An Overview of the Clinically Rich Integrated Science Program by Professor Pamela Fraser-Abder Residency
CRISP Fellows spend three weeks in July followed by a full school year in a mentored teacher residency placement.
In July, Fellows begin their residency -- and their first experiences in an urban school -- in a structured and mentored setting in a host school in Brooklyn. They work closely with teachers to plan lessons, first observing, then team teaching middle school students in science.
Starting in September and continuing through the following June, Fellows follow and participate in the life of the school, teachers, classroom, curriculum, and students through a full public school year.
Host Schools
In July, CRISP Fellows participate together in a special introductory three-week teacher residency at a middle school in Brooklyn.
- MS 366, the Science and Medicine Middle School (grades 6-8)
965 East 107th Street, Brooklyn
The Science and Medicine Middle School serves the Canarsie and East Flatbush communities.
From September through June, your CRISP teacher residency takes place in one of three host schools on Manhattan's Lower East Side, such as
- MS 131, the Dr. Sun Yat Sen School (grades 6-8)
100 Hester Street
* MS 131 is also the first pilot site for the School of One, a highly innovative, technology-based mathematics curriculum
All three schools are located within a few blocks of each other on Manhattan's Lower East Side. They serve high proportions of students challenged by poverty, underachievement, and special needs. Many students are recent immigrants from China and Latin America and are learning English.
Intervisitation Sites
Three other schools also participate as intervisitation sites for residents during the public school year:
- East Side Community High School (grades 7-12)
420 East 12th Street
- New Design High School (grades 9-12)
350 Grand Street
- The Science and Medicine Middle School (grades 6-8)
965 East 107th Street, Brooklyn
Mentorship
During the introductory, three-week teacher residency in July, you will work closely with classroom teachers to plan lessons, observe classroom teachers in action as they deliver those lessons, then teach them together with your classroom teacher. You will also partner with NYU science education faculty as well as engineering faculty from NYU Poly and faculty from the NYU School of Medicine to engage students in science learning and discovery. This special teacher residency introduces you to urban public schools in a summer setting and prepares you for your teacher residency immersion in September.
Throughout your September through June teacher residency, you will work closely with:
- your classroom teacher every day
She or he is a highly qualified teacher certified in your area of science (biology, chemistry, or physics) and a trained mentor.
- the NYU Urban Master Teacher in Science several times a week
Jason Blonstein is a former New York City science teacher and principal and spends the majority of his time mentoring students in the field.
- the Residency Coach every week
Robert Wallace is a former science teacher and curriculum developer and oversees your work with your individual group of students. He also works daily with host school leaders to ensure the integrity of the teacher residency experience for both residents and schools.
Your school's science faculty, assistant principal, and principal will also mentor you informally throughout your teacher residency.
Residency Activities
As a teacher resident, you will learn to become a classroom teacher. You will
- be assigned at the beginning of the school year to one science class
- begin your experiences as an assistant and observer
- become, by mid-year, a co-teacher of this class, responsible for planning the curriculum, teaching, and managing this class
- take on, in the second semester, a second science class taught by another science teacher in your school and serving an older or younger student population
As a teacher resident, you will learn to work with individual students. You will
- be assigned to a small group of individual students, selected by your school's inquiry team
- track the students' achievement data
- study and discuss with other residents and teachers samples of the students' work
- shadow the students for a day to understand the challenges these students encounter and how they manage those challenges
- tutor the students within classes other than your own and in after-school settings
Note: All science classes in the host schools are inclusion classes -- general education students and special education students learn together. A number of them are team-taught by science and special education teachers.
A Typical Teacher Residency Day
From September through June, CRISP teacher residents become de facto members of the school's staff. Your daily schedule will be varied and flexible and will change over the course of your residency.
Your day might include:
- co-teaching one or two classes
- meeting with your mentor teacher to debrief a teaching experience
- uploading a video clip of your teaching to a peer group for online discussion later in the day
- attending instructional "rounds" with the Urban Master Teacher, Residency Coach, and several other teacher residents
- tutoring one or two individual students in your group
- helping another science teacher with her laboratory set up
- helping to supervise lunch in the cafeteria
- attending a curriculum planning meeting with the science faculty or a meeting of the school's inquiry team after school
- participate in a field-based course, located at one of the host schools, in the late afternoon
On other days, you might:
- help prepare for a fieldtrip
- visit other schools, classrooms, laboratories at NYU and beyond, and non-formal learning environments, like community gardens, the New York Hall of Science, or the American Museum of Natural History
- join your mentor teacher for parent meetings
- participate in an online or campus-based course
- attend a general faculty meeting
- participate in a special education team meeting