A few pics of the past holiday moments and looking ahead to 2013

So thankful for all my blessings.  These are just a few of life's most important moments the past couple of months.  This last photo says it all!  I wish love, happiness and confidence for ALL children in 2013.

Dee Holmes- ESU faculty member

Association of Teacher Educators
The Association of Teacher Educators acknowledges the school as the principal environment for advancing
effective teaching as teachers acquire new skills and practice them in the clinical setting of the classroom.
ESU received the 2002 award for Distinguished Research in Teacher Education for the Multicultural/
Diversity Assessment Project, a multi-year project that developed valid assessments for measuring how well
students learned multicultural/diversity content knowledge.
The award for the Distinguished Program in Teacher Education honors outstanding teacher education
programs that exemplify collaboration between local education agencies and institutions of higher
education. ESU received the 2008 award for its partnership with the Olathe School District in the Olathe
Professional Development Schools.
The award for the Distinguished Clinician in Teacher Education honors school-based teacher educators
whose work helps teachers become better at what they do. Dee Holmes received the 2009 award for
university faculty. Dee is highly respected by students, faculty, mentor teachers, and principals for her
diligent efforts to produce the highest quality elementary teachers.

This is a post I copied from the Legacy page of ESU with some of the accomplishments of ESU Teachers College.  Besides contacting Dr. Weaver I have also added Dee Holmes to my list as well.  The paragraph about the partnership with the Olathe School District is a big part of my masters and finding distinguished role models is essential.

Dr. Ken Weaver named dean of Emporia State University's Teacher College

In moving forward with my project I found it necessary to seek out a top program in the state that has a history of excellence in orchestrating a partnership between Emporia State education majors and USD #253.  The dean of our education department at Central Christian personally knows Dr. Ken Weaver, dean of ESU Teachers College and Dr. Allen has given his blessing to get going on my project with ESU.

My hope is to develop an improved substainable pilot partnership between CCC education students and an elem. school in McPherson.  I'm excited to set up my first visit in the near future with Dr. Weaver and his staff of professors.

Here are a couple of quotes from the website:

"Emporia State's Teachers College is recognized by the US Department of Ed. as one of only three models for teacher education.  It recently earned reaccreditation from NCATE, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Ed."

As the new dean of The Teachers College, Dr. Ken Weaver looks forward to engage our students, faculty, staff and alumni as well as our P-12 partners in USD 253 and throughout the state, our community and elected officals to create new opportunities for excellence.

When checking out the link below you'll learn he is currently president of the Kansas Association of Colleges for Teacher Ed. and has written more than 50 articles etc.

Please check out the attached link.

http://www.emporia.edu/news/05/17/2012/dr-ken-weaver-named-dean-of-emporia-state-university-s-teachers-college/?

Creating a Culture of "Can"

Does the post title catch your attention?  I hope so.  I don't see many followers on my blog and I need and appreciate your input pro or con.

I felt the information shared in this blog is aligned with what each one of us in this group is trying to develop as productive changes in our education system for each student's success.

I sure like the model..."show me, help me, let me."

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-a-culture-of-can-terrell-heick

Mentorship: Teaching the Teachers

Interesting article pertaining to my focus and critical issue in sharing my previous teaching experiences and expertise I had acquired throughout the years from many professionals.  I have found out that the number of students I mentor and supervised during my elem. career was a lot of work, time and planning, but the outcome to improve myself and learn from my student teacher was a win-win for my individual students.   In the case of a practicum or clinical teacher the classroom teacher takes on additional time to coach, direct and give feedback from given assignments.

Part of my role at the higher education level is to find schools that have an administrator and highly qualified instructor willing to take a risk and give the upcoming candidate a chance to learn what it takes to be prepared for their role as an educator in the 21st century.

I'd appreciate your feedback if you have been a mentor, a host classroom to a practicum or clinical student teacher.  Feel free to express pros and cons.

