Reich College of Education

Meetings/Events

Kudos

Congratulations to Stephen White, Precious Mudiwa and Barbara Howard (LES) for the publication of their article “Spiritual Intelligence and Transformational Leadership: A New Theoretical Framework” in the Journal of Curriculum and Instruction (www.joci.ecu.edu).

Many thanks to Kathy Howell and Dolly Farrell for the arrangements that made Education Day on Saturday so successful; the children who attended as part of the Mountaineer Readers Program had a wonderful time and will never forget their moment in the spotlight at halftime when they were introduced to 35,000 people. Our thanks as well to the ASU Athletic Department for collaborating with us on this successful program.

Celebration of International Education Week

The university will be sponsoring a number of activities during International Education Week, Nov. 16-20. The RCOE International Activities Committee is sponsoring a number of activities itself during this time. For example, on the second floor of Duncan, you will find a display put together by Eric Groce (C&I) and some of his students to remind us visually of the importance of global perspectives. On Friday, Nov. 13, Antoinette Sithole, Curator of the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto, South Africa, sponsored by OIED, Teaching Fellows and the RCOE IAC will make a presentation from 11-12, Rm. 03—open to the university community.

To address the International Week theme "Sowing Seeds of Peace," a panel discussion with cross-cultural perspectives on peacebuilding and education will be held on November 17 at 4 pm on Room 03 sponsored by the RCOE International Activities Committee. The panelists will include Malanka Motlhoioa, a mathematics instructor from South Africa currently teaching at Watauga High School; Arshad Bashir, a Fulbright Scholar from Pakistan and RCOE doctoral student; and Vachel Miller, assistant professor in the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership. The panelists will reflect on the potential and challenges of education as a tool of peacebuilding in their countries. Panel is open to the university community.

The Office of International Education and Development (OIED) would like to invite the campus community to attend the 5th Annual International Fair!

When: Wednesday, November 18 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Where: Grandfather Mountain Ballroom, Plemmons Student Union

The International Fair will introduce students to nearly 60 newly approved faculty-led study abroad programs offered in over 30 countries for this academic year! This is a great opportunity for students interested in gaining a short-term international experience to meet one on one with faculty leaders! The International Fair will also feature representatives of other study abroad opportunities and international ventures available to students, faculty and staff at Appalachian. Free refreshments will be served!

For more information about short-term faculty-led Appalachian Overseas Education Programs, please go to:

http://www.international.appstate.edu/education/shortterm.php

For more information about other events organized during International Education Week at Appalachian, please go to:

http://www.international.appstate.edu/events/iew.php

On Nov. 20, the RCOE Doctoral Program will be presenting a panel of doctoral students discussing doctoral studies and international education and the connections with the global community.

SALT Grants Awarded

The review of submitted SALT grants has resulted in 21 awards; this number represents the highest number of awards since we started the program four years ago; this year 50 faculty, staff and adjuncts, 30 classroom teachers, and 100 students (university and public school) will be involved in these grant activities. Congratulations to the recipients and we look forward to the outcomes of these projects contributing to research in the field as well as strengthening curricula in the college as well as across campus.

Establishing Reading Groups

The RCOE Diversity Committee annually selects books for reading discussions related to issues of diversity; the committee has been doing this for several years now; such topics as gender, racism, special needs, sexual preference, etc. have informed past choices. The Committee has chosen several fiction books that deal with issues of immigration and social justice for possible reading in Spring semester. Attached you will find four suggested titles (book-choices-spring-2010.pdf) with brief reviews for your consideration. If you are interested in reading and discussing any of these selections with colleagues during second semester, please contact Precious Mudiwa (LES) mudiwap@appstate.edu with your first and second choice by November 20. The committee will select the final titles based on your response. The books will be purchased and be available at the beginning of second semester. Details about the formation of groups will be available at that time as well. Reading groups set their own schedule and conduct their own discussions; groups usually number 4-6 and include staff, faculty and interested students.

APA Style Manual not so Stylish

The much heralded new edition of the APA Style Manual seems not to have had as much style as might have been expected. Someone obviously had a good deal of time on his or her hands and combed through the new 6th edition and found at least 83 editorial slips in 264 pages. These are to be found in the first printing (July 2009) of the 6th edition; whether or not corrections will be made before additional printings occur remains to be seen. In the meantime, the graduate school will accept either the 5th or the 6th APA formatting editions through May, but programs may require the new guidelines immediately if desired. Just be aware if you are preparing a manuscript for publication, you may be incorporating an error without knowing it. If you are particularly curious and want to know what and where the errors are, let me know and I will send you the list.

Response to Federal Initiatives

The Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has been making a number of speeches lately about teacher education, some reasonably positive, others not so positive. As a result, the media has picked up on his views and are generating some interesting responses; see, for example, the following: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/opinion/02engel.html

The Book Is Dead

Much conversation is occurring about the demise of books as the major conveyor of knowledge and entertainment; Kindle readers and other devices appear to be making substantial headway in delivering print in electronic format as opposed to the beautiful bindings and paper that have marked the printing industry for many years. A spoof of all this, which you may have seen, can be viewed at YouTube.

Book Technology

Ponderisms

Although we tend to think of English as being “the” language, it does have its quirks, little oddities that often confuse those who try to learn English as a second language. We might call these oddities, “ponderisms”; give them some thought; feel free to suggest others we might ponder.

• Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?
• If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?
• If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
• Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
• Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?
• Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
• Why do "tug" boats push their barges?
• Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there?
• Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting?

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