Click here if you have trouble viewing this email.

Events and Activities


Technology Workshops in February/March

Dr. Sheila Gersh will offer the two separate all-day technology integration workshops described below (on a space available basis) at no cost. Each workshop is from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Please contact sgersh@ccny.cuny.edu for room information and to register. Workshops are designed for School of Education students, faculty, alumni and teachers in collaborating schools.

Tuesday, February 23rd “Creating Websites to Support Classroom Teaching and Learning”. Create your own website using “Google Sites”. Find and collect other web resources for your students. Examine other teachers’ web sites and create a class web site for your students. Examine instructional uses for your web sites. Consider privacy, permission and related issues.

Wednesday, March 10th “Using ‘ Google Tools’ to Enhance Instruction” Learn to use a variety of Google tools (Sites, Search, FastFlip, Maps, Earth and Mail) to enhance your teaching of science and other subjects. Create a basic web site that redesigns one or more lessons using Google tools.


Notable Upcoming Events


Thursday, March 11th Seminar Event:
“Getting Jobs in the Age of Accountability-Finding a Position in this Recession”.

The CCNY Educational Alumni group invites alumni, teachers and School of Education students to a very special event that will include: panel discussions with educational leaders, answers to frequently asked questions about obtaining positions, practice interviewing in small interactive groups simulating hiring halls, helpful employment and resource materials and light refreshments. Thursday, March 11, 4:30 - 7:00 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room, 3rd floor of the North Academic Center, Convent Ave and 138th Street. In Sponsorship with the CCNY Educational Leadership Program, this no-cost event is a MUST for entry level or advanced educational job opportunities. For further information or questions please contact jsncc@juno.com. To assure a place in this event we suggest you pre-register at
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/education/form_march2010_alumni_signup.cfm.


Saturday, March 13th Conference:
“In Defense of Childhood: Play and Active Learning in Urban Schools”

A major conference, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and in memory of the late Professor Emeritus Lillian Weber, entitled “In Defense of Childhood: Play and Active Learning in Urban Schools” will be hosted by the Graduate Program in Early Childhood and the Psychology Department at City College. The conference will address growing concerns in the research and educational communities about drastic reductions in opportunities for active learning and play in children’s lives – both inside and outside of school – that jeopardize their development. Research about the importance of play and active learning will be presented as well as strategies for how educators can teach in ways that children learn. Admission is free. For more information and to register, click on (Read More).


Tuesday, April 14th The Doyle and Alma Bortner Distinguished Speaker Series in Urban Education: Professor Amy Stuart Wells.

Professor Amy Stuart Wells

The first speaker in this series is Professor Amy Stuart Wells, professor of Sociology and Education at Teachers College-Columbia University. Professor Wells presentation is entitled: "Metro Migrations, Racial Segregation, and School Boundary Lines: How Separate and Unequal Educational Opportunities Defy Efforts to 'Lift All Boats' via the Standards and Accountability Movement" . Her research and writing has focused broadly on issues of race and education and more specifically on educational policies, such as school desegregation, school choice, charter schools, and tracking, and how they shape and constrain opportunities for students of color. She is the recipient of several honors and awards, including a 2001-02 Fellowship from the Carnegie Corporation's Scholars Program; the 2000 Julius & Rosa Sachs Lecturer, Teachers College-Columbia University; and the 2000 AERA Early Career Award for Programmatic Research. The event will be held in the Faculty Dining Room, 3rd floor of the North Academic Center from 5:00-6:15 with reception to follow immediately after.


For Other Events At CCNY See: http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/current/events/index.cfm

For Directions to the Campus See: http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/about/directions.cfm


News and Notes


Dean Alfred Posamentier Retires After 40 Years at City College

Dr. Alfred Posamentier
Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier

Whether you came in at 8:00 in the morning or left the College at 7:00 in the evening you could pretty much always find Dean Alfred Posamentier in or near his office. He was either on the phone, at his computer, or in a meeting; with a line of people waiting outside. His office was open to faculty, staff, students and distinguished visitors from Brooklyn to Vienna. Al was a virtual whirlwind of activity and his years at the College were both rich and fulfilling. Al served as the Dean of the School of Education for the past ten years and as the Associate Dean for nearly ten years before that. One of the things that distinguished his twenty years of service as an administrator is that he never lost his passion for mathematics; authoring or co-authoring nearly fifty books, chapters and articles on mathematics and mathematics education. A strong advocate for mathematics and mathematics education, he opined on a regular basis in the editorial pages of the New York Times. Nothing pleased him more than sharing his love of mathematics and his ideas about how to improve mathematics education. Over the last five years he strengthened math education by securing a number of grants to the School of Education including: the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation training program for math supervisors ($3.7 million), the Stanley Kaplan Foundation for middle-school math supervisor training ($2.0 million), the Lilo and Gerard Leeds Foundation to establish high tech modern math classrooms in several NYC high schools ($100,000), and the Charlotte K. Frank Foundation to establish a Mathematics Resource Center ($100,000) at the School of Education. Among his many honors and awards, Al Posamentier received the Townsend Harris Medal from the CCNY Alumni Association and the title of Austrian University Professor presented by the President of the Federal Republic of Austria.

