā she said.
Throughout her lecture, Beriswill discussed specific instructional strategies that she has found helpful for lesson planning and student engagement.
āWe get caught up in teaching about all of the small things and the facts, but the important thing is to teach students how to be pattern makers, so they can take information, manipulate it and make decisions based on where they see the pattern is headed,ā she said.
Detailed descriptions, samples and walkthroughs are types of āscaffoldingā that can help boost studentsā confidence in their ability to learn new concepts and think independently, Beriswill said. Just as a building may need scaffolding to hold its walls up, students may need a little help while conducting a new task, she added.
āGoing around the classroom and being a facilitator of what my students are doing helps them be independent,ā Beriswill said. āI want them to be able to do things on their own in the workplace, so gradually removing that scaffolding is what Iām all about as a teacher.ā
Beriswill graduated magna cum laude with a bachelorās in Spanish from the University of South Florida, where she also earned a masterās in curriculum and instruction with emphasis in instructional technology. She also holds a masterās in instructional systems technology and a doctorate in instructional technology from Indiana University.
For four consecutive academic years, Beriswill has received a $90,000 No Child Left Behind Grant from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning as co-principal investigator for the project āIntegrating Global Academic Essentials: Common Core, 21st Century Skills and Technology.ā
Outside of teaching, Beriswill has served in various professional leadership roles on campus. She currently serves as a member of the College of Educationās research, and recruitment and outreach committees, as well as chair of her departmentās graduate recruitment committee.
Named in 1993 for the Ļć½¶Ö±²„alumnus and internationally recognized author, the John Grisham Master Teacher Award is bestowed on a highly select group recognized for excellence in classroom instruction. Each honoree agrees to serve as a role model and mentor for campus colleagues.Ā
In addition to this award, Beriswill has received such honors as Mississippi Educational Computing Associationās Educator of the Year and the Early Career Symposium Award.
Learn more about Beriswill and the Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development at . Follow the department on Facebook @iswd.grad and Twitter @MSU_ISWD.
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