=Alumnus Feature: Amy W. Loring=
Our alumnus, Amy Loring (1989, Elementary Degree 1-8 with a specialization in Special Education K-12) and her sister, Lori Smith offer professional development workshops to Ashland University and several school districts in Columbus. Their mission is to motivate classroom teachers and administrators who work with challenging student populations. Their focus is to develop a better background when working with students who struggle in the classroom, whether due to the many issues surrounding poverty, or students with behavioral issues, attention issues, depression, and lack of overall motivation due to outside or internal factors. They give concrete strategies, lesson ideas, activities to foster engagement, and coping mechanisms for teachers who work with these at-risk type of students. They delve into the problems many students face today with testing and societal pressures, lack of schema development, and emergent literacy skills, as well as emotional struggles. Amy and Lori’s Educational Consulting Business is called Two Teachers on the Edge. Please visit their Website or contact them at twoteachersontheedge@gmail.com for the possible professional development workshop opportunities and learn from the reflections and challenges of their daily experiences.
=2015 Spring Open House=
Despite the cold temperatures last Saturday, there was a great turn-out for Open House on campus. Congratulations to the 6 incoming students for receiving $1,000 scholarships each! Visiting our classes and faculty is the best way to learn about our majors and internship opportunities. Connect with us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) to become the first to know about our latest news, events, workshop invitations, and scholarship opportunities!
=Moundsville Middle School Band Students in Action @ the Center for Arts and Education=
The students in band and music classes from Moundsville Middle School visited our College last Friday. Lou Karas, the Director of Center for Arts and Education hosted a hands-on workshop guiding the students to make musical instruments from recycled materials and craft supplies.
=Parents’ Night Out=
The “Parents’ Night Out” event was held at the West Liberty University Highlands Center this Tuesday to offer free childcare for children with autism and their siblings. This allowed parents to go shopping, go out to eat, or relax for a while without worrying about securing childcare from someone who understands autism and difficult behavior. Additionally, it gave our students enrolled in SPED 402 Autism II: Assessment and Intervention the chance to interact and work with children with autism. This was our second “Parents’ Night Out” event. Special thanks to Nicole Davis, Instructor of Early/Special Education for the coordination.
=”Project Crawdad” Students Visited the Center for Arts and Education=
The “Project Crawdad” students from West Liberty Elementary and Woodsdale Elementary Schools visited the Center for Arts and Education this Tuesday and imagined they were exploring a local creek and discovered a new species of crayfish. They created their version of the unique crayfish using chenille stems in the Center. The elementary schoolers had a crayfish-oriented day at WLU participating in the “Project Crawdad” led by Assistant Professors of Biology, Dr. Karen Kettler and Dr. Zachary Loughman. Special congratulations to Dr. Loughman for being the WV Professor of the Year last month!
=Blood Drive @ WLU=
The American Red Cross Blood Drive was from 9 AM to 3 PM this Wednesday in the WLU Blatnik Gymnasium. West Liberty University hosted one of the biggest blood drives in the region. Special thanks to Melissa Hudson, Assistant Professor of Health Education for the coordination.
=Guest Speakers Supporting Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness=
To Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness, students in Professor Schimmel’s special education courses were given the opportunity to learn about autism through the eyes of a highs school senior who is open with his Aspergers diagnosis. Tim Grebeck enlightened the West Liberty students with his knowledge. He spoke from the heart as well in discussing how bullying and sensory sensitivity have impacted his life. Additionally, Debbie Grebeck, his mother, discussed the importance of individualization of educating to meet all students’ needs. She noted about how impactful educators are in parents’ and students’ lives. Max Schimmel, a Wesley Spectrum School-Based Therapist, was available to enhance what Tim and Debbie discussed. Max reiterated to the students about identifying behaviors of concerns with students with early intervention and not treating the symptoms but to analyze the antecedents and consequences.
=Fall 2015 Block Meetings=
The Teacher Education Program at the College of Education held the Fall 2015 Block informational meetings this Wednesday. JoJo Ullom, Teacher Education Director, met with the incoming student teachers in the Elementary and Secondary/Comprehensive education programs and prepared them for the intensive and productive Block experience!
=Elementary Block in ETS Pilot Program=
The student teachers in the Elementary Block are participating in an ETS Pilot Program. This program is replacing the typical Capstone project completed in the Block. The student teachers have had to complete a series of four tasks. The first task is to complete the contextual factors for the school in which the student teachers are placed. Tasks two and three go hand-in-hand: student teachers have to compose a lesson and teach it to their class. Along with this lesson, student teachers have to compile baseline data for each student as well as a post test. Student teachers also have to choose two focus students to make adjustments to the lesson to meet the needs of these focus students. Student teachers then answer a series of questions to explain their lesson and how they adjust it. As for task four, student teachers once again come up with baseline data for the students and teach a lesson to the class. For this task, student teachers have to video themselves teaching and submit the video to ETS. Maggie Starr, student teacher, commented, “After completing these tasks, I have learned a lot about myself as a teacher as well as completing these tasks for the pilot program. This was a very time consuming project and became stressful numerous times; however, this is what is going to be necessary to become a teacher in the future. There were many benefits to this program. Being a pilot, we are able to give our feedback and hopefully better this program for future teachers. This is also helpful to see ourselves teaching in our videos. Seeing ourselves teach helps us to see what we can improve and what we did well. Overall, I am very grateful for this opportunity to be apart of the pilot program and provide my feedback.”
=hAPPy Friday Tools/Apps Learning=
KidsPsych features online interactive games and activities that are designed to help learners at ages 1 – 5 and 6 – 9 develop cognitive thinking and master specific deductive reasoning skills. Each activity has information about its objectives for parents about the skills it helps to foster. Users commented that this is a great site for parents and children to use together. Special thanks to Earl Nicodemus, Associate Professor of Education/Professional Education Admissions Coordinator, for sharing the great resource!