Jumpstart’s Read for The Record

Last year I had such a wonderful experience participating in Jumpstart, and I have already signed up to participate this year on October 8, 2009!

To find out how you can get involved click here.  This years book is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar – one of my all time favorites.  I distinctly remember being read this book in primary school and I remember how captivated I was by the pictures and the size of the pages: how they went from small to big as the caterpillar ate and ate and ate.

Kappa Delta Pi

Today I was formally inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi National Honor Society.  It feels weird to be a part of “greek life” only this isn’t a sorority, it’s an honor society.  Forty-three other graduate and undergraduate students were inducted as well, and we received a certificate and a rose.  Being an honor society that is all about education and community service, donations were made where everyone was asked on the spot to contribute $1 or $2 to raise awareness for autism.  Luckily I had $3 on me, and within 5 seconds, we had raised $250 between students and guests.  I feel very fortunate to be a part of an organization that is very active in getting involved within the community.  They are able to not “rob your wallet” but still make an impact helping others — something that is rare to find.  I’ll keep you posted on the events soon to come.

Kappa Delta Pi, Theta Beta Chapter

I was just accepted into the Theta Beta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, a merit-based educational honor society.  I was so happy when I received my letter this morning saying I, along with four others, have been inducted into this honor society.  By being a part of this organization a lot of leadership opportunities will be presented as well as many opportunities to get involved in community service events — which was my number one reason for joining.

I am very happy that I get to participate in the following activities this month:

• collecting and donating cans of food for a local soup kitchen for Thanksgiving
• participating in Hempstead Boys and Girls Club (and donating children’s books)

Through this organization, even before I was accepted, I participated in “The Walk Now For Autism.”  By participating in these community service endeavors I feel so accomplished and am left wanting to help more.  I look forward to these events in the upcoming weeks and future ones as well.

Vote November 4th!

This Tuesday is Election Day!  Go out and VOTE!

…and the Results are in!  Watch President-Elect Barack Obama’s Victory Speech Here.

Third Presidential Debate at Hofstra University

Hofstra University held the third and final presidential debate this past Wednesday, October 15, 2008.  I feel very fortunate to be a member of the Hofstra community (pride!)

Hosting an event like this allowed us, as education majors, to take part in many events we otherwise would not have been able to.  Two weeks ago, I went to an event led by Professor Andrea Libresco.  Last semester I was lucky enough to have her as a professor for social studies (and I highly recommend her, the class was terrific!)  The workshop was entitled: “American Democracy in Action: Teaching Before, During and After Elections.”  The event was hosted through Educate’08, a program I have been involved in this semester by attending many events, getting the word across to others, and even taking a class specifically created for the debate at Hofstra.

The day before the big debate, I attended an event hosted by Dr. Martin Brooks entitled, “The Impact of the 2008 Election on Education.”  This workshop was very informative because the current election has kind of put education to the side and focused more on the economy and war.  As a future educator, education is a topic that concerns me and it is important to learn the facts.  This event was hosted by Educate’08, as well as ASCD, that I helped run.  As an executive board member, I am in charge of the newsletter.  For this meeting I was unable to write all the background information on Dr. Brooks because he has such a strong background.  I feel that here would be an excellent place to add his full background for those of you who are curious.

Dr, Martin Brooks served as superintendent in Kings Park, Plainview-Old Bethpage, the Valley Stream Central High School District, and Valley Stream UFSD Thirteen. Previous to these positions, he worked in the Shoreham-Wading River Central School District as a principal, assistant superintendent and deputy superintendent. He began his career in New York City Community School District #8 in the South Bronx as a teacher and guidance counselor.

Marty received his Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree from New York University, and he earned another Master’s degree and a Doctorate in educational administration at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is a past president of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents, and has served as the chairperson of the Council’s Curriculum Committee and was the founder of its Committee on Equity and Access.

Marty is the co-author of one of ASCD’s best-selling books, In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms. He has authored numerous articles and monographs, has presented at local, state and national conferences, and has consulted with many school districts and state departments of education. He serves on the boards of the Long Island Children’s Museum, the Metropolitan School Study Council, the Tri-State Consortium, and Hofstra University’s Institute for the Development and Education of the Advanced Sciences, and is a member of the National Superintendents’ Roundtable.

Needless to say, the event was very informative.  Below are some pictures from the debate as well as pictures from Obama’s motorcade.  Photo credit: JA and JR.

Site of the Third Presidential Debate

Inside the Debate at Hofstra

The Stage

The Finale

Barack Obama’s Plane

Getting involved.

