Bishop's Blog

All, Please read below for division information and happenings from this past week. MEGSL  Check out our facebook page for more information regarding information about Math Educators of Greater St. Louis. There are excellent professional development and scholarship opportunities for our students. Our facebook page is titled Missouri Baptist University Education Division. Counseling Interviews Mary Ann Conaway and I continue interviewing candidates for the Counseling position. TEC I am preparing for the upcoming Teacher Education Council meeting. As I was planning the agenda, I realized the importance of expanding the council to include some more public and private school administrators. I look forward to our meeting on April 16 where we will gather to discuss the current issues in our field. Observed Student Teacher I had the pleasure of observing one of our student teachers, Rhett Suttmueller, at LaSalle Springs Middle School in the Rockwood School District. Thanks t...

Happy Friday! Read below for important information. Course Evaluations Congratulations! The student evaluations for the 1st 8 week classes have been submitted. The Education Division had a 75.41% return rate. The overall average for the institution was 73.62%. Thank you for encouraging your students to complete the evaluation. If you taught a 1st 8-week class, please take a few minutes to read your evaluations. As educators we should value their thoughts and opinions. Please know that I will be reading every student evaluation. If you do not hear from regarding your course evaluations, assume that I am pleased. If I read an evaluation that concerns me, I will let you know. Performance Assessment for Counselors Jan Speck, Mary Ann Conaway, and I met to discuss the progress of the Counselor Performance Assessment pilot in which our students are participating. School Counseling students are participating in the tasks in the internship class. Ethan Taylor at ETS has been helpful thro...

This week's blog will be focused on the events of the Missouri Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Spring Conference. Outstanding Beginning Teachers The highlight of the conference for me was recognizing the Outstanding Beginning Teachers from across the state. Our OBTs were Melinda Golubski and Brandon Riley. It was refreshing to see our graduates and others from across the state as they were recognized for their good work in the classroom. It was a wonderful reminder why we do what we do! After the banquet we went to the Capitol Building and met some of our local representatives. We were even invited to the floor of the House just before they went into session. It was a great opportunity for our local legislators to meet some outstanding beginning teachers, and it was a great opportunity for Melinda and Brandon to be recognized for their efforts. Presentation David Collum, Tim Delicath, and I presented  Enhancing Preservice Teachers' Understanding of the Educat...

The beauty of the snow! Image source: http://dreamatico.com/snow.html Some of you may be sick and tired of the snow and the cold! I actually love winter. I enjoy the beauty of the snow. I like that the bad weather often forces me and my family to stay indoors and hang out in front of the fire. I must admit I do not like the traffic that comes along with snow, the Thursday morning commute was not fun!! Thanks to all of you who braved the bad roads and traffic and joined us on campus yesterday. This week has been relatively quiet, but here is a highlight... Counseling  Mary Ann Conaway and I have been interviewing candidates for the open counseling faculty position. Please pray that God would bring the right person to join us. I view hiring as one of the most important (if not THE most important) duty in my role as the Dean of the division. The counseling faculty continue working toward CACREP accreditation. Division Faculty Meeting What a joy it was to learn abo...

February is for Flipping!!! Image Source:  http://www.edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Flipped.jpg I was inspired last week at the METC conference to consider flipping professional development. Tuesday's faculty/professional development meeting will be flipped. I look forward to seeing all full-time faculty members and adjunct faculty members are welcome to attend. If you can come to the meeting, please watch the following youtube  Flipped PD Screencast By watching the Flipped PD Screencast you will learn information prior to the meeting so we can build on that information and dig deeper into the topics discussed. Please bring a mobile device if you have one - smartphone, tablet, or laptop.  My objectives for our professional development Tuesday are: Participants will recognize the different components of the SAMR technology learning model. Participants will apply the SAMR model to existing teaching practices. Participants will observe and use n...

The MBU Mobile Learning Team (minus Alicia Noddings) METC Conference  The highlight of this week for me was presenting and participating in the METC - Midwest Educator Technology Conference. I learned a lot of information about how PK-12 schools are utilizing and integrating technology into their instruction. I also enjoyed working with Sharon Sumner, Sheri Brandes, Michael Broombaugh, and Tyler Pitts to present our mobile learning initiative. Our presence at conferences like this allows practicing educators and leaders in the area to recognize that MBU is working to stay current. Perhaps some of them may join us in our graduate programs. One of the slides in our presentation Keynote speakers Gwyneth Jones and Jaime Casap were fantastic! Amber Henry is all smiles! Sharon Sumner did a great job! It's hard to see but Bill Bass, Greg Lawrence, and Gina Hartman presented a Cool Tool Duel workshop. They are adjuncts in our MET program. I will be sharing ...

Today's Friday Memo will look a little different than other memos. I am going to focus on two main events I attended this past week. I hope you find the memo interesting and informational. Today I am reminded why we do what we do. I am in a public middle school observing administrators, teachers, and students. Dr. Mike Rutherford I am currently on a lunch break from an incredible opportunity to which I was invited. The Fort Zumwalt School District has been working with Dr. Mike Rutherford, author of The Artisan Teacher, for the last 18 months. Administrators and teachers have been learning and implementing strategies and tools for developing teachers and teaching in their district. Today Dr. Rutherford is presenting to a group of district administrators how to implement teaching studies as one of many possible feedback opportunities for teachers. Teaching Studies is a facilitated small group of teachers observing teachers. A Teaching Studies session involves approximately 4...