Meetings/Events

Sympathy

The RCOE community extends its sympathy to David Considine and his family; David’s mother recently passed away.

Many thanks to all who planned and to all who attended the memorial service for Janet Bloodgood on Tuesday, Oct. 23; there was standing room only in 03. The service led by Alice Naylor (LRE) was a fitting tribute to Janet, and I think she would have particularly appreciated the tributes from some of her former students. The family of Janet Bloodgood would appreciate hearing from friends and colleagues of Janet’s; letters and cards may be sent to Susan Williams, 1053 Belridge Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309-4717 and they will be shared with all family members.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions to the Janet W. Bloodgood Endowment for Reading and Children’s Literature which the family has established at Appalachian State University. From this endowment, $500 annually will go to the LRE department for purchase of materials and children’s literature for use in the Janet W. Bloodgood Reading Room of the Reading Clinic. In addition, a $1,000 scholarship will be awarded this year and thereafter for a graduate student (full or part-time) with demonstrated financial need who is enrolled in the Master’s of Reading Program. Contributions may be made to the Appalachian State University Foundation marked for the Bloodgood Endowment. Further information regarding contributions can be obtained from Ms. Dolly Farrell, RCOE Advancement Officer (farrelldm@appstate.edu; A contribution form found can be found linked to our home page.

Congratulations

Kudos to the following staff members who were recently recognized for their years of service to ASU; Twenty years–Barbara Calderwood and Mary Keller; Fifteen Years–Terry McClannon; Ten years–Margaret Hardin; Five years–Diana Barbee and Regina Parnell. Many thanks for all you do!

Three programs went through a special DPI review this week: Special Education, Communication Disorders, and Instructional Technology. The DPI reviewers were with us for two days looking at evidence related to the program and its graduates. We are pleased to report that the visit appeared to go well; final reports from the reviewers will be sent to us in the near future. Special thanks to Doris Jenkins, Associate Dean, and staff members Elaine Berry and Tammy Gelderman as well as graduate assistants Peter Arnold, Emily Haibeck, and Abigail Riley for organizing the visit’s logistics and insuring that all materials were readily available to reviewers; special thanks as well to the RCOE Technology staff, and to Amy Cheney (LES), Monica Lambert (LRE) and Donna Brown (LRE) for their work as program coordinators and preparers and to program faculty and students who participated in interviews.

Uberto Price Symposium

This year’s Price Reading Symposium had to be re-scheduled. The symposium will now be held on Friday, November 2, 9:45-12 in the Broyhill West Room at the Broyhill. Dr.Charles Perfetti, Professor of Psychology and Senior Scientist and Associate Director of the Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh will be discussing his research. His presentation will focus on his latest paper, Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension, an expansion and adaptation of his classic book, Reading Ability (1985). A light fare reception will follow at 4 p.m. in Duncan Hall 02. Program is open to all interested parties.

Meet the Maasai

The RCOE International Activities Committee is pleased to offer its first brownbag luncheon seminar of the year—pizza and drinks available–from 12-1 in 03 on Thursday, Nov. 1; Lynn Mansure, a visiting professor from Kenya, where she lived for four decades, will discuss the Maasai tribe of Kenya. Despite numbering less than half a million, the Maasai are perhaps Kenya’s most famous ethnic group. Prior to the arrival of the British, the Maasai and their cattle roamed over a vast expanse of what would become Kenya but a century later, they occupy only a quarter of their former grazing lands. Their previously nomadic way of life was designed to protect the environment and ensure the health of both livestock and human beings but these days, they are increasingly squeezed into a small area with detrimental consequences. The Maasai system of governance is the rule by a council of elders. A man becomes an elder after serving for a number of years as a warrior. The council is the final authority in disputes and tries to enforce the moral values of the community. Not all Maasai, however, live a traditional life. Some are highly educated but they still maintain contact with their more traditional counterparts.

United Streaming

Some faculty have used United Streaming, the video service, this past year. Our license is about to run out, and we are interested in the level of use and access that you may be interested in having for this resource; please communicate with Jeff Goodman (C&I) if you would like to see this license renewed; it would be helpful if you indicate how you propose to use the resource this coming year; if you are unfamiliar with this resource, which is available to teachers in many of our schools, check with Jeff; he will be happy to give you a demo.

SALT Grants Awarded

Response this year to the call for SALT grants was strong as usual with some very interesting and innovative proposals; although not all were funded, all proposal developers have been informed of the status of their proposals. Those faculty who were funded need to remember that SALT grants are run just like a regular grant with the principal investigator responsible for observing deadlines, completing forms, submitting appropriate paperwork in a timely way, etc. We do not initiate any of the paperwork through my office; all requests for drawing on funds must flow through the appropriate department and then come to the Dean’s office. Guidelines for accessing funds, etc., have been provided to each awardee. We look forward to seeing the results of these projects in May 2008.

Jordanian Visitor

Ismail Al-Akras is visiting Boone, NC as part of a Fulbright Administrator Exchange Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. In Jordan, Mr. Al-Akras is a principal of a secondary school for boys in North Marka. He will be working with principals Angel Quick at Watauga High School and Mary Smalling at Hardin Park as well as visiting at ASU and speaking at a forum at the Reich College of Education on Nov. 15th in Duncan Hall 03 at 6:30 p.m. Students, staff, faculty, and teachers are welcome.

"Jordan: Contemporary Societal Issues & Schooling Practices" - An open forum & panel discussion welcoming all university and community members. Join us for an opportunity to engage in an informal dialogue with visiting Fulbright educators from Jordan, Mr. Ismail Al-Akras, and Mr. Salim Al-Abia who is a Fulbright scholar studying and teaching at ASU for the 2007-08 year, as well as ASU’s own Islamic scholar, Dr. Curtis Ryan, as they compare and contrast current Jordanian societal issues & educational practices with those of the U.S.

Lilly Conference

UNC-Greensboro will host the Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching February 8-10, 2008 in Greensboro, NC at the Koury Convention Center. Last year, 256 individuals attended the conference representing 60 different institutions scattered across the United States and 4 other countries. This is a very good and widely well respected conference—and it is in our backyard!.

Lilly Conferences are retreats that combine workshops, discussion sessions, and major addresses, with opportunities for informal discussion about excellence in college and university teaching and learning. Internationally-known scholars join new and experienced faculty members and administrators from all over the world to discuss topics such as gender differences in learning, incorporating technology into teaching, encouraging critical thinking, using teaching and student portfolios, implementing group learning, and evaluating teaching. The 2008 Conference theme is “Learning by Design.” Additional information about the conference is available at http://www.uncg.edu/tlc/lillysouth/ The deadline for proposal submission is November 16th, 2007 and proposals may be submitted at https://utlc.uncg.edu/conference/lillysouth/form.jsp

Shift Happens

You may have seen a little underground video called "Shift Happens"? The presentation, originally done by a Denver high school teacher for a faculty assembly, went viral and has now been viewed by 5 million people (Senator Burr showed the original version to the Board of Governors at their last meeting). Anyway, the thing has become so popular that someone has spiffed up the graphics and turned it into an intentional conversation starter on school reform. It looks slicker now, has fewer facts and they took out the cool Irish music. But, dependent on your needs it might be more useful to you as a presentation. Access from the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

An even more focused piece is the one an NCSU student did for UNC Tomorrow (http://www.nctomorrow.org/), also available for your viewing pleasure and instructional use on the UNCT website or on YouTube. I commend both for your viewing and reflecting.

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“Change is a Journey, not a Destination.”
—M. Fullan