Georgia College John H. Lounsbury College of Education Fall 2014 Newsletter

John h. Lounsbury coLLege of education

NEWSLETTER faLL 2014

Building a Community

 3 Interim Dean’s Message

Building a Community John h. Lounsbury coLLege of education

4 Best Buddies in High School 5 Call Me MISTER

NEWSLETTER fall 2014 Interim Dean olufunke fontenot Interim Associate Dean craig smith Newsletter Coordinator Megan bowen Photos Megan bowen georgia college early college elizabeth holloway rebecca McMullen Joanne Previts runee sallad tim Vacula

6 Diversity in Education: Belize 8 We are all Teachers, Learners and Leaders 9 Preparing Educators

10 Learning Outside the Classroom: The Queensmill School 12 Mastering the Art of Research-Based Teaching 12 Incoming Potential 13 Honors, Recognitions and Awards 14 New Faculty and Staff 15 Take the Next Step

campus box 70 Milledgeville, ga. 31061

gcsu.edu/education university Printing | 10/2014

INTERIM DEAN’S MESSAGE

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he John h. Lounsbury college of education is excited to launch its inaugural newsletter. the plan is to publish two editions annually with a focus on the works of our students, staff, faculty and alumni, as well as our community partnerships. this inaugural edition is a showcase of initiatives by the college to promote diversity, experiential learning and college-community partnerships. students learn better when engaged and given the chance to relate theory with practice. the college of education provides abundant opportunities through its field placements, study abroad and pre-service field experience for students to be both engaged and serve their communities. the lessons learned reach beyond the student’s sojourn at georgia college. in the true liberal arts tradition-our students are prepared to be life-long learners. enjoy reading, and we welcome your feedback.

With very best wishes,

Olufunke A. Fontenot interim dean, John h. Lounsbury college of education georgia college october 2014

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elizabeth holloway ( far left)

Best Buddies s in High School

pecial education specialist (ed.s.) graduate elizabeth holloway, ’14, began the first high school chapters of best buddies international in georgia. holloway teaches academic subjects and vocational skills to 9-12th grade students with intellectual disabilities (id) at Mary Persons high school in Monroe county.

during her final year in the ed.s. program holloway discovered best buddies international (2014), a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (idd), during her research for social inclusion programs for students with disabilities. holloway quickly and successfully implemented the best buddies high school program during the 2013-2014 school year. the success of the best buddies high school program at Mary Persons was immediately obvious when over 125 students expressed an interest in becoming involved. a total of 55 members signed up for the inaugural

year of the program and many other high school students were involved with social activities supported by the organization. holloway feels that the best buddies Program is valuable for high school students because “the biggest reason people with id are not more socially included is because they simply don’t have the opportunity.

When students without disabilities have the opportunity to interact with their peers with id in high school they will be more likely to be involved with individuals with id beyond high school.” in february 2014, holloway reported her findings and successes of implementing the best buddies program at Mary Persons at the georgia council for exceptional children conference in savannah. teachers from across georgia gather at this annual conference. holloway stated that, “My hope is that the teachers that gather at this conference will go back to their school systems and start their own chapters.” holloway is currently supporting the development of the second best buddies high school Program at shaw high school in Muscogee county. ■

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MISTER

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he John h. Lounsbury college of education at georgia college is proud to be home to the only call Me Mister program in georgia. call Me Mister, an acronym for Mentors instructing students towards effective role Models, addresses the need for male teachers by providing support to young men interested in pursuing a degree in education.

“given that african-american males account for only 2 percent of teachers nationwide, the mission of call Me Mister is imperative toward pushing a paradigm shift in how we see educators, the subjects they teach and most importantly, the children being taught,” said emmanuel Little, program director. “i fully expect georgia college’s call Me Mister program to produce talented teachers who will become leaders for transformational change throughout school systems in the state of georgia.” interim dean of the college of education dr. olufunke fontenot, dr. rebecca McMullen and other gc faculty and staff championed the development of a call Me Mister program at georgia college. “the most exciting part of this is to see President dorman's diversity action Plan come to life. if we are successful, georgia college will be known for its contribution to increase the percentage of male teachers and teachers of color in our schools in georgia,” stated McMullen.

Middle grades senior, brandon crockett

the college of education is currently recruiting students, especially those among under-represented populations, focusing on african american males, and plans to welcome its first cohort of Misters in fall 2015. Misters accepted into the program will live together in a livinglearning community, receive financial assistance, a strong academic support system and support with job placements upon graduation. call Me Mister originated at clemson university in 2000 by dr. roy Jones, who remains the executive director. there are 18 participating colleges in south carolina and eight national partner institutions. ■

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D I V E R S I T Y IN EDUCATION:

Belize

summer 2014 study abroad participants on their ďŹ rst day at the bishop Martin school in san ignacio, belize.

