Friday Memo: December 8, 2017

Education Division Holiday Bulletin Board
Come by the Education Division and check out the holiday bulletin board.



Christmas Concert at The Perk
On Tuesday, December 5 the MBU Chamber Singers performed a wonderful array of Christmas carols. Jordan Cox does a great job of leading these extremely talented students.



From Patrick Cleveland
Students from Counselor Education presented conference level workshops as part of their final course projects. The workshops represent research for career development for physically or mentally disabled individuals, economically disadvantaged, cultural minorities, delayed entrants/re-entrants into the workforce, midlife job changers, older workers, and young adults. Other presentations explored equestrian therapy, job transitions for the prison population, and resources for women experiencing domestic violence. Some of the workshops were presented for community counseling agencies and churches. Many of the projects were presented via live-stream with in-seat participants. These workshop presentations challenge the students for the real world of conference presentations and community counseling service.



We encourage you to send us articles, pictures, and events. Please submit pictures for the blog by Thursday. We love to share your good news. Email to melanie.bishop@mobap.edu or nancy.sickler@mobap.edu

CAEP Update
In an effort to meet the objectives of our division's recruitment plan, which is evidence for Standard  3 - Candidate Quality, Recruitment, and Selectivity, I met with Mary Kate Walton, Freshman Admissions Counselor, earlier this week to discuss the establishment of a partnership with the Ark of Safety Church in St. Charles as an outreach opportunity and to recruit diverse students to MBU and into the Education Division. If you have personal relationships with leadership in schools and churches around our community, please let me or Mary Kate know so she can visit with the leadership and discuss ways in which we can work together recruiting high quality diverse candidates who might be interested in attending MBU.

Thank you so much to the full-time faculty for working with me to complete the annual evaluations by Christmas break. The CAEP team is currently reviewing our self-study and will provide us with a formative review any day now. Alicia Noddings, David Collum, and I will be working hard in January compiling our response to the review. I am grateful to have almost all of my annual evaluations complete at this time.

Schedule
Mary Ann Bouas, Clint Limoges, and I have been working diligently to get all of the spring classes staffed. We are also finalizing the fall 2018/spring 2019 schedule.  It is important that we maximize our limited classroom space by scheduling efficiently. If your classes typically have low enrollment, we are considering adjusting the periodicity. If you would like to make any changes to the day/time/periodicity of the class(es) you teach, please let us know as soon as possible.

Christmas Chapel
Chapel was filled with the lovely sounds of Christmas from the MBU Chamber Singers and the Bell Ringers. If you weren't in the holiday spirit before, you would be now. I'm always amazed at the talent of our students and faculty.


Christmas Caroling on Campus
The MBU Chamber Singers went caroling throughout campus on Thursday. It's always a treat to have them entertain us.


Upcoming Meetings
December 12: Student Teacher Orientation at 10 a.m. in the Chapel
December 19 - January 1: Christmas Break!
January 9: Education Faculty Meeting at 10:15 a.m. in FLD 115

Closing Thoughts
Dan Rockwell's Leadership Freak blog inspires me daily as he provides simple, yet powerful reminders of effective leadership. A few weeks ago Dan wrote about the powers of gratitude and as we wrap up another semester I encourage you to pause and reflect upon the power of gratitude. This is one of the busiest weeks for an instructor as you are grading projects, scheduling observation visits, and getting ready for finals - on top of all the hustle and bustle of Christmas. I know it's hard to stop and remember to be grateful, but read below Dan's seven powers of gratitude from his 11/23/17 blog post.
  1. Gratitude energizes those who receive it and frees those who express it.
  2. Gratitude invites a painful past to expand vision and mission. But ungratefulness frowns at the future.
  3. Gratitude beats back fear and worry.
  4. Gratitude absorbs frustration.
  5. Gratitude deflates arrogance.
  6. Gratitude fuels creativity.
  7. Gratitude expands influence.
If life is pressing down on you right now, try being grateful and watch how your attitude changes. Be grateful for your students and their need for your guidance. Be grateful that you have the gifts and abilities to teach. Be grateful that you work at this amazing institution. Be grateful that you have technological tools to expedite your grading (remember the good old days of a hard copy grade book and figuring out your grades on a calculator!) Be grateful that Christmas is just around the corner.

I am grateful for each of you and the impact you have on our students every day. Keep up the good work! Dan's blog concluded with the following thoughts: "Gratitude soars, bitterness binds. Gratitude celebrates, ungratefulness complains. Gratitude connects, fear retreats, Gratitude invites, ungratefulness repels. People run toward gratefulness and away from ingratitude."

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