UMass Boston

Try out teaching!

The first two classes of UTeach Boston are designed to have students try out teaching to see what it's like.  There's no obligation to join the UTeach program when taking these classes; the point is to provide an opportunity to try out teaching and determine if it's a career opportunity to potentially pursue.  

The first class, called Step 1 (INTR-D 170), is one credit and meets for an hour per week.  During class, students learn about how to teach using inquiry-based methods.  This means teaching not by lecturing, but by guiding students to understanding through questioning and student exploration.  Students in this class then apply this to lessons that they teach--students in groups of two or three go into a Boston public elementary school five times throughout the semester.  The first time they go to observe an hour-long lesson and meet their class and teacher.  The next time they go to the school, they teach a lesson to the class they met.  Then, they observe again and teach two more times.  In Step 1, lesson plans that the students teach in the elementary schools are designed by the Master Teachers.  With successful completion of Step 1, students receive a $114 stipend that's credited back towards their tuition.  See a syllabus for Step 1, Spring 2019.  

"This program has opened my eyes to a new career field that I never would've considered!" 

- Step 1 Student

The second class, called Step 2 (INTR-D 175), is also one credit, meeting once per week, but goes more in depth on inquiry-based methods.  The fieldwork setup is similar to Step 1, but in this class students go into a middle school.  Students in Step 2 now have more of a part in creating lesson plans, eventually creating a lesson plan designed entirely on their own.  They then teach the lesson they created to their middle school class.  After Step 2, students can decide whether they want to continue in the UTeach program.  Even if one doesn't want to teach right after graduation, the program can still be completed and the licensure obtained is valid for life.  Like Step 1, students who successfully complete Step 2 receive a $114 stipend that's credited back towards their tuition.  See a syllabus for Step 2, Spring 2019.

Two of UTeach Boston's core classes fulfill general education distributions and are open to any undergraduate.  These two classes are EDC U 270: Knowing and Learning Math and Science, which fulfills the Social/Behavioral Science distribution, and EDC U 370: Perspectives on Science and Math, which fulfills the Humanities distribution.

For questions or more information on Step 1 or Step 2, contact one of the master teachers Karen Crounse or Wan Sin Lim, or email uteach@umb.edu.  See the complete list of classes of UTeach Boston.