Hello Everyone,

During our meeting last Tuesday evening we discussed the idea of a Christmas party for our organization. Because the time of the year is so hectic for everyone we decided that we would have it during our December 2nd meeting at 6:45pm. We are going to have a pot luck dinner, door prizes and games. We will have a short meeting and then proceed on with the party. You may still be able to earn your participation points for December at either the December 2nd or 8th meeting. 

Also, Emily Taylor presented her ideas for our chapter t-shirt and Kelly Green was decided upon as the color. We are planning on posting the graphics on the websites for everyone to view as soon as we get the final work up from the printers. The cost will be $10 each and we are hoping to have them ready for pick up at our December meetings.

I hope the semester is going well for all and I will see you in December.

Martha

Hello everyone,

My name is Martha Parnell and I will be your 2008-2009 ACEI president for the NSU Broken Arrow Student Branch. I am a senior completing my full internship this semester. On behalf of all the officers and myself we are looking forward to being with all of you this year and accomplishing a lot while having a great time working together. We have set up two monthly meeting dates to accommodate for all of our busy schedules. You may attend one of our first meeting dates for September which will be Tuesday September 2nd at 6:45pm or September 8th at 11:30am. All meetings will be held in Room C142. Remember you only have to attend one of the monthly meetings. All information will be the same for both meetings. To assist me during the morning meeting since I am in my full internship Natalie Tacker has graciously volunteered to conduct the meeting in my absence. Feel free to discuss any problems, ideas or suggestions with her along with Dr. Ede and Dr. DaRos-Voseles and they will relay the information to me. I know we are going to have a great year and I am excited to work with all of you.

See you at the meeting!

Martha Parnell

Back Row L to R: Kristi Glover, Dr. Anita Ede, Natausha Barrow,
Martha Parnell and Dr. Mary Swanson.
Front Row L to R: Heather Kennedy, Dr. Kamii and Stephanie Swaim

On March 26–29, 2008, the Broken Arrow and Tahlequah ACEI chapters joined forces to represent NSU at the 2008 ACEI International Conference & Exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Fillmore, Dr. Ede, Dr. DeRos-Voseles and Dr. Swanson led the group and encouraged the
members to attend sessions that would enhance their skills as future educators. Among the members who attended were Heather Kennedy, Stephanie Swaim and Natausha Barrow from the Tahlequah Campus and Kristi Glover and Martha Parnell from the Broken Arrow Campus.

The conference focus was on going Beyond Standards: Reaching Every Child’s Potential. Throughout the week, sessions were led by professional educators from around the world who did an excellent job sharing their research and professional knowledge. They encouraged and challenged educators to go beyond the norm by considering multiple ways to reach every child.

Among the professionals from around the world who presented at this conference, the highlight of our group was getting to sit under the instruction of Dr. Richard Allington and Dr. Constance Kamii. Dr. Richard Allington, Professor of Education at the University of Tennessee served as the president of the International Reading Association (IRA) from 2005-2006. He was the speaker for the Opening Session where he discussed how to create evidence-based early literacy classrooms without worksheets or stress and anxiety. Then to all of our delight the other featured speaker, Dr. Constance Kamii, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL., USA, spoke to a standing room only crowd challenging us to allow our students to do their own thinking instead of following the rules of “carrying” and “borrowing”. This would allow students to develop number sense and a better understanding of place value. Dr. Kamii is one of the world’s leading constructivist educators. She studied directly with Jean Piaget and has applied his theories to education, particularly in the area of teaching arithmetic.