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It seems that I might have only the time to commit to two blog entries a month at this time. Here are some thoughts from – 11/3 – 11/20
The week of 11/4 started with a discussion of faculty work assignments and ended with a gathering of CSU chairs to convince ourselves that we aren’t the lowest level of management on campus.
Where does the time go? On 11/10, Debbie & I celebrate 21 years of marital (surprisingly close to martial) bliss. Hard to believe – days becomes seasons, then years.
I have to take notes to remember what I do. On Saturday, 11/4, we celebrated a bat mitzvah with services & a luncheon in Willimantic. On Saturday, 11/11, we celebrate a bat mitzvah in her modern orthodox community in West Hartford. After a service in which the women sit on raised platforms behind the men and the reader is in the middle facing the car, and in which the bat mitzvah and her mother gave speeches from the pulpit, we had a luncheon that featured middle eastern foods. Following the singing of grace, the women had a service led by the bat mitzvah. Some men argued that this service would not be allowed in Israel. Following that service, Debbie, Fay, and I went to find a winter coat for Fay at West Farms Mall and Corbett Corners in West Hartford and visited Trader Joe’s there. We had a light dinner at Wild Oaks, soup and salad, and then returned for a loud party from 7:30 – midnight at the synagogue. We sat with Debbie’s childhood friends and a friend of the bat mitzvah’s mother who is an National Film Board producer and Oscar winning documentarian.
On Sunday, 11/5, Hadassah convened a presentation in memory of Kristalnacht at the synagogue. Hiram Bingham’s son Robert Kim & wife from Salem, CT presented on his father saving 2,000 people without nation in 1941-42 in southern France. A website for information may be found at
http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/
Lex, Jim, & I put sukkah in synagogue shed before presentation.
On Wednesday, 11/8 in the afternoon, Mercury passed in front of the Sun and the university celebrated with a Lunch and Learn session and a planetarium show. It was a very rainy day so the telescopes were not taken out. In the evening, the Education Club assisted Sweeney School teachers in a read-a-thon at the city library – lots of kids got their first library cards.
On Thursday, November 9, the Akus Gallery opened a show entitled bioluminescence with two artists -
Joianne Bittle’s Beetles http://www.easternct.edu/depts/akus/Current.html
and Charles Ritchie’s minature journal and watercolors – http://www.charlesritchie.com/
Friday afternoon, November 10, I drove our van to New Britain for the
Four Campus Department Chairs’ Meeting
Friday, November 10, 2006
Maloney Hall, Chen Gallery, CCSU, New Britain
Central Campus
1:00pm – 4:00pm
Lunch was provided
***Agenda***
Negotiations Update
Continued Discussion of Chairs’ Agenda
P&T Issues at CCSU & SCSU
CCSU Campus Map: http://www.ccsu.edu/campus_map/
Maloney Hall is Building #25 and Suggested Parking: Lots B, D, E, G or Student Center Garage #33
Marsha, Ron, Marty, Jaime, David from Eastern – 5
CCSU – Gil, Chair, English Dept & 12 others
WCSU - 6
SCSU – 1
AAUP system office – Dave, Michele, Ellen, Carol – 5
Discussion Items for Agenda:
contract negotiations
time & cost shifting from admin
long-term planning – instructional strategies
Negotiations Update
Continued Discussion of Chairs’ Agenda
P&T Issues at CCSU & SCSU
spliting departments or changing schools
CSU chairs’ retreat on lines of communications
David Walsh spoke of looming business models for instruction.
Cindy, CCSU rep on bargaining teams, reviewed negotiation proposals. Discussion on admin role of chairs, chain of command, compensation, chair assessment. Official CSU statistics – average 9.3 FLC assignments per semester, @ SCSU – two depts for accreditation purposes by side letters have 3 FLC reassigned time per semester – Librarian Science & Computer Science & perhaps de facto for Ed.D. faculty. Other discussed proposals – one hour of classroom activity (including labs) equal 1 FLC, reassigned time for research increased to 100 FLCs per semester. CSU admin doesn’t want to divert resources to reduce faculty work load & development.
Discussion of splitting depts., promotion for secretaries, decision-making on minimum class size. CCSU has had online curriculum development since 2000.
We had good discussions in the van. When I returned I had a long discussion with a colleague on the teaching load and why some have less teaching and more administrative duties.
On November 12, Hadassah had a fund-raising lunch at the Asian Bistro in the East Brook Mall. Some of the attendees did not like the sushi or the lunch. There was a presentation by two campers on the Reconstructionist Camp that brought back memories of wearing white at outdoor shabbat services for some of the women.
