Monday Minutes

Here are your Monday Minutes for November 16-20 2020. 

From the Department Head

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff 

We are almost there! Congratulations to all graduating students, and congratulations to our faculty and staff who made this possible! Please tune in to our EHHD graduation watch party on Friday, 11/20 at 3pm. Best of luck to you all as you complete final exams and projects, wrap up student teaching, or defend your thesis/dissertation! 

This will be the final edition of our Fall 2020 Monday Minutes. We will resume on January 4, 2021. Have a safe and healthy winter break!

 Take good care,

Dr. Ann Ewbank

News and Announcements

• P-12 STUDENT TEACHING INFO SESSIONS: Last week we held the information sessions for students interested in student teaching during Fall semester 2021.  We had very limited attendance and the information session is mandatory. Fall 2021 student teachers must email John Melick by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 or they will not receive a placement. 

• COURSE EVALUATIONS: Fall 2020 course evaluations will be released this week. Please encourage students to complete course evaluations. Aim for 100% completion! 

• Please join us for the following dissertation defenses this week: 

• Chelsey Wilson, Candidate for Doctor of Education in Adult and Higher Education (Dr. Tricia Seifert, Chair), “Investigating the relationship of an early semester intervention program and first year college student sense of belonging” on Wednesday, November 18^th from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. 

• Hailey Hancock, PhD Candidate in Education, Curriculum and Instruction (Dr. Christine Rogers Stanton, chair).  “A multisite case study of state policy and teacher perceptions of recruitment and retention in rural school districts impacted by the critical quality educator shortage” on Friday, November 20^th from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. (access code): 120 888 7744, Meeting password: Nov2020 

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

• Congratulations to the Science Math Resource Center for successfully holding the first virtual American Mathematics Competition last week. A record 48 middle school students across Montana participated! 

• Congratulations to Dr. Rebekah Hammack for two publications co-authored with MSU colleagues and graduate students! These are great examples of interdisciplinary collaboration and graduate student mentoring!

• Hammack, R., Utley, J., Ivey, T., & High, K. (2020). Elementary teachers’ mental images of engineers at work.Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 10(2), 35-46. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jpeer/vol10/iss2/3 

• Hammack, R. Gannon, P., Foreman, C., & Meyer, E. (2020). Impacts of professional development focused on teaching engineering applications of mathematics and science.School Science and Mathematics.  https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12430 

• Our department’s success is determined by our collective accomplishments. Share your own accomplishments with pride! Or if you hear of a colleague or student’s accomplishment, please share. Please send accomplishments and kudos to ann.ewbank@montana.edu.

Professional Development & Engagement Opportunities

• The end of semester is typically a challenging time. As finals approach, please encourage your students to seek help if they are struggling with mental health issues. 

• Managing final exam stress
• CPS virtual connections space drop-in student support facilitated by a counselor
• Students who need brief consultations with a counselor without initiating a formal session can access Let's Talk Drop-In Services. ​
• With the semester ending, you may find that some of your students need professional mental health support. Please see the MSU mental health resource and crisis protocol. 

• FOR FACULTY AND STAFF: Compassion fatigue is real. Here is a good article if you are having issues setting boundaries with students. One of the strategies noted in this article are workplace support groups. If this is something you might be interested in for spring semester, please contact Rebecca Koltz who will organize support groups as needed.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Resources

• Join this FREE webinar on November 19 at 12pm MT time: Youth Beyond the Binary: A Conversation on Non-Binary Identities. This webinar will open with background on non-binary identities and lead into a panel discussion with four non-binary young people who will discuss what their gender means to them and how these identities overlap and compound with the many other identities they hold. 

• Do you have a resource to share? Please email Ann Ewbank.