With new programs and opportunities surging in our school, several new Dual Enrollment (DE) classes are providing more options to our students.
“It allows students to meet the standard and the requirements, giving them an opportunity to advance themselves. It’s also economical because these are classes they would have taken at the college level and paid out of pocket for, but now they are receiving the credit for free. It also gives them the chance to boost their GPA, which is really good,” Science teacher Marie-France Denis Etienne said.
DE Introduction to Early Childhood with Marie-France Denis Etienne
DE Introduction to Early Childhood Education introduces students to the fundamentals of early childhood development, including cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth in children from birth to age 8. It also explores teaching methods, classroom management, and the impact of family and community on early learning. Students gain insights into the responsibilities of early childhood educators and the significance of fostering a positive learning environment for young children. Although DE classes like Introduction to Early Childhood Education give students an advantage when pursuing careers in related fields, it definitely can be challenging for students. As dual enrollment classes are college level courses, Biology teacher Etienne adjusts her teacher methods to accommodate students to learn in a better way.
“First I would assess the class and make sure that I understand the different level that I have and as I instruct I would make the adjustment based on the type of assignments that I give and the expectations I have for students in the class,” Etienne said.
DE General Education Biology with Lolitha Otero
DE General Education Biology is designed for students who do not plan to major in Biology, providing a broad understanding of biological concepts and their relevance to everyday life.
“I love teaching Biology at a higher level so I’m excited to teach the topics to a whole different or new population of students because I usually teach either Honors or AP,” Otero said.
Students explore foundational topics such as cell structure and function, genetics, evolution, ecology, and the diversity of life forms. They learn about the processes that govern living organisms, including metabolism, reproduction, and the interaction between organisms and their environments.
The first semester of the class will be Research 1 Honors, with the second semester containing the actual DE class. The Research class will be centered around a review of basic biology and chemistry concepts that are necessary to succeed in college level Biology.
“Be ready to work because it’s not the easy ‘A’ that everybody thinks it is, but you have got to think towards your future. High school is just four years, and if you do the right things like take the APs or the DEs, that can set you up for success for the rest of your life. It’s a challenge, but students should rise to the challenge,” Otero said.
DE Introduction to Education with Deborah Anderson
DE Introduction to Education is a class designed to give students a taste of education and introduce them to the field. One of the class’s bigger assignments involves students shadowing other teachers, with the students being required to shadow these teachers for 15 hours, all during their DE Education class. The students will be required to prepare and write both a presentation and a paper on what they have learned during this process.
“The goal is for them to observe a teacher from the viewpoint of not being a student in the classroom, but being a teacher and walking with that teacher, so they understand the complexities of everything we’re going through and whether or not this might be the fit for them,” Anderson said. “You never can tell where you’ll be ten years from now.”
The students will also have a midterm, a final and various reading assignments based on a textbook, with the entirety of the course curriculum being based off of Miami Dade College’s.
DE Humanities – A Core Course with Georges Lesperance
DE Humanities will focus on a basic overview of different areas in humanities, including philosophy, psychology, art, music, culture and thought.
“The main approach to that is to establish certain procedures in terms of researching subjects in different areas, and then analyzing and being able to apply some of the skills that we learned,” Lesperance said. “So it really takes you through the cognitive domain in terms of having a base of knowledge in each area, being able to comprehend what it’s all about and being able to apply those skills in all these different areas.”
The first semester of the class is Research 1 Honors, with the actual DE course starting in the second semester. The second semester of the class will focus on students building upon these skills and bases of knowledge.
“In Research 1, we’re learning what the cognitive domain entails with the affective domain,” Lesperance said. “We’re learning about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and some of the basic tools and skills that are involved in learning, including how to comprehend, analyze and evaluate – tools they can use to succeed in the second half of the course and whatever other topic or subject area of learning.”