Friday Memo 5/1/15

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Celebrate! This has been a week of celebrating. Graduation, retirement, completion of a successful year and even a wedding reception. 

Carl Holschen's Retirement
Carl is retiring, and we celebrated his contributions to the division and the University at our faculty meeting Tuesday. We watched a video that division members have been putting together over the last few weeks to honor Carl's contributions. We will miss you, Carl!

Click the link to see the video created. Carl's Retirement Video





Congratulations to Dr. Sheri Brandt
Congratulations to Dr. Sheri Brandt for two special events in her life this week. In addition to celebrating her recent wedding, she graduated along with David Cullom on Tuesday night with her doctorate degree. 




Faculty & Staff Appreciation Lunch
Monday staff and faculty enjoyed an employee appreciation luncheon put on by the Lighten Up Committee. The committee always does a great job providing opportunities for us to gather and usually eat something. Hopefully you were able to attend and enjoy the food, fun, and fellowship.
USDLA Presentation
David Collum, Tim Delicath, and I attended the USDLA United States Distance Learning Association conference Monday through Wednesday at Union Station in St. Louis. David and Tim presented our simSchool research. I was able to attend workshops on grant writing and social media in the classroom.


Spartan Teaching Success Stories
We celebrated the ending of a very successful school year at our faculty meeting on Tuesday. We had a great time celebrating success stories in the classroom. It was a pleasure watching all of the faculty members do what they do best - teach! The time of sharing was collaborative, informative, and indicative of the great work going on in our classrooms. Thanks to those of you who shared best practices based on data.












Graduation
The week of graduation is one of the most exciting in the life of any university. Graduation is a time of celebration as we observe students achieving their degree after years of effort. For me, graduation is affirmation that what we do is life-changing. Not only do we get to help students realize their academic and professional goals, but we get to play a part in their personal and spiritual development. What a blessing from God to be able to serve in such an awesome capacity in the lives of our students!
And then graduation is over. We clap for the last graduate and junior marshall. We head back to the green room, take off our robes and goofy hats, and just like that it's over. Until next year. No rest for the weary, we begin preparing for next year.



Program Redesign Task Force
The program redesign task force met on Wednesday to continue our work on ensuring our curriculum meets certification requirements. Thanks again to this group of committed faculty members that work diligently on this major initiative. I would especially like to thank Carl Holschen for leading this group over the last two years.


simSchool
David Collum and I met with a new group of EDCL 200 students Wednesday evening to introduce them to the simSchool project. The purpose of the initial meeting is to familiarize them with simSchool. David is continuing to collect data to help us determine the effectiveness of simSchool and the best uses of simulation-based field experience in our educator preparation program.

CEEDAR
Shelton Smith and I are in Jefferson City today as we begin our work on the State Leadership Team for the CEEDAR initiative. We look forward to utilizing the resources provided by CEEDAR and other institutions to strengthen our teacher and leader programs. Shelton was invited by DESE and CEEDAR to represent the state of Missouri work group at Washington DC this summer. Thank you Shelton for representing our institution, state, and CEEDAR group at this national meeting.

Upcoming Events:
Faculty Meeting     Monday, May 11     1:00pm     Recital Hall
Carl's Retirement Party     Monday, May 11 2:00pm     The Perk
Lead Teacher Meeting     Thursday, Jun 11     9:30am     Location TBD

This week's closing scripture is from Deuteronomy 31:8

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Enjoy your family, friends and beautiful weather this weekend. 

Melanie

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