December 2008 Chalkboard by Jenny Witcher

PROJECT BRIDGE TO ACHIEVEMENT

The Chalkboard Cohort 7 Intern Completes the Chicago Marathon! Jennifer Plumley, a cohort 7 intern, ran in – and completed! – the Chicago Bank of America Marathon on October 12th, 2008. More than just a personal accomplishment, Jennifer ran to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Jennifer served as a mentor for and trained with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society “Team in Training.” She says, “We had group trainings every Saturday, which was very motiviating – especially during those 18 mile runs!” Jennifer has been running (she likes to think of herself as more of a jogger) for approximately 10 years. She says, “I enjoy exercising outside and jogging fits in perfectly. Running has been very therapeutic for me. I am certainly not the fastest runner, but I like getting outside and doing something good for myself. I would encourage everyone to treat their bodies to a walk, jog or run.” Jennifer chose to run the Chicago Marathon because she heard from fellow runners that it’s a good first marathon experience: “It is relatively flat and there are 1.5 million spectators. The spectators were unbelievable! It would have been a much tougher

race without the enthusiastic fans.” As far as marathon running is concerned, Jennifer says that, “I believe I have completed my first and last marathon. I wanted to do one to see what it was like. It is a huge time commitment that is worth it; however I think I will go back to

Jennifer in Chicago running Mini-Marahons.” Jennifer’s motivation to complete the marathon extended far beyond herself: “Running a marathon was a huge accomplishment for me; however, what made it even more touching was working with Team in Training. Raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was extremely rewarding. The disease

has touched me and my family personally and I wanted to give back in some way. If I was having a rough run or did not want to get out of bed to run, I thought about those brave women, men, and children that are fighting a much harder battle and I was able to persevere.” Jennifer would like to encourage others to get involved in running, not only for the obvious health benefits but for the service opportunities it can provide: “There are various running clubs throughout Indiana. I would highly recommend getting involved with Team in Training. For information, contact The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at 317-7262275 or http:// www.teamintraining.org/. I would encourage others to try to couple exercising with a great cause. I wanted to contribute to help find a cure for Leukemia and I did not know how to do it. I am not a doctor nor a researcher, so I felt assisting and raising money for Team in Training was the best way for me to assist. It makes exercising much more worth it!”

D ECEMBER 20 08 V OLUME 6 , ISSUE 5

Teacher Tips: From NEA: Works for me, http://www.nea.org N AM I N G C A N E S "Since the holidays are approaching, I purchased a box of gourmet candy canes for my class. I mixed them up and gave one to everyone. After a brief taste test, the students wrote a descriptive paragraph describing the flavor and created a new name for the candy cane. For example, peppermint was renamed 'Christmas Snow' and cinnamon was called 'Santa's Hat'. They finished their candy canes while they wrote, and I played holiday music in the background." From Deborah Carswell, a teacher at Piedmont Lakes Middle School in Apopka, Florida:

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: December

Calendar Holiday

Fun! Santa Comes

To Town Culture

Corner Indianapolis

Civic Theatre Intern Profile

D E CE MBE R 20 0 8

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December 2008 Sun

Mon

Wed

Thu

Fri

Solo Teaching Phase-Out

Last Day with

Class at Marian

“The Job Search” and Exit Interviews

Class at Marian

Winter

Break

until

1/5/09

!!!

10amnoon

Tue

Schedule of Events Happy Holidays!

Sat 6

Mentor Teacher

ü December 1 — Twelve nations, including the U.S., signed a treaty making Antarctica a scientific preserve, free of military activity, 1959 ü December 5 — International Volunteer Day

8am-4pm

ü December 9 — 3.6-millionyear-old skeleton of early human found in South Africa, 1998 ü December 12 — Edvard Munch (artist) born, 1863 ü December 15 — Canada adopted its national flag, 1964

ü December 19 — Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was published, 1843 ü December 22 — Hannukah begins at sundown

ü December 25 — Christmas Day

ü December 26 — Kwanzaa, through January 1, 2009

Holiday Fun! Christmas at Lilly House: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Rd., Indianapolis. Through January 11, 2009. Free admission. For more information, call 317.923.1331 or visit http:// www.imamuseum.org/. Peewinkle's Christmas Puppet Show: Indiana State Museum, 650 W. Washington, Indianapolis. Through January 4. For more information, call 317.232.1637 or visit http://www.in.gov/ism/index.aspx. Mistletoe Music Festival: Indianapolis Artsgarden, intersection of Illinois & Washington, downtown Indianapolis. Wednesday, December 03, 2008 to Thursday, December 04, 2008 9:30 AM to 12:50 AM. For more information, call 317.624.2563 or visit http://www.indyarts.org/ organizations.aspx?id=82. Gingerbread Village: Conner Prairie, 13400 Allisonville Road, Fishers. December 2 – December 30, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. For more information, call 317.776.6006 or visit http:// www.connerprairie.org/.

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Santa Comes to Town “The Latino Community Development Corporation will present the Christmas charity event, ‘Santa Comes to Town,’ at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion on December 18th-19th 2008. Donations of toys, food, personal care products, medical, education and legal services will be available to over 1,400 less fortunate Latino. Your participation can have a great impact in our community. We offer a number of opportunities for you to get involved such as volunteerism, food donations, sponsorship or toys. Please visit our website at www.latinoindiana.org, or call 317.258.3937 for further information.”

