Presidential Weekend, Spring 2004 - February 13, 2004, Education Department Newsletter, Eastern Connecticut State University

A quote from Professor Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot, author of The Essential Conversation:

"Every time parents and teachers come together in the classroom, their conversations are shaped by their own stories, unconscious replays of childhood experiences. The parents sit facing the teacher in the chairs that their children inhabit each day, and they begin to feel the same way they felt when they were students—small and powerless. When teachers offer observations and evaluations of their students, they are often using values and frameworks carved out of their own childhood experiences. Adults come together prepared to focus on the present and the future of the child, but instead feel themselves drawn back into their own pasts, visited by the ghosts of their parents, grandparents, and former teachers. I believe that communication between parents and teachers is enhanced when there is an awareness and consciousness of these ghosts but that they should never overwhelm the focus on the immediate moment in the child’s life."

quoted at http://warriorweb0.tripod.com/currentnews/voiceofboice.htm

Please welcome Ms. Fran Tremblay as our department secretary until at least Commencement.
Ms. Tremblay has served at Eastern for twenty years next week - congratulations! - in the Learning Center and has been an integral part of the coordination of the STEP/CAP program for 18 years.

1) Departmental Unit meetings - Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 12:30 am - 2 pm, Webb Hall 115

General Education requirements for certification programs - 6 credits in English, above College Writing??, mathematics requirements

3) Diversity Seminar, Thursday, May 13, 1 - 4, Betty Tipton Room - please announce this event in your classes.

The 4th Annual Excellence Expo will be the School’s best exhibition of student excellence ever!

The School of Education and Professional Studies will be celebrating its 4th Annual Excellence Expo on Wednesday, April 28, 2004, from 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in campus venues to be announced at the beginning of Spring Semester 2004. The format of the Expo has been significantly enhanced:

•    Poster sessions (i.e., research posters, professional business posters)
•    PowerPoint sessions
•    Demonstrations
•    Portfolio presentations
•    All Ears Radio Theatre
•    Gallery-style shows (e.g.. photography)

All sessions will be juried; all student participants will be formally recognized (i.e., acknowledgement of the quality and significance of their “presentations”). The Expo committee comprised of Drs. Bob Horrocks and Frank Hendrick (HPE), Dr. Delar Singh (EDU), Drs. Edmund Chibeau and Terri Toles-Patkin (COM), Dr. Ken Parzych (ECO), and Dr. Chiaku Ndu (BUS) have developed poster session guidelines, effective PowerPoint strategies, and judging criteria. Each faculty member will receive a packet of information regarding the Expo for distribution to students at the beginning of the spring semester.

5) Please welcome Mr. James J. Mello as our newly appointed University Assistant for the Committee on Admissions and Retention in Education. His desk will be in the Education Department main office in Webb Hall 124. Mr. Mello is a retired Kelly Middle School (Norwich) social studies and science teacher, a Sayles Elementary School (Baltic) 7th and 8th grade teacher, and has served as a university supervisor within our student teaching programs. He is a graduate of Eastern CSU with MS degrees in Language Arts and Social Studies, and BS in Education. Jim is also a veteran and is on reserve duty currently. Welcome, Jim.

a) Please contact David Stoloff for more information on serving as a BEST Program Portfolio Scorer.

b) Message from Pat Kucharski - The Office of the Dean has a color HP DeskJet printer available for each of your departments. Who would like it?

7) Message from Hope Marie Cook, Curriculum Center Librarian, J. Eugene Smith Library

The Curriculum Center Computer Lab is available for use for Spring 2004. Please contact Ms. Cook for reservations.

Benjamin Carter Gwinnell was born on Friday, November 28, 2003 at 2:57 p.m. 8lbs3.5oz, 20.5 inches.

Call for Graduate News -

A request from Institutional Research -
Please share news about the plans of graduating seniors.
If they are going on to graduate school, please provide the graduate's name, undergraduate major,
graduate university, location (city, state), field of study and degree program sought, and any information
on scholarships and/or fellowships.
If they have been accepted for employment positions, please provide the graduate's name,
undergraduate major, company, location (city, state), position, salary.
Please email the information to David, who will compile it for the department. Thanks.

Research and Creativity Activities
chronicling the ongoing progress of the Education Department at Eastern Connecticut State University

departmental searches pending approval -
full-time tenure track faculty members to start in Fall 2004
in Learning and Teaching,
Reading/Language Arts, and for a Director of Educational Experience

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Please contact David Stoloff at (860) 465-5501, email: stoloffd@easternct.edu if you have any questions or comments on this newsletter. Please invite others to receive this newsletter and be added
to the Education Department e-mailing list by contacting David Stoloff.