Friday Memo 2/3/17
MMEA Conference
Jordan Cox, MBU's Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, sent me the following pictures and narrative from the MMEA (Missouri Music Educators Association) Conference.
Several of the students below are music education majors. MMEA is a tremendous conference for our future music educators to attend each year. Students had an excellent conference, learned a lot, and interacted with some of the leading educators in our field, along with many alumni who are currently teaching in Missouri!
Portofolio Reflections
We need your help...after much discussion in the office with faculty members, we have determined that all faculty members who teach classes that have an embedded portfolio reflection assignment need to be doing a better job of providing feedback to students on those assignments. We are learning that some faculty members may simply be giving completion credit. PLEASE spend adequate time and energy on this assignment with your students. We understand that you have critical content that you need to teach and you may feel that you don't have time to teach students how to write quality reflections, but I want you to make the time. Students write their first drafts at the beginning of their program, then they should be perfecting those reflections in the assigned courses. By the time the students are in EDUC 401 Portfolio II, the reflections should be almost perfect so they are ready for approval in the Student Teaching interview. Thanks for your cooperation.
CAEP/CACREP Update
David Collum, Alicia, and I are meeting weekly pulling our evidence pieces together. Thank you for your help when we ask for your assistance. Our self-study is due June 30, 2017 and the site visit is scheduled for February 25-27, 2018.
The counseling faculty continue working on CACREP curriculum, submitting information for DESE approval, curricular revisions, and program changes.
Directors Meeting
Tuesday, the program directors gathered to review assessment data to determine program improvements needed based on the data. Directors reviewed their program improvement flowcharts and made revisions as needed.
Assessment Meeting
I attended a meeting in Jefferson City on Wednesday hosted by DESE, Pearson, and OSEDA (Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis.) The purpose of the meeting was to review the technical manuals for the Pearson Missouri Content Assessments and the First-Year Educator Surveys. Interesting data was shared that I will be sharing at our upcoming meetings. This information will also be very useful in our CAEP preparations.
Student Teaching Observation
I know I mention this often in my blog, but I truly enjoy the days I get to observe my student teacher. Yesterday, I observed John Bobeen teaching 8th grade Pre-Algebra at Hardin Middle School. I was very impressed with John's teaching skills, preparation, creativity, and most importantly his rapport with the students. His cooperating teacher truly enjoys having John in her class and she said that he has inspired her to prepare creative and engaging lessons with the students, even though she is just a few years from retirement. She and the students are a blessing to John and his development; AND our MBU Spartan is a blessing to them. I call that a Win-Win!!!
EDUC 303 Diversity Panel
Dr. Engelhardt's students participated in student panel discussions this week. Each panel identified key characteristics of various diverse student populations, key theorists, and teaching methods that would be effective in meeting the specific needs of each group.
Upcoming Meetings
Education Faculty Meeting: Tuesday, February 7 at 10:15 a.m. in FLD 115
Education Job Fair: Tuesday, February 7 SRC
President's Chapel: Thursday, February 9 11:00am
Closing Thoughts
Spiritual Gifts
In a class at church this week we discussed spiritual gifts and were encouraged to take an online test to help us determine our spiritual gifts. Prior to taking the online test I assumed my spiritual gift was teaching. Boy, was I surprised when I found that teaching did not even make my top 3. I am learning that just because I may have been a good middle school math teacher, perhaps my spiritual gifting is not in teaching because my strength is not in teaching scripture to others. I was grateful to find that my top gift was faith. According to giftstest.com, the spiritual gift of faith is the divine strength or ability to believe in God for unseen supernatural results in every arena of life. The gift of faith is an abiding foundation of confidence that God works all things together for good, and that the people of God can rise above any obstacle. People with the gift of faith hold fast to the deep conviction that no matter what we see with our eyes, we can trust the promises and plan of God.
According to the online test, my second spiritual gift is administration and third gift is leadership. The identification of my spiritual gifts: faith, administration, and leadership was a beautiful affirmation that I am exactly where I need to be here at MBU, leading this amazing group of students and professionals to impact the world for the glory of God.
If you want to take a spiritual gifts online test, click on the link Spiritual Gifts Test.