Culture Corner: Holidays in the Classroom This month’s Culture Corner was written by Shira Behar, a cohort 7 intern.

The celebration of Christmas in secular schools has long been brought up as an issue, but have things really changed? Twenty years ago Steven A. Gelb wrote an article in Childhood Education about the celebration of Christmas in schools. Gelb stressed that the “Christmas curriculum” had unintentional effects on both Christian and non-Christian students. Problems he cited were the strong focus on materialism and its consequences on students living in poverty as well as the alienation of students of minority faiths such as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Jehovah’s Witness. His recommendations to alleviate these problems were quite simple: limit Christmas celebration to two to three days, emphasize the giving aspects of Christmas (as opposed to the receiving), do not endorse any religious view, become culturally

aware of other religions and their major holidays, and maintain professional judgment. Over the years many schools and classrooms have embraced the idea of multicultural education and have decided to promote the holidays in December of other faiths. Although this seems like a plausible solution, it still does not promote equality in the classroom. Often these other holidays, such as Hanukkah, do not have the same significance as Christmas does to Christians. Instead, I believe that to be true multicultural educators that wish to bring religious holidays into secular schools, we should study and celebrate the most important holidays of minority faiths throughout the year, not just in December. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are examples of truly significant holidays of the Jewish faith, and they take place in the fall. A current list of holidays can be found at http:// www.interfaithcalendar.org; the

site has a list of dates and definitions of major holidays for most major religions. It is important to speak to parents of children of minority faiths and find out how they celebrate these holidays at home. This way, we can ensure that students of all faiths feel included and acknowledged during the holidays that are most important to their faiths, not the ones that happen to fall in December. Often Christmas celebrations in schools focus on Santa and gifts. Alternate and more appropriate focus for the holiday should be the Christmas themes of joy, peace, and giving. These themes are appropriate and appealing to students of all faiths. For more information, see Steven A. Gelb’s Article: http://www.tolerance.org/ teach/activities/activity.jsp? ar=760.

Now Showing at Ever Teaching, Ever Learning, Ever Changing

Indianapolis Civic Theatre:

Project Bridge To Achievement Marian College School of Education 3200 Cold Spring Road Indianapolis, IN 46222 Fax: (317) 955-6448

Newsletter Contact List Cheryl Hertzer Chair, MAT Programs 317-955-6087 chertzer@marian.edu Patricia Stewart EDU Administrative Assistant 317-955-6089 pstewart@marian.edu Jenny M. Witcher Assistant to the MAT Chair 317-955-6095 jmwitcher@marian.edu

Readers, this is your newsletter. We welcome any contributions you wish to make. If you have a news item, a suggestion or a correction, please contact Jenny M. Witcher by phone or email. If you are a mentor or student and would like to volunteer to be profiled in subsequent issues, or if you would like to contribute a “Teacher Tip,” please contact Jenny, Patricia Stewart or Cheryl Hertzer. Thank you for your interest and participation!

December 12—January 4. For more information and to purchase tickets, call 923-4597 or visit the web site at http://www.civictheatre.org/. Indianapolis Civic Theatre is located on the Marian College campus at 3200 Cold Spring Road.

Intern Profile: Kelley Hamilton Kelly Hamilton, a cohort 7 intern, lived in Dallas, Texas for 12 years before moving to Indiana. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Kelly worked for the Lewisville Independent School District as a Site Supervisor at Central Elementary School in their Extended School Day program. She also worked as a Teacher’s Aide in secondary special education classrooms during the summer. Kelly realized her desire to teach while undertaking her marketing career: “After graduating from college I moved to Indiana and decided to put my Marketing degree to use. After working in an office for a year and a half it hit me just how much I LOVED working with children. The feeling of accomplishment that you have when you leave at the end of the day is indescribable. I realized at that moment that I knew what my

calling was, and that was to be a teacher.” Kelly decided to earn her MAT degree at Marian College because of our emphasis on preparing teachers to work with English Language Learners: “I chose the Marian program because I love the fact that it emphasizes multicultural education. Living in Texas for 12 years and working in an elementary school that was 96% Hispanic shows you the importance of understanding other cultures besides your own. Not all children learn and understand information the same way and this multiplies when the child speaks a different language and is from another country. I think that it is extremely important for teachers to understand this and to teach accordingly.” Kelly’s completion of the MAT program will have a special importance: “I am looking forward to being a certified teacher with a Master’s degree. I will be the first in my family to graduate with a Master’s degree and also the first

teacher in my family. My family tells me everyday how proud they are of me and the sense of accomplishment that I feel as I work through this program intensifies everyday.” Kelly’s philosophy of teaching is that a day in the classroom should have its rewards for both the teacher and the student: “I feel that teaching is one of the most rewarding careers a person could ever ask for, and a teacher should walk into the classroom every day knowing that. Our children are our future and no matter their race, gender, or background, each and every one of them should walk out of our classrooms with a feeling of accomplishment everyday.” We are glad that Kelly joined us in the MAT program, and we wish her the best as she journeys into her teaching career!