Lang to Step Down as LSI Director, Milligan to become Acting Director
Laura Lang, Director of the Learning Systems Institute (LSI), will be stepping down from her role, as she plans to retire in the fall. Lang has served as Director since 2001. LSI will bid farewell to Lang on July 8, 2013, and welcome Jeffrey Milligan as Acting Director. Milligan is a professor in the FSUCOE Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department and serves as the current Director of the Center for International Studies in Educational Research and Development, one of five centers in LSI.
Becker, EPLS, Featured on FSU News
Betsy Becker, EPLS, was recently featured on FSU News for her selection as an AERA Fellow.
Read the article here.
FSUCOE Alumnus Named Dean of College of Human Sciences and Education at LSU
Damon Andrew, FSUCOE alumnus, has been named the Dean of Louisiana State University’s College of Human Sciences and Education. Andrew received his Ph.D. in sport administration in 2004. Congratulations, Dr. Andrew!
Read the press release here.
Professor Emeritus Opinion Feature Published in Tallahassee Democrat
FSU College of Education Professor Emeritus, Lou Bender, wrote an opinion feature in the May 14 edition of the Tallahassee Democrat. “A flight of honor and of meaning” can be read by clicking the link located in the article title.
Florida State University School Ranks Nationally
Out of 21,000 schools, U.S. News and World Report’s Best High Schools list ranked Florida State University School (FSUS) 707th nationally; 43rd in the state and 89th of all charters. No other local high school was on the list. In addition, Newsweek and the Daily Beast’s Best High Schools list ranks FSUS 472nd nationally and 29th in the state. Congrats, FSUS!
McKee, EPLS, Wins FSU Exemplary Service Award
Congratulations, Mary Kate McKee, EPLS. McKee was recognized with the Florida State University Exemplary Service Award in the category of Student Services for 2013. This award is given for excellent performance and dedication to FSU’s Division of Academic Affairs.
FSU Panama City Campus Elementary Education Class Hosts Successful Whale Day
Article courtesy of FSU Panama City campus website
Wednesday, April 24 was Whale Day at FSU Panama City. Elementary education instructor, Cristina Rios conceived of Whale Day in 2007 as a way to demonstrate teaching methods that not only convey information but entertain as well.
Students from Rios’ Teaching Second Language (TSL) class teach elementary school students from the Panama City Advanced School about whales. TSL 4080 instructs soon to be educators in methods on how to interact and communicate with young people whose native tongue is not English. Rios uses a variety of didactic techniques to help student educators develop successful interactive curriculum.
There are many whale species with their own behaviors and ways of communicating as there are many children of different backgrounds, cultures and languages in the learning environment. Student educators are challenged to effectively
communicate with these children and engage them in the learning process.
“There are whales found in every ocean in the world, in the same way we have children from different nationalities, and it is very interesting to find out that they [whales] communicate too,” said Rios. “Language is very important.”
For this class project, students demonstrated interactive learning using conservation as their subject. The class created posters describing whale behavior and divided the subjects up into stations that the students from the Panama City Advanced School toured. Each station had an interactive component in addition to an academic message. Rios’ classes work in conjunction with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and have adopted ten whales since the relationship began in 2007. The WDCS was established in 1987 and is the “leading charity dedicated to the conservation and welfare of all whales and dolphins (also known as cetaceans).”
Children were able to skim dried krill in a tub of water using a comb to simulate how baleen whales filter zooplankton in order to eat. They also used tongs to grab gummie fish in a tub of water to simulate the eating habits of toothed whales like killer whales. Another station demonstrated whale swimming behavior including breaching, spyhopping, lobtailing and slapping. Children were able to mirror these behaviors with a toy whale in a container of water. Rios’ class was very creative in developing fun facts and interactive activities to engage the children for an hour and a half.
The finale was juice and cupcakes. Of course, the cupcakes were placed in the shape of a whale! Cups of snacks that looked like zooplankton rounded out the snacks.
From the Dean’s Desk
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