Description: This poster discusses the international perspectives curriculum project. The project described in this poster was developed as part of the "Globalizing your Curriculum" Transformational Instructional Innovation (TII) Fellowship sponsored by the Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and redesign (CLEAR) and UNT - International.

Description: This presentation discusses Action Research, the inquiry part of a Professional Development School (PDS) model that all UNT elementary education, pre-service teacher/student interns complete with mentor teachers during student teaching.

Description: This presentation discusses research on becoming a teacher of mathematics to elementary students. The research is an auto-ethnography of a pre-service teacher during the first semester of Professional Development School, documenting the journey as a learner and teacher of mathematics for this pre-service teacher.

Description: This paper discusses research on the effects of tutoring with concrete manipulatives and real life concepts. Abstract: Place value is a concept many elementary students struggle to accomplish. Many misconceptions arise when students are attempting at mastering this concept. The fourth grade class the author was observing was no different. The author gave a pre-diagnostic test to determine the exact concepts. The author assessed six students who were all performing below grade level and determined that all six had not mastered the understanding of place value. Students, who have not mastered place value, cannot fully master other basic math skills. The author began the 7 week tutoring period with basic place value. The students were able to make progress in math by building a foundation for their knowledge to prosper. The use of concrete manipulatives and the connection to real life concepts helped the students relate the information to their lives and made it possible for the students to visualize the mathematical processes that were occurring with certain mathematical functions.

Description: This paper discusses research on incorporating Response to Intervention (RTI) and the mastery model into tutoring sessions. Abstract: Through the tutoring project and additional research, I determined multiple ways to assess students on their math skills and improve their comprehension. During each tutoring session, I chose eight third-grade students to test and tutor on different math concepts. I believed the students test scores would improve after the tutoring sessions. Each session was structured using the Mastery Model which incorporated the use of manipulatives as well as guided and independent practice. The Mastery Model allowed me to create a more authentic and organized RTI that met each student's needs. Incorporating RTI into the process was imperative because it enabled me to analyze the students' learning as well as assess my own teaching. The post-test results did not show a significant change from the pre-test; however, observing the students in the tutoring sessions showed how hands-on activities allow students to view the abstract concepts in a more concrete way.