Please take a look at this link.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teach-the-teachers-shira-loewenstein

I'm thankful for the F2F structure to our masters class last week.   It was a new structure to be upstairs and sharing as individuals.  What a nice way to start class by taking meaningful time to hear each of us share our joys and to learn more about each one another.  PRICELESS!!

The coaching I received from Mark last Wed. forced me to evaluate the things that I need to improve as a director of the elem. ed. department at CCC.  There's a lot more to it than just teaching methods classes.  I'm taking a lot of pride and responsibility to the outcome for each student in our department.  Thanks, Mark, for getting me back on track when my mind is going so many different directions with my goals for higher education students.  It's a whole different exciting chapter instructing and preparing some of our future teachers.

One thing I've accomplished was to talked to Dr. Allen and received a detailed plan of my teaching responsibilities for January and second semester.  The beauty is the allowance to use what is in place the first go around and then build my own syllabus to reflex best practices for higher education majors.

One of my assignments is to teach Educational Psychology.  Any of you recent graduates that would like to share your experience in higher ed. with this subject, please blog to me about it.  Mark wanted to know last week if I was familiar with Google Scholar and I wasn't, so that one suggestion has been helpful.  I'm sure most of you are aware, but if not take a look.

Here's a snapshot of this site:
http://www.psyedu.ru/eng/journal/2008/2/Mitina.phtml

Never say it won't happen to me

I think there was another reason for the nasty fall I took on the evening of Oct. 23rd other than to experience the pain of facial fractures and learn I would need surgery to put my left eye orbit and cheek (olfactory) bones back as plates and screws.  Knowing the major surgery I was going through on the outside of my eye and the inner gum/cheek flesh was the only choice I had or suffer the consequence of life without these bones on the left side of my face.  I know what I've been through is minor in comparison to many others, but it has changed my life in many ways since that evening.  It took 5 seconds to decide whether I had suffered a severe brain injury or instant death from the impact, but I believe God let me know that you don't take anything for granted and never forget to have things in order each day of your life. 

My husband was my knight in shining armor throughout this entire ordeal,  McPherson's ER did an exceptional job when we arrived, no words can show my appreciation to Dr. Gaddert, Dr. Garcia and all the other staff that assisted with my surgery.  My left temple, eye and cheek were severely damaged, but with up to date technology and exemplary surgical staff I'm getting back to the new normal.  This reminds me of the importance of our education system and the powerful influence we have on our future professional.  I wonder who influenced these surgeons to dedicate their lives to repair someone face in my case?  Who work with microscopic instruments to repair the smallest or bones and avoids destroying your facial nerves.

During the first few days of my recovery it forced me to be quiet, which gave me the time to reflect my decision to take advantage of qualifying for early retirement from the public system to make the decision to become a college professor and enroll in this first graduate masters program at the age of 56 years old.  What I found was the love, patience and graciousness of Central Christian College and my graduate instructors and classmates at MC.   During this ordeal I have confirmed my belief that I have made the right direction with my professional change and understand the sacrifice with my family time (grandma of 4...ages 20 mts. to 6 years) in order to be of better service to my college students.  I did listen, Mark,  and I'm using my list to guide my project.  It might not be anything earth shattering, but that will come later.

"Life Chances" and "Pygmalion Effect"

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a statement or prediction that influences actions and thoughts to the extent that it becomes true. There are many examples in literature, movies, and real life of self-fulfilling prophecies that are negative in nature. These cautionary tales show how powerful of an effect belief can have in determining how our lives unfold. The good news is that not all self-fulfilling prophecies have to be negative. In fact, they can actually be very positive and vastly improve your life. There are two main determining factors that affect what will ultimately happen in your own life's course of events: what you choose to believe and how strongly you believe it.



You may not realize it, but you have the power to create your very own self-fulfilling prophecy. You have always had this power inside you, and you have been using it unconsciously all along to create the life you have right now. It is the power of belief. Henry Ford summed up how powerful belief is when he said, "Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."



