Eastern Oregon University
One University Boulevard
Zabel Hall
La Grande, OR 97850
Phone: 541-962-3772
Fax: 541-962-3701
E-Mail: ed@eou.edu
Eastern Oregon University is a member of the Oregon University System
Dr. Ralph Woodward and Professor Donna Rainboth are integrating their Curriculum and Instruction and Science Methods classes to create a day of science stations for local elementary students. Their Elementary MAT students will be responsible for designing an integrated Science/ Curriculum learning center along with teaching the participating children at each of the centers. The Theme for the learning centers will be: Watershed. The MAT students will present their Watershed learning centers to 66 children in three classes from Island City Elementary and Central Elementary schools.
Event Date: Friday, February 19th
Time: 8AM – 12PM
Where: Hoke Lounge, Room 309
If you'd like additional details about the event, please contact Dr. Ralph Woodward: at: rwoodward@eou.edu.
Dr. M Ruth Davenport has been awarded a Full Faculty Research Stipend for the summer to conduct new research with families using Retrospective Miscue Analysis. Parents and children will reflect on their reading together by listening to a tape recording of each individual's reading. They will talk with Dr. Davenport about their miscues, or changes in the text during oral reading, and the ways they used strategies to correct their miscues if they resulted in a change in meaning.
Dr.Davenport has been invited to present her work at the Hofstra University Miscue Analysis Research Conference in June in New York City. She will talk about the pilot study that she is conducting with families and miscue analysis in Spring Term as a prelude to her summer stipend research.
She has also been invited to present in March in Colombia, Missouri, at "Literacy for All: Making a Difference", a conference to honor her doctoral mentor, Dr. Dorothy Watson. She will talk about a retrospective of her own research and ways in which Dr. Watson has influenced her work through the years.
CUESTE-Ontario College of Education professor, Jan Dinsmore, has been working in connection with Four Rivers Community School, which is a bilingual charter school located in Ontario. She has gotten two grants, with the help of school personnel, has enhanced the school's recreation program with ties to TVCC gymnasium and facilities, and has worked EXTENSIVELY with teachers to mentor para-professionals with respect to improved classroom management. She is doing this as part of her consulting work for the school, but much of it is on her own time and all of it is for school improvement for high-need, high poverty kids. This is a school that has consistently served minority students and families extremely well. Way to go, Jan!
The Cove School District has contacted the EOU College of Education and asked for assistance in aligning their K-12 Mathematics Curriculum to the Oregon Content Standards. This process will help Cove teachers and school leaders make sure that the math they are teaching in their classes addresses all the content that the students need to be successful in school mathematics. Cove has committed several professional development days this school year to examining, organizing and scheduling their curriculum so it matches the State Standard for all grade levels. Professor John Knudson-Martin will be guiding the teachers as they go through this process. The Cove schools expect to start the 2010-11 school year with a newly organized curriculum aligned to the State Standards.
Last term, College of Education faculty and students revived a much missed organization, the Education Club. Education Club members have dubbed it, E3: Excellent Educators at Eastern. The club is enjoying a robust membership, which consists of EOU students who are pursuing a degree in teaching. Members range from Freshman-Seniors. Heather Stanhope is the club's adviser and Emily Isely is the E3's president. The club is rocking and rolling in the second term of the year with new sweatshirts and a commitment to provide children’s activities while their foster parents attend training at CHD! Additional community involvement is planned, as are a variety of social and academic events. If you are interested in joining, you can contact Lacey Coble (coblel@eou.edu), E3's Membership Coordinator.