As Dean, Al was just as fierce an advocate for the School of Education. In reflecting on his tenure as Dean he is most proud of helping to move the School of Education’s pass rates on the Teacher Certification Examinations from ‘abysmal’ to nearly 100% who pass; receiving a “perfect” score from the evaluation team of The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); hiring a vibrant and talented group of faculty (35 of the 45 faculty members were hired in the past ten years); helping to launch a professional journal, “The New Educator”; reorganizing the School of Education; creating an effective Dean’s Advisory Council and; launching a number of collaborative international programs and involving faculty here and abroad in those programs.

When asked how he saw the future of the School of Education in the next five years the Dean felt that in the present climate of educational reform, with the push for assessment, alternative routes to teacher certification, and charter schools, the School of Education can’t coast on its laurels. It needs to be responsive to the challenges and remain innovative and forward looking. Effective February 1, 2010, Al Posamentier will become a Professor Emeritus and go on to serve as a Distinguished Lecturer at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY). We wish him continued success and good cheer! Trinksprüche!


Professor Tatyana Kleyn Receives PSC-CUNY Grant & Co-Authors Forthcoming Book

Prof. Tatyana Kleyn
Professor Tatyana Kleyn

Professor Tatyana Kleyn, currently Program Director of Bilingual Education/TESOL, recently received a PSC-CUNY Grant for a research project entitled “Immigration in the Crossfire: A Comparison of Immigrant and U.S. Born Students’ Perspectives.” As she explains, “Within the last five years immigration has re-emerged as a contentious issue that divides our nation. This study aims to uncover the differences in perspectives on immigration between these two groups of students in the areas of the Dream Act, status/legalization issues and the “officialization” of English.

 

Professor Kleyn has also co-authored a book with Sharon Adelman Reyes entitled “Teaching in Two Languages: A Guide for K–12 Bilingual Educators,” coming out in late February. Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita of Language, Culture, and Teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said in her review "The authors deliver a passionate, practical, and loving approach to teaching children whose first language is other than English. This is a source of both inspiration and practical strategies for those educating our newest emergent bilingual citizens." Professor Kleyn will hold a book talk at CCNY in early April.
For more about the book, Click here


Linguistic Institute Held at The School of Education in January

Prof. Nancy Stern
Professor Nancy Stern
Prof. Joseph Davis
Professor Joseph Davis

Associate Professors Joseph Davis and Nancy Stern were among organizers and faculty at the Fifth Columbia School Linguistics Institute held at the City College’s School of Education, January 18-21. Seventeen participants, including SOE graduate students and alumni, participated in eight seminars on a variety of linguistic topics, including English grammar and its pedagogy. Other participants came from the CUNY Graduate Center, Hofstra University, Kean University, the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, and the private sector.


“Faculty Alums” Raise Funds for The School of Education

A year and half ago three retired professors, Julie Rosen, Jim Shields and Norman Shapiro, got together for lunch at the College to help a fourth, Alfred Weiss, decide how best to make a gift that would further the work of the School of Education. Al’s commitment to City College was a deep one as he was not only a professor in the School of Education for many years, he and his wife Miriam both graduated from City College in 1945. By the time lunch was over Al settled on the idea of creating an “Excellence in Teaching Award”, a $500 cash prize and certificate to be given annually by the School of Education to a faculty member who had demonstrated excellence in classroom teaching. The first Weiss Award recipient was Professor Catherine Franklin who received the award last May. The award was intended to recognize good teaching and to encourage further discussions among faculty about how we can enhance our own teaching.

As a result of that initial meeting a decision was made to extend the idea that retired faculty members, who had worked much of their lives for the School of Education, might want to continue their support for the School upon retirement. The idea was to target support for things that individual retired faculty members wanted to promote or strengthen which most likely could not or would not be done otherwise. An appeal went out to those former faculty members who could be reached and the Faculty Alumni Fund was created. Following the Weiss gift, Dean Posamentier contacted former Dean Doyle Bortner who contributed $25,000 to support the Doyle and Alma Bortner Distinguished Speaker Series in Urban Education. The first speaker in this series will be Professor Amy Stuart Wells in April. Subsequently, a number of other retired faculty members contributed funds, most of which are currently being used to support non-credit workshops, speakers, conferences and events that will enhance the intellectual life at City College and provide our students with ideas, experiences and skills they might not otherwise be exposed to or that are not sufficiently included in the curtailed number of teacher education courses now offered. It is worthy to note that contributions have also be received from Professors Shirley Feldman, Oliver Patterson, Anne Peskin, Julie Rosen, Norman Shapiro, and James Shields.


