College of Education Newsletter

Dia dhuit (Hello in Irish Gaelic),

As most of you know, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the MiTE conference in Galway, Ireland recently. I was stuck by the recurring themes discussed by the participants who came from 23 countries. Over and over, people talked about finding new ways to engage college students and P-12 children, the need for professional development beyond the "sit-and-get" method, embracing children from underrepresented populations, respect and celebration of diversity, and how mobile technologies allows us to teach and learn without boarders. I was humbled by the experience and return even more committed to global education.

I hope each of you gets an opportunity to attend a workshop or conference this year that will inspire you to recommit yourself to your work and your dreams. In the spirit of my visit to Ireland, here is a quote from Oscar Wilde, "Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

Vicki Groves-Scott

The Department of Leadership Studies held its New Student Orientation on Saturday, January 13, 2018. Students from the department's graduate programs learned about Blackboard and Collaborate sessions as well as the requirements for each of their respective programs. Approximately 65 students attended.

The 2017-2018 travel grants were awarded to the following COE faculty: Dr. Na Mi Bang, Leadership Studies; Dr. Alicia Cotabish, Teaching & Learning; Dr. Valerie Couture, Leadership Studies; and Dr. Nykela Jackson, Teaching & Learning. Each faculty member received $500 to attend a conference to present their research.

Dr. Bang will present her paper, The Professional Development of International Students: Implications for Counselors, at the ACA Conference in April. Dr. Cotabish will present her paper, The Comparison of Instructional Practices Between Virtually and Traditionally Supervised Teacher Candidates in their Culminating Internship, at the ATE Conference in February. Dr. Couture will present her paper, Stepping Away from the Screen: Service Learning in an Online Counseling Program, at the ACA Conference in April. Dr. Jackson will present her paper, Teacher Candidates’ Sense of Self-Efficacy Toward Classroom Management: An Exploration of Teacher Educators’ Implementation of Differentiated Instruction, at the AERA Conference in April.

Congratulations to these well-deserving faculty members.

With the mission "Each child deserves an inspirational teacher," Sanford Inspire provides teacher education programs and school districts with research-based knowledge, tools, and practices to empower educators to create inspiring classrooms for all students.

The Sanford Inspire program invited the UCA College of Education to join the Sanford Education Collaborative last summer and since then has provided resources and support to help us spread this mission. Through on-demand modules, teacher candidates and practicing teachers can gain new tools and strategies to improve their teaching. Each module describes essential knowledge and skills and then demonstrates how to put the information into practice. These resources are being used in both undergraduate and graduate classrooms at UCA as well as serving as an integral part of the College's novice teacher induction support program.

These on-demand modules are available free to anyone. Visit modules.sanfordinspire.org to learn more.