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summer 2014 study abroad participants at Xunantunich

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he John h. Lounsbury college of education sent 15 students to central america this summer for the third annual diversity in education study abroad trip in san ignacio, belize. the program is co-directed by dr.

Lyndall Muschell and dr. Joanne Previts.

students began their summer adventure on main campus from May 12-15 preparing for their trip and learning about belizean culture and educational system. students prepared art-focused lessons that met the national standards they would teach at their host school upon arrival. on May 17, the group departed on their 16-day visit to central america. the group spent seven days at the bishop o.P. Martin rc Primary school in san ignacio.

Welcomed by smiling faces, signs and cheers, the gc group got right to work co-teaching the school students and leading professional development for the faculty and staff. dr. Lyndall Muschell, professor of early childhood education and faculty advisor for this trip stated, “the seven full days of classroom experience greatly enhance the students’ sense of understanding of culturally relevant teaching, student diversity and the governmental and economic influences on education.” danielle bishop, a sophomore pre-special education student, comments on the impact of this trip on her future teaching: “the bishop Martin students taught me

more than i taught them. they were always willing to share about their belizean culture and home lives, which made it easy to put myself in their shoes. as a future educator, this trip altered my teaching style to be more conservative and conscientious to take care of the resources i am given and work on being more creative and efficient in the classroom.”

When the students were not co-teaching, they spent their afternoons and weekends exploring the wonders of belize. in san ignacio, students visited the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich and cahal Pech, toured the diverse village of san ignacio, explored the Mennonite village located in spanish Lookout, learned about the decline of the Mayan civilization at actun tunichil Muknal and went zip lining over the canopy of the subtropical rainforest. the final portion of the trip took place in san Pedro, where students snorkeled on the longest barrier reef in the Western hemisphere, visiting the hol chan barrier reef reserve and shark ray alley. “this study abroad trip combines a great sense of adventure and cultural enrichment. the experience at the bishop Martin school along with the many excursions provides a range of opportunities to build confidence, gain knowledge and develop relationships. this is truly a life changing experience,” stated dr.

Muschell. ■

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   Teachers, Learners and Leaders

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ost middle and high school students spend their summers hanging out with friends and being carefree, but not the georgia college early college students. their drive and dedication has them coming into school all summer long. students took online college courses, provided or received summer assignment assistance, supported the steM academy and assisted in the office to prepare for next year. dr. runee sallad, principal of early college said she is “pleased that they have truly embraced the school motto: “We are all teachers, all learners and all leaders.” spencer Martin, Kameron collins, tre’Keria adams and chris Johnson took an english 1102 online course at gc this summer. each of these young men will enter their junior year of high school with six college credits. caitlyn thompson and hadleigh Wilson took an online psychology course from central georgia technical college. each of these young women will enter their junior year of high school with nine college credits. caitlyn and hadleigh also found time this summer to assist rising 8th graders, Lakebra Murchison and Zykerria harris, with their summer assignments. early college graduates chelyse abrams and Jasmine gray returned this summer to volunteer. they helped in the front office, cleaned up supply closets and supported the steM academy students and teachers during their summer camps. both will attend georgia college in the fall. abrams will study mass communication and gray will major in mathematics. georgia college early college is a 7th through 12th grade public educational institution that is located on gc's campus. early college is an alternative approach to the traditional middle and high school with partnerships among baldwin county and Putnam county schools, oconee resa (regional educational service agency) and the John h. Lounsbury college of education. early college's Legacy class began fall 2006 with an enrollment of 53 students, currently there are 220 students. early college prepares students to complete high school, gives them an opportunity to earn college credit, and assists them in becoming eligible for the hope scholarship .■

Top: brian Johnson of gMc and dayana Paz of gc early college Middle: Mya Mccoy and breonca ashley perform an experiment during steM camp.

Bottom: steM camp participants, Victoria young and dontrese Jones, share their findings with Johnny grant, director of economic development and external relations.

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Preparing Educators

sara simcox, retired educator and gc alumna, speaking to senior early childhood students about her experience in the classroom.

hirteen baldwin and Putman county teachers and one georgia college clinical faculty member participated in the first ever gc college of education host teacher training this summer. the host teacher training is an initiative of Prepare, a grant funded by the u.s. department of education, supporting improvement of special education teacher preparation. both baldwin and Putnam counties have partnered with the gc special education program in this initial work, but future plans are to expand the training to other partner school systems.

