Friday Memo 10/23/15

Lighten Up Committee Luncheon

As the faculty were enjoying Monday off during Fall Break, the staff were here working. But thanks to the Lighten Up Committee, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and participated in a pumpkin carving contest. The Education Division got Honorable Mention for our creation.

Look out, Gina has a knife!

Ellen and Melanie cleaning out the guts of the pumpkin.

Mary Ann, Gina, and Melanie frantically finishing before the deadline.

Our final creation

The group with our pumpkin.

Professional Learning Committees

Tuesday morning the faculty met to begin our PLC work. We created three groups - two groups that will focus on making sure we prepare our students to utilize school data effectively & one group that will be working on improving the way we prepare our students to differentiate their instruction. We all met together for a general overview of the PLCs, a look at some data, and then we split up into groups. Each group identified a logistical facilitator and recorder. Notes were taken during each meeting and have been uploaded to our Division Professional Development Canvas Course. Feel free to take a look at the notes from our initial PLC groups. I am looking forward to the work of these groups between now and May of 2016.

Our new PLC Teams

Differentiation Group

The Assessment Group that met in the Perk (Goofy Mark had to take a pic of me taking a pic of him!)

The Differentiation PLC 

The "A" Team

Notes from The "A" Team

Strategic Plan
Alicia Noddings and I submitted our 2015 Strategic Plan. I am looking forward to sharing the final document with all of you once it has been approved. Your input and many data points were used to identify our accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, short-term, and long-term goals.

Co-Teaching Student Teaching Model Research
Erica Bumpers is collecting information about the Co-Teaching Student Teaching Model. One of my short-term goals for the division is that we move to this model. We need to learn from other universities' successful implementation and training strategies to ensure the students, faculty, and cooperating teachers understand the model. We are in the infant stages of the initiative and will be working on a timeline of implementation.

Upcoming Meetings

• MACTE - Monday, 10/26 - Wednesday, 10/28   Lake of the Ozarks 
• Faculty Meeting -Monday, 10/26   3:00pm   Performance Hall
• Faculty Meeting - Monday, 11/9   3:00pm   Performance Hall
• Division Faculty Meeting - Tuesday, 11/10   10:15am   Field Conference Room
• PLC Meeting - Tuesday, 11/24   10:15am  Field Conference Room (to start)

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

1 Corinthians 5:20 

I have used the term "ambassador" often when describing that my hope and prayer is that our students are positive ambassadors for our programs so that others will want to know more about what we offer. 

The Bible reminds us that we are Christ's ambassadors. The next part of the verse resonates with me - as though God were making his appeal through us. That passage is extremely powerful. God uses us to make his appeal to others. Just as our slogan, Shine On, essentially conveys a similar message, it is our responsibility to allow God to make his appeal through us. We must shine on as His ambassadors so others will be drawn to Him.

Shine On!

Melanie