Greenwood Students Attend Spanish Competition – Win 1st Place!
Congratulation to the Spanish team made up of 7th – 10th graders for bringing home the traveling trophy for placing first in the Ozark Hispanic Studies League competition. The competition included dance, poetry, singing, vocabulary and culture bowl competitions. The team had to win in three different competitions over the school year to win the trophy. They won 1st place in every single competition.
– Duany Ramos, Instructor, GLS
Bears in the Know Luncheon
At this luncheon, Missouri State University President Clif Smart will give a brief University update. Dean David Hough will share an update of the College of Education, followed by Dr. Linda Garrison-Kane and Dr. Megan Boyle, Professors in the Special Education program. They will share information about the Masters in Autism Program at Missouri State University and the research conducted by their students within this area. This College of Education masters program is working collaboratively with the Mercy Children’s Hospital and ARC of the Ozarks in developing a research based degree program for undergraduates and graduates in the area of autism. Recent autism research will be shared and student researchers will be in attendance to answer questions about their experience at Missouri State University.
The luncheon will take place on Monday, March 21, 2016 and will be held in the Turner Family Hospitality Room on the first floor of the Kenneth E. Meyer Alumni Center, 300 S. Jefferson Ave., Suite 100, Springfield, MO 65806. Complimentary parking is available in the attached garage off of Mc Daniel Street. Feel free to arrive any time after 11:30 am. Lunch will begin being served at approximately 11:30 am, followed by the program at noon.
I hope you will plan to attend! Seating is limited, so please reserve your seat now by calling (417)836-6666 or e-mail foundation@missouristate.edu. To ensure your spot, please RSVP by Monday, March 14th. If you would like to bring a guest, please let us know in the RSVP so we will have an accurate count.
NEA Foundation Invites Applications for Learning and Leadership Grants
The NEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the National Education Association, is a public charity supported by contributions from educators’ dues, corporate sponsors, and others. The foundation supports student success by helping public school educators work with key partners to build strong systems of shared responsibility.
As part of its efforts to achieve this goal, the foundation is inviting applications for its Learning and Leadership Grants program. The program provides support to public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education through grants to individuals to fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences such as summer institutes or action research; or to groups for collegial study (including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for new faculty or staff).
The grant amount is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study. All group grant applicants must include partner information.
To be eligible, applicants must be a public school educator in grades Pre-K–12; a public school education support professional; or faculty and staff members at a public institution of higher education. The foundation encourages applications from education support professionals. Preference will be given to members of the National Education Association.
For complete program guidelines, an FAQ, information about previous grantees, and application instructions, see the NEA Foundation website at: http://www.nea.org/
Education Students Present at National Conference
Several Missouri State University education students presented field experience research at the 2016 National Science Teachers Association conference in Kansas City in December.
The students investigated what happened when they used two different research-based strategies to facilitate science discussions in elementary classrooms. Students then compared and analyzed the effectiveness of the methods they applied. All of the students who presented at the conference had specific areas of research, such as Heather Speake, one of the students who presented, using Foldables—three-dimensional, interactive graphic organizers—in class
“The biggest eye opener for me throughout the research process was the importance of biases and being aware of your own biases,” said Speake. “Personally, I love using Foldables as a way to organize my thoughts and notes, but after teaching my lesson, I interviewed six focus students and found that the majority of those students preferred writing in their science notebooks like they already did instead of using the science Foldables.”
Students attended other presentations at the conference and learned more about current issues and research in science education.
“As a pre-service teacher, I learned a lot from these other sessions and by hearing what these other teachers had to offer in the way of advice, classroom stories and even in the questions they asked,” said Speake. “It was also a great learning experience to have the opportunity to present in front of current teachers and other school officials to get their takes and opinions on our research and findings.”
“The students found it to be an empowering experience and speaking about their research shifted how they saw themselves,” said Dr. Amanda Benedict-Chambers, research adviser to the students. “As they prepared to start their student teaching semester, they began to see themselves not as education students, but as practitioners who now had the skills to investigate problems of practice. They realized that collecting data about their teaching didn’t have to be a complex process — videotaping their instruction, soliciting student feedback, and reflecting on lessons were simple ways to gather evidence to see if their teaching was really making a difference.”