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placement and host teachers will be prepared to guide candidates in implementation.”

the host teacher training is designed to inform host teachers of program expectations, provide guidance for the role of mentoring and evaluation and support modeling of evidencebased practices. it is important for pre-service teachers to have well-trained, highly effective mentors during their clinical experiences. dr. amy childre, author of the Prepare grant and former gc professor of special education, stated, “host teachers will be prepared to more effectively mentor candidates and support them in completion of field-based assignments. candidates will see evidence-based practices they are learning through coursework modeled in

Patricia simmons, host teacher training participant, stated, “being aware of the topics that the students take classes on and discuss will help us better communicate with the student teachers in our classrooms.”

Participants completed one full day of training on campus on June 2, an optional half day training with gc’s instructional distance education and advanced services (ideas) on June 3 on how to use desire2Learn, the online platform for delivering instruction. the teacher participants then completed four online modules throughout the summer. the training was designed using a hybrid approach, in-person meetings and online course, to support sustainability and ease of access to the host teacher training.

georgia college, the college of education and the Prepare project are grateful to host teachers that are committed to improving our teacher education program. upon completing the host teacher training participants received a stipend and were eligible for Professional Learning units through gc continuing education. ■

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LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM:

The

Queensmill School John h. Lounsbury coLLege of education NEWSLETTER | 10

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n May of 2004, dr. craig smith, interim associate dean of the college of education, led his first study abroad trip to London. on that first trip smith and a group of education students visited three schools: the Jack tizard school for students with severe learning difficulties, a primary school in clapham Junction and the Queensmill school for students with autism. While at the Queensmill school a relationship blossomed between our students and the school and from that summer on the college of education has returned for the annual study and teach in London trip. the Queensmill school is a nursery, primary and secondary school for children with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder aged from 2-19 years old in hammersmith in west London. the school is led by head teacher Jude ragan, a strong advocate for the school who has been awarded an order of the british empire for her service to autism education. the school recently opened its new facility in the shepherd’s bush area of London, built to serve approximately 130 pupils drawn from the greater London area. a group of 14 pre-service teachers traveled to London during the summer of 2014. the students spent six full days at the Queensmill school experiencing the school’s culture and learning about autism. “the study abroad trip is life changing for the students,” said smith, “the first day the group is overwhelmed, wide-eyed, but by the second and third day they have claimed the students as ‘their own’ and spend their off days at the school.” along with the annual May trip, a three-week trip during spring semester was created in 2010. select special education seniors, who have been on the May trip, are encouraged to apply for this opportunity to complete three of their required nine weeks of students teaching at the Queensmill school. during this placement students are able to student teach and learn first hand through the clinical experience. “the benefits of the Queensmill experience to our university students go far beyond anything they experience in the united states. georgia college students are exposed to methods and techniques that not only work in the education of children with autism, but also are unique and tested in the field. time after time our partnership has demonstrated that the lessons learned from the staff and children at Queensmill carry over far beyond the physical time spent at the school to both enrich and enhance their own teaching practice upon graduation,” stated smith. ■

Opposite Top: samantha Jones, Monica Macklin, emily chatlen and Paola hinojosa, december 2013 study abroad in London.

Opposite Bottom: summer 2014 study abroad participants in front of the Queensmill school.

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Mastering the Art of Research-Based Teaching the 2014 Master of arts in teaching (M.a.t.) cohort created and is in the process of publishing an ebook, “Mastering the art of research-based teaching.” during the spring semester each of dr. cynthia alby’s 17 cohort students contributed a chapter from their concentration areas of art, english or a foreign language. each chapter contains a literature review of a teaching method of their choice and ends with a link to the cohort’s website, which houses detailed units based on the method presented. alby stated: “the goal of this ebook is to distill research into a single chapter for busy teachers and hopefully encourage them to make use of the units in their own classroom. We are also trying to promote the importance of research-based methods and strategies.” the concept for creating an ebook came from alby’s participation in the georgia college faculty development Workshop on ebook development. ■

dr. cynthia alby, bottom left, and dr. John h. Lounsbury, center, with the 2014 Mat cohort

INCOMING

Potential

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three incoming cohort students began pre-service early this summer by volunteering at the 2014 institute design for educating all students (ideas) conference on st. simons island from June 2-6. this annual conference, sponsored by the department of education division for special education services and support, georgia tools for Life and georgia council for exceptional children, offers a wide range of session topics and presentations for special education educators.

While volunteering at the conference, the college of education students were able to network and attend sessions. dr. rebecca McMullen, undergraduate special education program coordinator and junior mentor leader stated, “this is the first time we have had students volunteer to attend a conference before cohort orientation and classes. this speaks volumes about the work they are going to do when classes begin.”

Left to right – dr. rebecca McMullen, Lea brock, georgiana creamer, ashlyn Pyden, two students from georgia southern and georgia’s cec President, amy Zaring

Proudly representing georgia college at the summer 2014 ideas conference was ashlyn Pyden, Lea brock and georgiana creamer. ■

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College of Education Honors, Recognition and Awards Dr. JW Good, professor of educational leadership. good completed his services this June on the georgia council on the regional southern association of college and schools – council for accreditation and school improvement.

