Friday Memo: April 27, 2018

This is the last blog of this school year.










Education Faculty Meeting
Our last session with EdPlus was on Tuesday, April 24. We have enjoyed the Effective Teaching & Learning Practices series from several different presenters during our spring meetings. This session was titled "Assessment Capable Learner" and was presented by Jamie Mehring and Bev Boyd. Click HERE to access the presentation. The presentation includes three excellent videos, two of which we were not able to view on Tuesday. I encourage all of you to take a few minutes and scroll through the presentation and view the videos. The information learned will help you help your future teachers and leaders preparing assessment capable learners.

Administrative Professionals Day
We celebrated Administrative Professionals day on Wednesday, April 25. We are so blessed with such an incredible group of ladies who work very hard behind the scenes to keep our division running smoothly. A special shout-out goes to Nancy Sickler and Robyn Pitts for being my two right hand gals who keep my schedule and life as organized as possible! We enjoyed lunch together at the Perk.

Union RLC News From Marsha Tierney
Missouri Baptist University RLC at Union loves to play.  Each year Lynne Rinne, Advisor, attends Messy Play Night for early childhood education at East Central College.  This year former graduates, Derek Morgan (MAT 2013) and his wife, Krystal Morgan (MAT 2013) attended with their three small children (future Spartans in the making).  It was a fun evening for everyone and over 400 children and their families attended.  Lynne distributed 200 juice boxes from MBU to thirsty little ones.

Troy/Wentzville RLC News from Mark Engelhardt

The Kappa Delta Pi initiation ceremony was held this past week at Troy/Wentzville RLC with Mark and Mary Ann Bouas.

Teaching Tolerance Workshop

Mark Engelhardt attended a Teaching Tolerance workshop on April 13 & 14. The first day was social justice teaching 101 and the second day was on facilitating critical conversations.

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


LIKE the Missouri Baptist University Education Division Facebook Page
Be sure to LIKE our Facebook page.  We will be posting during the summer.  If you have anything that you would like to share, please send us pictures.

Upcoming Meetings

April 29: Commissioning Service at 7 p.m. in the Performance Hall

Closing Thoughts

As we wrap up another successful school year, I would like to leave you with a few words from an inspirational blog posting shared by one of our students to Alicia Noddings. I was so touched by the message that it inspired me to give marigolds to the staff this past week and I have been thinking about ways I can be a marigold to those around me. Click HERE to read the article Find Your Marigolds by Jennifer Gonzales. The blog was written specifically to first year teachers encouraging them to look for the positive people in their schools. I not only learned about companion planting, but enjoyed the parallel between companion planting and the effects of marigolds.

May the following few paragraphs bless you as your summer begins. 

THE MARIGOLD EFFECT

Many experienced gardeners follow a concept called companion planting: placing certain vegetables and plants near each other to improve growth for one or both plants. For example, rose growers plant garlic near their roses because it repels bugs and prevents fungal diseases. Among companion plants, the marigold is one of the best: It protects a wide variety of plants from pests and harmful weeds. If you plant a marigold beside most any garden vegetable, that vegetable will grow big and strong and healthy, protected and encouraged by its marigold.

Marigolds exist in our schools as well – encouraging, supporting and nurturing growing teachers on their way to maturity. If you can find at least one marigold in your school and stay close to them, you will grow. Find more than one and you will positively thrive.

Few teachers will be lucky enough to be planted close to a marigold – being assigned to one as a mentor, co-teacher, or team leader will be rare. You will have to seek them out. You can identify them by the way they congratulate you on arrival, rather than asking why anyone would want this godforsaken job. Or by the way their offers to help sound sincere. Or just by how you feel when you’re with them: Are you calmer, more hopeful? Excited to get started on a teaching task? Comfortable asking questions, even the stupid ones? If you feel good around this person, chances are they have some marigold qualities.

Once you’ve identified your marigolds, make an effort to spend time with them. Having a hard day? Go to your marigolds. Not understanding how to operate the grade reporting system? Go to your marigolds. Confused by something the principal said at the faculty meeting? Marigolds. They may be on the other side of the building, out of your grade or subject area, or otherwise less convenient to reach than others. If your school is especially toxic, you might have to find your marigolds in another school, or even online. Make the effort. It’s worth the trouble.