EOU students, along with Education Professor, Tawnya Lubbes, recently participated in OPB's Think Out Loud radio show on January 18th, 2010. Educators from around the state had the opportunity to discuss the growing issue of ESOL student achievement on statewide assessments in Oregon. Several EOU students, who are studying ESOL, participated in the online blog relating to the topic. Professor Lubbes was interviewed by OPB, to gain background knowledge on the subject, prior to airing the show, and her blog postings were shared on air. View the archive at: http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/english-second-language/
The IRA Regional Conference will be held this year from February 17-20 in Portland, Oregon. EOU's College of Education Interim Dean, Dr. Carol Lauritzen, will be presenting a session on Word Study. EOU Education faculty, Drs. Karyn Gomez and LeeAnn McNerney will present a session called "Diversity in 21st Century Caldecott Books: Unintended Messages and Silenced Voices." They will be reporting the results of an analysis of 21st century Caldecott books for bias, stereotyping, and excluded perspectives. For more information about the conference, please visit:
http://www.reading.org/General/Conferences/RegionalConferences/PortlandRegional.aspx
Pendleton CUESTE students are presenting 7 science events at Eastern Oregon Childrens' Museum. The sessions will be after school on Wednesdays, Jan.20 to March 3. The topics include acids, bases and pH, color and light, polymers, chemical reaction in a baggie inquiry, crime lab mystery, magnifiers and lenses, and finger print mysteries. The teacher education students will develop their lessons with help from GEMS curriculum materials, and their instructor, Dr. Miriam Munck.
College of Education professor Sharon Porter was the keynote speaker at the Pendleton Public Library Board meeting on Saturday, January 23rd, 9 to 3 PM. Her topic was "Trends in Public
Libraries: Implications for Change." She talked about how we read, what we read, and how is it distributed as a change force for the future of delivery of services in public libraries. Sharon's group used the information that she provided to springboard into making plans for long-term planning for the Pendleton Public Library. This Board was inquisitive, caring, and passionate about their library. They spent the day celebrating their accomplishments and then doing the hard work of shifting library space and services to the areas that research shows is relevant to contemporary life.
Professors Donna Rainboth and Miriam Munck wrote, "Creating Student Inquiry Whatever the Weather Using weather to promote scientific inquiry". It has been accepted for publication in Science and Children. The article guides elementary teachers in developing student research into weather and weather related phenomenon. Science and Children is a National Science Teacher Association publication for elementary teachers.
EUGENE, Ore. (KLCC Radio) - Miriam Munck, professor of education at Eastern Oregon University, comments on the effectiveness of inquiry education as a teaching method during an interview with reporter Jes Burns.
KLCC Public Radio story at: http://www.klcc.org/Feature.asp?FeatureID=1445
Kate Reid, the newest member the College of Education faculty, started her position as the Professional Development Coordinator for the North Wasco School District on Monday, November 30th. Kate’s position was created by a new partnership between the school district and EOU. The district asked EOU to provide a person with math expertise to develop and implement a math coaching program for their elementary school teachers. Kate brings to the position advanced training in mathematics, solid experience teaching math at the K-12 level, and professional development experience working with in-service and pre-service teachers – a great combination for this position. Kate comes to us from Kansas State University where she is completing her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education. She, however, has spent most of her adult life living and working in Colorado Rockies and is very glad to find a job near mountains. Welcome, Kate!
Sharon Porter, College of Education professor, gave a keynote address for the Umatilla Library District Fall Meeting on November 6th. The title of the speech was "Trends from the Toybox:
the Future of Public Libraries". A good time was had by all!
Dr. John Knudson-Martin coauthored the paper titled, "Building consensus for detracking a mathematics curriculum: The ingredients for change". This paper, coauthored by the university program leader (Dr. John Knudson-Martin), school leadership and faculty, describes the process that led to the successful change in the school’s mathematics program. It was accepted for presentation at the National Meeting of the American Educational Research Association on April 30th, 2010 in Denver.
The abstract reads: Valley Middle School, like many schools serving a diverse population of students, offered a tracked mathematics curriculum. The school’s faculty and leadership were uneasy with their tracked curriculum but did not know what changes would successfully engage more students in school mathematics. Working with the local university, the school piloted a Supported Mathematics Program (SMP) modeled after the programs offered by the Preuss School (San Diego) and the Rockville Centre School District (New York). Students in SMP have uniformly succeeded in grade level math and the program is replacing the schools lower math tracks.