Whether your beliefs about yourself and your abilities are predominately positive or negative will play a big part in how your life turns out. If you have a generally positive belief in yourself and your abilities, then you will have a much easier time being calm and confident no matter what situations you might encounter. Any short term losses or failures will not bother you and will be seen as learning experiences. You will be much more open and receptive to opportunities as they present themselves because you will not be dwelling on your failures or perceived shortcomings.

The above information was copied from a google search titled "Pygmalian Effect in Education".

I believe that understanding and applying the pygmalian effect theory in our daily work with students will produce positive outcomes for all students.  Pre-K-12 requires each adult working in education hold the belief that every child needs to be challenged and guided to a successful outcome.  The research confirms that positive teacher expectations, particularly for younger children, will increase student achievement. 

One of the affirmation posters in my elem. classroom, now located in my higher education classroom says, "See 10's" it's a wonderful visual reminder that as a higher ed. instructor I have high stakes to guide these young adults in the field of education.

In conclusion, ten out of 10 CCC May education graduates are all currently teaching in a public or Christian school.

SEE 10'S and walk the walk with ALL your students!

Life Happens

Hey gang,

Just wanted to give you an update about what happened when Dell and I went for a walk last Tuesday evening.  It was about 7:45pm in the evening and we do our best to take a nightly walk to do something healthy and share our thoughts.  We were walking on the sidewalk in front of the Catholic church headed north and I was chatting away about my day at the college and then SMACK!!!  My foot had caught a high crack on the sidewalk and all I remember is hearing my left side of my face hit the concrete.  There was no time to slow the impact with my hands so the left side of my face down my rib cage and finally my left knee were damaged in this fall.

Neither one of us had a cell phone so Dell was able to get me to my feet and I was able to walk with his help and made it back to the house and headed to the ER.  The ER doctor started IV pain meds immediately and after a CT scan and x-rays we were given permission to head home and told to follow up with other doctors on Wed.  At this point, they knew I had fracture some bones in my left cheek.

I'm scheduled to have facial surgery on Thurs., Nov. 1 to plate and pin my cheek bones together.  I'm getting my teeth checked tomorrow to make sure I didn't damage them and I continue to suffer with a left side of painful ribs.  UGH!

It was ironic that on Monday I had been visiting with a student about the key "This Is It" and was coaching and supporting her through some rough problems.  Now, I'm trying not to question "WHY ME" "WHY NOW" I have plenty on my plate right now, but life happens.  

This accident took a few seconds to happen and I feel fortunate that the outcome wasn't worse.  It's a reminder that life happens and there are many "special" people that have a heart for others in this community.

I'm sorry I won't be able to attend Friday's field trip to Walton School.  I was excited to see this school in action.  I'm sure it's going to be amazing.

A Vision of Students Today

Found this youtube clip to be interesting.  The comments I'm hearing from higher ed. professors is the lack of critical thinking and problem solving among our college students.  This video shows a lot of frustration on the part of this student body.  Is higher ed. doing its part in making changes to adapt to the 21st century of teaching?  Is Dr. Mark's structure of MC's first graduate class unique or is this approach right for only a minority of graduate students?  I hear a lot of comments from others who say they learned so much from a traditional masters program.  What are you sharing with others about your experience in this program?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

This link caught my attention with my shift from a classroom elem. 4th grade teacher to a position of Director of Elem. Ed. at Central Christian College.
Please share your opinion about where higher education is headed in the future.  At the present time, the online classes at CCC are growing and the traditional full time students are decreasing.  One main concern you hear over and over from students is the financial burden of a traditional college education.
Would love to hear your opinion.

As K-12 Classrooms Go High-Tech, Colleges Get More Virtual

My grandbabies..four of our future students!!

The four reasons I continue to be so passionate about our educational system.  I know any other loving/caring parents or grandparents want the BEST individuals serving our education system.  There is no great profession in the world.