On Tuesday, 11/14, the university registrar, our social studies educator, an associate registrar, and I discussed the impact of the National Council for the Social Studies had on the social science requirements for certification, requiring specific courses in 5 other social sciences, besides history.
On Wednesday, November 15, I drove to Hartford for the Minority Teacher Recruitment Council and participated actively when a superintendent wondered why we aren’t teaching interviewing skills in our teacher education programs. Since I was the only teacher education faculty member in the room, I begged to differ and reported that we do have interviewing sessions for our student teachers.
I returned for a lunch and learn session on “Earthcare in Practice: Green Sisters and the Intersection of Theology” presented by Phoebe Godfrey, Sociology, which focused on the Dominican Sisters of the Genesis Farm in New Jersey. http://www.genesisfarm.org/history.htm
November 17 was Debbie’s birthday. In the afternoon, we went to the Blue Ribbon Committee on the Future of the CSU, which included
Greetings from Dave Walsh
Attendees’ introduction of themselves
Distribution of Reports – including http://measuringup.highereducation.org/
Determination of best time for retreat to organize work and establish timelines
Notes:
Present from Eastern – Joel Rosiene, Ron Lowy, David Stoloff
Introductions – Arlene – SCSU, Russell – co-chair but not present, Ellen Benson – AAUP staff,
David Walsh – AAUP president, packets on articles, faculty to enter discussion on future of CSU system, accountability, Denise Merrill on Nat’l Legislature Association’s higher ed commission, CT legislature pending restructuring of CT higher ed, shared reports including National Report Card on Higher Education, call for board of trustees to involve faculty in planning and running of university, towards proactive stance built on studying reports, last year resources to CSU just $2 million, question on end-results of process – ask for chance to try new approaches, union will pay mileage & sponsor retreats, resources from New England Board of Higher Ed, German Bermudez would speak at session, reaction to 10/19 session at Lyceum on classes to 1,500 students, 1 faculty member, 1 TA & graduate assistants
Arlene – need organization, asked Patty G to arrange retreat at Mercy Center, Madison to rebutt reports and create positive plans, setting date – January 16, 2007, 9-2
adjourned 2:40
Our UCONN sons came home for a week’s break. They have been sleeping most of the time so far. Living in the basement, we have gotten used to not seeing them but for dinner and TV. We hope that they are doing all right with their studies but they don’t tell us much.
On Saturday, November 18, Debbie and I went to synagogue to celebrate our anniversary. We read Chaya Sarah – the haftorah that we did at our engagement Shabbat 21 years ago. In the afternoon, we took a hike on the Nipmuck Trail
http://www.maxtrails.com/trails/1002320_Nipmuck_Trail_Connecticut.html
from Schoolhouse Brook. We want to hike the entire trail some day. In the evening, we went to the hospital gala at the Rome Ballroom at UCONN. The theme this year was Japan with several people in kimonos. Debbie and I sat at the Eastern CSU table and won a dinner at a highly rated restaurant in Mansfield. Sushi, tofu, salmon, and some sake – the band was not too loud.
After shopping and errands on Sunday morning, the family went to the town’s Thanksgiving service and then joined the Walk for Warmth – a fund-raiser for a fuel bank for those who are not able to find the funds to keep their homes warm. In the evening, Debbie and I went to Beth El/Hillel House at UCONN and joined a pizza dinner and a film – The Hitchhikers – http://www.sjjff.org/archive/2001.html#Anchor-Hitchhiker-29061 . In the discussion afterwards, I marvelled at how Israelis can pay the price they do to live in the tension, I couldn’t.
We are beginning to prepare for our trip to Israel on December 18. Looking for a current converter for our cameras. The weather is turning cooler but it is not unpleasant yet. After a long day in the office catching up, I am ready for an evening in a warm home.
I am in the process of submitting an application for a Fulbright six-week job shadowing program. I chose Thailand, Finland, and Argentina as my preferences, but would be interested in going anywhere for an opportunity to examine my research. This is how I responded to the essay prompts -
A. Provide a narrative picture of yourself. The essay should deal with your personal history, focusing oninfluences on your intellectual development, the educational and cultural opportunities (or lack of them) towhich you have been exposed, and the ways in which these experiences have affected you. Also include your special interests and abilities.