Dr. Cheryl G. Reynolds, professor of educational leadership. the georgia council of the regional southern association of colleges and schools elected reynolds as the representative of the council for higher education – council for accreditation and school improvement.

Stephen Stewart, associate professor of initial teacher preparation. stewart was awarded the outstanding educator award from the georgia retired educators association. “for his many years of exceptional service to baldwin county students and students of georgia college” by the baldwin county retired educators association and grea

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New College of Education Faculty

Staff

Dr. Thomas Caron - Literacy, reading and Language faculty dr. caron earned a Ph.d. from the university of Victoria, M.ed. from Western Washington university, Professional development teacher training from simon fraser university. before entering higher education, caron taught esL in rwanda, guadalajara, and shanghai, Prc. he comes to georgia college with several years’ of experience teaching reading research, children’s literature, portfolio assessment, language arts and assessment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. in the department of teacher education caron teaches courses in literacy education, acquisition, assessment, and intervention. his research interests include literacy teaching and learning, uses of children’s literature in teaching reading, and native american studies and culture. recent publications include “teacher educators teaching and Learning together” JoLt, 2011,“teaching writing as a con-artist: When is a writing problem not?” in college teaching, summer, 2008, and “teaching multiplication facts: the easy way!” published in the clearing house, summer, 2007, and the short story, Win or Lose in dark Valentine, i (2) 2010.

Katja Flachbarth – data base Manager Katja began her education journey as an international student at georgia college, where she graduated with a master in business administration degree in 2007. she went on to earn a master of science in accounting from strayer university in 2012. she previously worked at emory university and georgia gwinnett college. flachbarth is the database Manager at the college of education.

Dr. Hyun Song Kim – Library Media and instructional technology faculty dr. hyun Kim has been teaching courses in the Library Media/instructional technology program since august 2013. she joined the coe faculty in august 2014 as a full-time instructor. she has been in the field of instructional technology for the past 14 years. her b.s., M.a., and Ph.d. are in instructional technology, and she worked with several companies as an instructional designer. she recently completed her Ph.d. degree in the field of learning, design and technology from the university of georgia. hyun brings her successful experience in teaching undergraduates and graduates, combined with her working experience as an instructional designer and research background in evaluation of online learning environments, to her work at georgia college.

Emmanuel Little – director of call me Mister a native of Macon, georgia, emmanuel Little is a graduate of georgia college & state university, bachelor of art in mass communications 2007 and master in public administration 2010, and current doctoral student at the university of georgia’s institute of higher education. he is married to college of education alumna crystal Little, who currently teaches within the gc early college Program.

Little is extremely passionate about issues affecting historically marginalized communities; this passion informs his professional work as well as his scholarship concerning higher education. his current work as a higher education practitioner focuses on mentorship and educational programs for underrepresented students at both the P-12 and postsecondary levels as the director of call Me Mister and minority retention at gc. he is extremely excited to be a part of the college of education family!

Tina Scruggs – development officer originally from decatur, georgia, tina attended unc asheville and obtained a mass communication degree, as well as experience working in university advancement. scruggs is passionate about traveling and education, and enjoys hiking and baking in her spare time. scruggs is the college of education’s new development officer.

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TAKE THE NEXT STEP WITH A GRADUATE DEGREE IN EDUCATION FROM GEORGIA COLLEGE PROGRAMS Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education Master of Arts in Teaching in Special Education* Master of Education in Middle Grades Education (Coming Summer 2015 one year blended program) Master of Education in Early Childhood Education (Coming Summer 2015 one year blended program) Master of Education in Special Education* Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership (Online) Master of Education in Reading, Literacy and Language Master of Education in Secondary Education (Coming Summer 2015 one year completely on-line program) Master of Education Programs in Educational Technology—Instructional Technology (Online) Master of Education Programs in Library Media (Online) Specialist of Education with emphasis in (Coming summer 2015 completely on-line program) Early Childhood Education Middle Grades Education Secondary Education Specialist of Education in Special Education* Endorsement in Reading* Endorsement in ESOL* Non-Degree Library Media (S-5) Certification Program* (Online) *These programs contain blended courses which have some face-to-face meetings with the rest online.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: SHANDA BRAND COE Graduate Admissions Advisor shanda.brand@gcsu.edu 478-445-1383 Courses offered at the Milledgeville campus, Macon campus and online John h. Lounsbury coLLege of education NEWSLETTER | 15

John h. Lounsbury coLLege of education

NEWSLETTER faLL 2014

gcsu.edu/education