The Hawaii International Conference on Education has accepted Dr. Jan Dinsmore's paper titled, "Technology Supported Learning in Higher Education: Perceptions of Rural Digital Natives". Dr. Dinsmore will present her work at the 2010 Hawaii International Conference on Education in Honolulu, to be held from January 7-10, 2010. Aloha, Dr. Dinsmore!
Candy McGilvray, EOU Placement Coordinator, received her degree in Master of Arts in Education/Early Childhood Education from the University of Phoenix in November. She previously had earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Education and a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Northwest Nazarene University. Her Master's degree action research presentation was on Integrating Technology into the Classroom/Web Quests. Congratulations, Candy!
Former CUESTE student, Misty Onjukka has joined the Oregon Council of Teachers of English (OCTE) Executive Board. She has also been nominated as Oregon's Promising Young Leader and has been granted $500 to attend the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention in Philadelphia this month. Misty teaches Kindergarten and Music at the Grande Ronde Academy in La Grande, OR.
Imbler Kindergarten teacher Karen Tannehill, a CUESTE graduate, and College of Education professor, Dr. Ruth Davenport presented "Literacy Learning for Little Ones: Enjoying Books and Making Books" at the Eastern Oregon Early Childhood Care and Education Conference in La Grande on September 26, 2009. They presented to an audience of early childhood educators, such as Head Start teachers, administrators, assistants, and day care providers.
Dr. Jan Dinsmore, College of Education faculty for the Ontario CUESTE program, is staying involved in her local community! Dr. Dinsmore is working as a special consultant with Four Rivers Community School, a local dual-language charter school. She has run workshops for paraeducators on helping students who struggle with behavior issues, assisted in the organization of a teacher mentoring program, and is helping the school work with goal-setting in its K-7 professional development.
The Oregon Music Teachers Association annual Leadership Conference will be held at Eastern Oregon University Oct. 23-24. This is the first year for EOU to host the conference and corresponding state level Music Teachers National Association Performance Competitions. College of Education professor, Sharon Porter will be a keynote speaker for the conference! Full story at: http://www.eou.edu/mdpa/news/omta.html
Physical Activity & Health faculty member, Dr. Brian Sather has been voted to be president of the organization Western Society for Kinesiology & Wellness ( www.wksw.net ). The organization has a long-standing membership history of physical education and health professionals in the western United States and Canada. Dr. Sather will be planning the organization's annual conference for 2010 in Reno, Nevada as the president-elect. Congratulations on your presidency, Dr. Sather!
Pat Roberts, former Eastern Oregon University MTE student, was named Oregon Art Teacher of the Year by the Oregon Art Education Association. The Pilot Butte Middle School Art teacher has been with Bend-La Pine Schools for 16 years and is said to be an innovator, leader and inspiration to staff and students. Congratulations, Pat!
Friday, October 9, La Grande Middle School will be the site of the Inquiry Outside the Cube, a conference (sponsored by Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics) for math and science teachers of Grades Kindergarten through 12. EOU's Anna Cavinato and John Knudson-Martin will be presenting their specialties to the teachers, EOU's Donna Rainboth and LMS's Patty Sandoz have been very involved in coordinating the event.
The keynote speaker this year is Michael Geisen, a seventh grade teacher at Crook County Middle School. Michael was the 2008 National Teacher of the Year! All arel invited to the LMS Commons this Friday, noon to 1 pm, to hear what he has to say!
The 2009 Notable Books for a Global Society is an annual list of 25 book highlights, and celebrates diversity and multicultural writing for children and young adults. The article listing the 2009 selections, which contains reviews of all 25 titles, has been published in the Spring 2009 issue of "The Dragon Lode"--the journal of the Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group/International Reading Association. Dr. Evans was a contributer to the article.
Eastern Oregon University - One University Boulevard - La Grande, OR 97850-2899 - Phone: 541-962-3378