Jordan Cox, MBU's Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, sent me the following pictures and narrative from the MMEA (Missouri Music Educators Association) Conference.
Several of the students below are music education majors. MMEA is a tremendous conference for our future music educators to attend each year. Students had an excellent conference, learned a lot, and interacted with some of the leading educators in our field, along with many alumni who are currently teaching in Missouri!
 |
| Oakville Women's Choir directed by Chelsea Stockton Ayres and Pianist, Erin Gruen Falloon; both MBU Music Education Alumni |
We need your help...after much discussion in the office with faculty members, we have determined that all faculty members who teach classes that have an embedded portfolio reflection assignment need to be doing a better job of providing feedback to students on those assignments. We are learning that some faculty members may simply be giving completion credit. PLEASE spend adequate time and energy on this assignment with your students. We understand that you have critical content that you need to teach and you may feel that you don't have time to teach students how to write quality reflections, but I want you to make the time. Students write their first drafts at the beginning of their program, then they should be perfecting those reflections in the assigned courses. By the time the students are in EDUC 401 Portfolio II, the reflections should be almost perfect so they are ready for approval in the Student Teaching interview. Thanks for your cooperation.
CAEP/CACREP Update
David Collum, Alicia, and I are meeting weekly pulling our evidence pieces together. Thank you for your help when we ask for your assistance. Our self-study is due June 30, 2017 and the site visit is scheduled for February 25-27, 2018.
The counseling faculty continue working on CACREP curriculum, submitting information for DESE approval, curricular revisions, and program changes.
Directors Meeting
Tuesday, the program directors gathered to review assessment data to determine program improvements needed based on the data. Directors reviewed their program improvement flowcharts and made revisions as needed.
Assessment Meeting
I attended a meeting in Jefferson City on Wednesday hosted by DESE, Pearson, and OSEDA (Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis.) The purpose of the meeting was to review the technical manuals for the Pearson Missouri Content Assessments and the First-Year Educator Surveys. Interesting data was shared that I will be sharing at our upcoming meetings. This information will also be very useful in our CAEP preparations.
Student Teaching Observation
I know I mention this often in my blog, but I truly enjoy the days I get to observe my student teacher. Yesterday, I observed John Bobeen teaching 8th grade Pre-Algebra at Hardin Middle School. I was very impressed with John's teaching skills, preparation, creativity, and most importantly his rapport with the students. His cooperating teacher truly enjoys having John in her class and she said that he has inspired her to prepare creative and engaging lessons with the students, even though she is just a few years from retirement. She and the students are a blessing to John and his development; AND our MBU Spartan is a blessing to them. I call that a Win-Win!!!
Dr. Engelhardt's students participated in student panel discussions this week. Each panel identified key characteristics of various diverse student populations, key theorists, and teaching methods that would be effective in meeting the specific needs of each group.
Upcoming Meetings
Education Faculty Meeting: Tuesday, February 7 at 10:15 a.m. in FLD 115
Education Job Fair: Tuesday, February 7 SRC
President's Chapel: Thursday, February 9 11:00am
Closing Thoughts
Spiritual Gifts
In a class at church this week we discussed spiritual gifts and were encouraged to take an online test to help us determine our spiritual gifts. Prior to taking the online test I assumed my spiritual gift was teaching. Boy, was I surprised when I found that teaching did not even make my top 3. I am learning that just because I may have been a good middle school math teacher, perhaps my spiritual gifting is not in teaching because my strength is not in teaching scripture to others. I was grateful to find that my top gift was faith. According to giftstest.com, the spiritual gift of faith is the divine strength or ability to believe in God for unseen supernatural results in every arena of life. The gift of faith is an abiding foundation of confidence that God works all things together for good, and that the people of God can rise above any obstacle. People with the gift of faith hold fast to the deep conviction that no matter what we see with our eyes, we can trust the promises and plan of God.
According to the online test, my second spiritual gift is administration and third gift is leadership. The identification of my spiritual gifts: faith, administration, and leadership was a beautiful affirmation that I am exactly where I need to be here at MBU, leading this amazing group of students and professionals to impact the world for the glory of God.
If you want to take a spiritual gifts online test, click on the link Spiritual Gifts Test.
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