A major theme of my life has been the study of the social foundations of education and media. The spark for this interest was ignited when on summer break as a Peace Corps volunteer, between high school teaching positions in Zaïre, I climbed to the ramparts on the walls of Jerusalem. There before me were the holy sites of 3 religions and a forest of television antennae. It struck me that television might be a more effective tool than chalk dust to reach learners to enhance cross-cultural understanding. My subsequent graduate studies in educational technology and in comparative and international education and my professional experiences as a high school teacher, researcher, and teacher education program faculty member and leader followed along this theme.
My roots are in the ethnic melting pot of the New York City metropolitan area, tempered with life experiences in Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Israel, Montreal, Dallas, Los Angeles, the New York Adirondacks, northern California, and Eastern Connecticut. My travels have taught me to celebrate the commonalities and uniqueness of those I meet, to recognize that people are both individuals and members of several groups, and to strive to seek non-violent solutions to tense situations. As a proponent of constructivism, I value the primacy of social, group learning in schools and society. I also value learning with people, rather than from technology, but recognize that these tools may supplement connections.
I would bring to an international exchange these dispositions toward learning from others and building bridges across cultures. My studies in comparative and international education have taught me to respect and appreciate the social contexts of school organizations and classroom settings. My experiences with educational technology have taught me that there are a variety of techniques that might be used to communicate and practice the curriculum that society and educators value in schools and in the community. My professional background has prepared me to seek synergy among individuals and organizations for continuing community and societal development.
My special interests for this international exchange would include developing an international blog, an online bulletin board, where we and others might exchange ideas to build international exchanges between our universities and regions. I would also be interested in learning from my colleagues about their best practices in the professional development of educators in their nation. The chronicling of our experiences together would be a study in the social foundations of education and of media, worthy of discussions on the web and in print, and would serve as the basis of further exchanges.
B. Describe your future career goals and plans, especially ways you plan to use your experience abroad in your professional work in this country and to enhance international education in your school/college and community.
My experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer science and English high school teacher in Zaïre proved to be an early turning point in my career. I believe in the potential of this teacher educator job shadowing opportunity having a similar impact on my career, with benefits for our teacher candidates and programs at Eastern Connecticut State University.
During the past decade, I have been active in teaching and developing online curriculum in educational technology and in researching how the internet might be used to enhance collaborative learning. One of my goals for this exchange program would be to explore with international partners how we might collaborate using online learning and teaching to enhance our teacher education programs, expand multicultural curriculum, and share, research, and disseminate best practices internationally.
My position also includes the leadership of programs designed to recruit a diverse educator pool in schools, through support of teacher cadet programs in urban high schools, future teachers clubs, conferences, and summer institutes. I would have much to share and to learn from international partners on teacher recruitment and retention. Another major component of my position is preparation for national and state program accreditation and curriculum development through university governance. My shadowing partner would experience student advisement for highly structured, demanding teacher education programs, the assessment processes for the National Council for Accreditation in Teacher Education (NCATE), and faculty governance at a public liberal arts university.
My personal goals for this exchange include strengthening my research agenda and study in the applications of educational technology for enhancing student achievement, communal constructivist collaborations for learning, and in comparative and international education. I would be eager to explore connections with partners in any of the listed nations but indicated Thailand because Eastern CSU faculty members are beginning to explore collaborations through a current Fulbright partnership with Dr. Lisa Fraustino, Finland because Eastern’s Early Childhood Education faculty members have partners there with a focus on educational technology, and Argentina to develop hemispheric connections and to enhance my language skills.
The potential of short, intensive international exchanges supplemented by email, blogs, and wikispaces to build bridges across space, time, and boundaries for greater cross-cultural understanding and conflict resolution is a theme for the afternoon of my professional career. I look forward to continuing my personal and professional development by participating in this exchange program.
***
The university administration is deliberating on whether they would commit to the possibility of my absence with their support. The application is due on November 30 – a paper version. Thanksgiving is coming. The mood in the office is tense with the expectations of the season of lights – lots of work to do, so little time. There is some interest that someone else might want to be department chair. I enjoy this lifestyle being department chair but would step down if my colleagues were interested in having someone else do the job. I have been thinking of classes that I would teach and opportunities that I would explore. I am grateful for this position, but more importantly for our healthy and generally happy growing family and for the community we live in. The world is a far more difficult place outside of our little city. I was born in the right place at the right time and have had the luck to make the most of the opportunity. I am thankful for meeting Debbie who made life meaningful. I am thankful that you have read this. I would be grateful for your comments.
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