Dr. Jon Turner and Willard Public School Administrators Represent OERI at AASA
Dr. Jon Turner (Assistant Professor of Educational Administration, MSU), Dr. Kent Medlin (Superintendent, Willard Public Schools), and Stewart Pratt (Assistant Superintendent, Willard Public Schools) recently represented Southwest Missouri and Missouri State University by presenting research results from the Ozarks Educational Research Initiative (OERI) at the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in Phoenix, Arizona. The OERI has been a collaborative research initiative between 19 school districts in the Southwest Missouri region and Missouri State University since 2008. Over the past four years, the OERI has conducted research in regard to development of 1:1 technology initiatives in PreK-12 school districts. Dr. Turner, Dr. Medlin, and Mr. Pratt spoke to a packed conference room of approximately 125-150 school leaders from across the nation on the topic of, “Impact of 1:1 Technology Research on Classroom Instruction & Professional Development”, which involved an investigation of all the processes necessary for successful implementation, beginning with the financial and infrastructure considerations necessary for 1:1 Technology implementation to the professional development and classroom preparation required for substantive, effective instructional revision. Their presentation focused on the power of collaborative multi-district and university research efforts demonstrated by this project.
Photo provided by Dr. Doug Hayter, former Superintendent of Schools, Branson, MO.
– Dr.Tami Arthaud
Revised Policy – COE Student Travel Fund
The COE Student Travel Fund policy has been revised. The document is posted on the COE webpage under the Policies Library here.
When funds are available, academic departments and the Dean’s Office may provide support for undergraduate and graduate student travel. If the request is for department support, each academic unit may develop and follow its own procedures. If the request is for College support, the following policy will apply:
To be eligible for College support, students must present peer reviewed scholarly / research papers to professional organizations at the local, state, regional, national, or international level. Students must be sponsored by a faculty member who agrees to oversee the student’s work and travel. Applications for student travel support should be made by individual students to the faculty member who will then present the request to the department head for endorsement before submitting the request to the College. Funds to support student travel will come from the Program Support budget and will not exceed $400 per student per trip.
If the student travel request is for graduate students, application must first be made to the Graduate College at:
http://graduate.missouristate.edu/currentstudents/Funding.htm
Click to download Student Travel Request Form
Students from Gunma University in Japan Visit COE
On Friday, February 19th, Diana Piccolo met with the students from Gunma University in Japan on Friday, February 19th. Also in the picture is Kelsey Goin from the English Language Institute. Three of the students are graduate students in Mathematics Education and want to be either a middle or high school math teacher and the 4th student is an undergraduate elementary education student. I told them about the College of Education and the Math department at MSU and showed them a few videos of COE and Springfield. I also had a folder with COE information in as well as a “goodie bag” that contained a few items, including the stuffed bear that Dean Hough donated.
– Dr. Diana Piccolo, Associate Professor, CEFS
Child Development Center Update
Staff at the CDC finished a safe sleep policy, as well as having every staff member complete a training on safe sleep. This is required by the Dept. of Health and Senior Services and is to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Work will begin February 22n on the electrical so the signs on the front of the CDC and on the playground will light up. It will take about two to four weeks for this to be completed. When all is completed a ribbon cutting ceremony will be planned for the new playground. We are looking at dates for the ribbon cutting ceremony.
– Deanna Hallgren, Director, CDC
Attend this event to learn more and hear Dr. Bakdash and Dr. W.D. Blackmon read from Inside Syria-A Physician’s Memoir
What role have the following played in the life of Dr. Tarif Bakdash?
- The Israeli Mossad
- “Parachuters” at the University of Damascus Medical School
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi
- President Bashar al-Assad of Syria
- The Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan
Attend the reading from this new book on the Plaster Student Union Theater at MSU on Friday, February 26th at 7:00 p.m. and find out.
Upcoming Meetings / Events
March 2, 2016 Faculty Advisory Council, 8:00 – 9:00 a.m., Hill Hall 314
March 3, 2016 Leadership Council, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m., Hill Hall 314
March 7 – 11, 2016 Spring Break – offices open
March 22, 2016 Legacy of Learning – Preparing for the Future in Kansas City
6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Marriott Country Club Plaza, 4445 Main Street
April 12, 2016 Legacy of Learning – Preparing for the Future in St. Louis
6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel
To keep you fully updated, a reminder that notes / minutes from meetings are posted on the COE website within one week.