Nominate CCNY Alumni Who are Outstanding Teachers and Administrators

The Education Alumni Affiliate Group of the Alumni Association of the City College of New York is proud of the alumni of the School of Education at CCNY who have made outstanding contributions in the field of education whether in the classroom, or as school and district leaders or in other key policy and related fields committed to improving education and educational opportunities for our city’s and nation’s students.

We ask you to join us in supporting our Awards Program for 2010 by nominating worthy recipients. Please help us identify and honor CCNY graduates who have excelled in or made important contributions to the field of education. It could even be you! Each award recipient will be invited to the CCNY Annual Education Alumni Luncheon that will be held at the National Arts Club on Saturday, May 1, 2010, receive a plaque and other tokens of appreciation. This year, we are looking to honor an Outstanding Teacher and an Outstanding Administrator for each of the following levels: Pre-K through 6, Middle School and High School. For all categories of awards, the recipient must be a graduate of The City College of New York.

Applications and supporting materials must be submitted no later than MARCH 26, 2010. Mail to: Dr. Bruce M. Billig, Director of Field Experiences, The City College of New York School of Education, 138th Street & Convent Avenue, NAC 6/207A, New York, N.Y. 10031. E-mail Dr. Billig (bbillig@ccny.cuny.edu) if you have any questions. For a printable copy of the application click on http://csauth.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/education/news/news_alumni_award_sp2010.cfm


February’s Web Sites of Interest

  1. www.powermediaplus.com Many New York City teachers are not aware that they and their students have free access to wonderful educational videos available online. These materials may be shown in classrooms, downloaded and viewed by teachers and even by students at home. In the description of the site it says ‘At PowerMediaPlus, you gain access to thousands of multimedia components across all media types—all created specifically for the classroom. You’ll find 3,300 educational videos, more than 23,000 core concept video clips, 6,000 curriculum-oriented audio files, 25,000 photographs, illustrations, and clip art images, 5,000 print resources, including standards-based learning objectives, and a growing collection of educational podcasts’. If you teach in New York City and do not know the pass codes for your school, send a note to Dr Sheila Gersh (sgersh@ccny.cuny.edu) with the name, number and borough of your school and she will send you the pass codes.
  2. http://publiceducation.org The Public Education Network (PEN) has a free online newsletter that is a must for keeping up with important and current educational issues. The writing is concise, crisp and lively. Go to this site and browse an issue and decide whether to join the 250,000 other educators who subscribe. You can also find information about grants to teachers and schools as well as key educational events.
  3. http://www.searchengineguide.com/pages/Education/ An educational search tool that is both diverse and extensive in the educational resources it leads users to. This should keep users busy for a good portion of their teaching career. Or just find what you need and want and grab it.

Memories

The Greeks Olympic Food Shop, on 139th and Amsterdam is closing. To find out why, click this item from the Daily News online http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/01/13/2010-01-13_after_85_years_rent_hike_kills_diner.html and add your recollections.


Accepting Applications for Fall 2010

The CCNY Graduate School of Education is currently accepting applications for the fall 2010 admissions period.

Application Program Deadlines:

  • Early Childhood Education - April 15th
  • Childhood Education - March 15th
  • Bilingual/TESOL/Bil Special Ed - March 15th
  • Science Education - April 15th
  • Social Studies Education - April 15th
  • Art Education - April 15th
  • Mathematics Education - March 15th
  • Educational Theatre - March 15th
  • English Education - April 15th
  • Special Education - April 15th
  • Educational Leadership - April 15th
  • Literacy - April 15th

For information on programs and requirements, we invite you to visit http://www2.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/education/newprograms.cfm or e-mail your questions to edgradadm@ccny.cuny.edu.


Participate in Our Blog: Questions and Answers from the Field

City College of New York School of Education students, faculty, alumni, educators in collaborating schools and friends of the School of Education are invited to ask and/or answer questions about classroom teaching. Send your questions to Dr. Bruce Billig, (bbillig@ccny.cuny.edu), Director of Field Experiences, who will moderate the discussions.

February’s Question: Thinking about the "very good" or "excellent" college instructors you may have had as an undergraduate or graduate student, tell us (without naming people) the subject they taught and why you think these teachers were excellent.

TO RESPOND, CLICK http://teachersquestions.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/february%E2%80%99s-question/


Calendar of Events at City College | CCNY School of Education

Layout and Design by Kurt Brown