This semester I’ve had to make many decisions.  I was offered a job working as a teacher’s assistant at Hofstra University’s Saturday Classes For Young People, and I was torn.  Of course it would look good on my resume, and it would be another experience working with children, but I feel that this year should be my time to get involved with campus life as much as possible, and get involved in a lot of community service.

Currently working part-time with The Princeton Review, I have the opportunity to run my own class and proctor tests.  As a result, I am able to enforce classroom management skills, and I feel it is very helpful working with middle school and high school students, especially at times when they do not want to listen because, in all honesty, who wants to sit down for four hours and take an exam?  Also, I have a full-time babysitting job, sitting for a few families in Dix Hills and Syosset, which reserves every Saturday night (and an occasional Friday) for my lifetime as a college student.

With that being said, I feel I made the right decision because by adding another job, I’d feel it would be only to be a resume booster and not for the experience itself.  I can’t put all of my time and effort into all these occupations and feel as fulfilled.  I feel it important to take what you have and give it your all, so I am proud of the decision that I made.

With that being said, this Friday I got involved in yet another community service event!  I toured eighth grade students from Reed Middle School in the Central Islip UFSD.  It was interesting to hear the ecclectic opinions each student had about college: some have wonderful hopes and dreams for the future, while others questioned many things about continuing their education saying that school is hard enough now they don’t want to have to go through four more years.  After showing them the campus, answering their questions, and sharing my college experience, I feel that they all (or at least the one’s I spoke with) feel inspired to go to college now.

Then, today I was proctoring an SAT exam for my job with The Princeton Review.  The students all received this exam as a complimentary test because they were unable to afford the service (many were from Queens Village, Westbury, and Elmont).  I felt so honored to be the proctor today.  One of the student’s was so eager to learn about college and I was more than happy to share with him my experience, and relate that to where he would like to go to school, CUNY Baruch.  Many of his questions were regarding commuting vs. dorming.  He had made it clear in his mind that he wants to commute (and I am a commuter also).  So I told him, that if he chooses to be a commuter, he can still have an amazing experience, just make sure that you get involved in the campus life and the events they have to offer.  Your college experience is what you make of it.  If you just go to the school to take classes and leave, it’s not going to be the experience you had hoped for.  Also, I always give the students my e-mail address, and this was the first time I had actually seen a student write down my e-mail address with the intention of receiving an e-mail from a student.  I look forward to hearing from him again!

Jumpstart for the Record

As an executive board member of ASCD, Hofstra’s Student Chapter, I helped organize and run tomorrow’s Jumpstart event, reading Don Freeman’s Corduroy to high-needs schools in Long Island and Queens.  Being a part of this organization is such a great and rewarding experience to get involved in the education community.

I urge you to donate books and read them tomorrow to help break a record, for the most children reading the same book in one day (even the NY Times posted a brief segment on this event).

To find out how you can get involved: Click here!

Senior Year – let the service begin!

As a senior, there is so much that will be going on this year.  I will be a participant observer in a “high needs” area, for 90 hours my fall semester.  Then, during the winter intersession I will be student teaching grades 4-6, and the spring semester kindergarten, and grades 1-2.  On top of the 18 credits I am registered for including 3 english classes (to complete my minor/specialization), 2 education classes (math and science), and 1 educate 08 class (hoping it will increase my chances of actually attending the presidential debate which is going to be held at Hofstra), there is so much more to a senior year than classes.  I have seminars nearly every week (which are not mandatory, but I want every ounce of professional development I can get!)  I have to apply to graduate school and decide between special education and literacy for my masters (which I plan to persue both down the line, but it’s hard to choose which one to earn a degree in first).

Now that I am on the executive board of ASCD, Hofstra Chapter, there is a lot of community service events that I will be able to participate in and create.  After attending a meeting at my professors house in Stonybrook, I was ecstatic to learn about all that this organization has to offer.  Not only do we organize and hold meetings monthly, with informative speakers and workshops that help us as teachers grow, we also have the opportunity to help schools, including many “high needs” ones in the surrounding Suffolk/Nassau area.

The second week of September we are going to label approximately 800 books according to Fountas and Pinnell’s book, separate them into approximately 80-100 books for each school, and later distribute them to “high needs” schools.  Also, in October we will be participating in JumpStart for Reading.  This year on October 2nd we will be reading Corduroy and donating this book to “high needs” schools in the primary grades (PreK to second grade).  It is our goal, to recruit 100 people from Hofstra University.  I can’t wait, and I am looking forward to meeting our goal