Vol. 11   No. 7  P.O. Box 100547, Florence, SC  29502   (843) 661-1828 

March 2016 E-Newsletter 
The mission of the Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty is to increase the achievement of children of poverty by improving the quality of undergraduate teacher preparation, graduate teacher preparation, and the professional development of in-service teachers.
Call for Presentations 
COE 9th Annual Summer Institute
June 22-23, 2016
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Chapman Auditorium- McNair Science Building
Francis Marion University

 
The Francis Marion University Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty announces a Call for Presentations for the Summer 2016 Institute. The theme of the COE Summer Institute is "Important Work: Teaching Children of Poverty." Sessions will focus on research-based classroom strategies and best practices in the following areas as they relate to the needs and abilities of children of poverty:
  • Life in Poverty
  • Language and Literacy
  • Family and Community Partnerships
  • The Classroom Community
  • Curriculum Design, Instructional Strategies, and Assessment
  • Teachers of Children of Poverty as Learners, Leaders, and Advocates
  • Strong and Supportive School Leadership
Click here for an Application & Guidelines  

Submit your proposals for the COE Summer Institute to COE@fmarion.edu
no later than April 15,2016. 
 
Notification of Acceptance will be made via e-mail by April 27, 2016.
 

Featured Keynote Speakers     

June 22nd 
Principal Baruti Kafele is ON FIRE as he has distinguished himself as an award-winning educator, an internationally renowned speaker as well as best selling author. Baruti is one of the most sought after speakers for providing effective teaching and leadership strategies to transform student activities. More on Principal Kafele can be found on his website.  
 
 
June 23rd
Carol Ann Tomlinson's career as an educator includes 21 years as a teacher,12 years as a program administrator of special services for struggling and advanced learners. Special interests throughout her career include differentiation and encouraging creative and critical thinking in the classroom. More information about Tomlinson can be found on her website.  
Helpful Ideas for Your Classroom!   

Get and Keep Your Parents Involved!

Parent Involvement is highly important for student educational success.
They say it takes a  village to raise a child, but according to research it also take a village to educate a child. Parent, family and community involvement increases academic performance and also school improvement. Below are some helpful tips on how to get parents involved in your school:
- Create a variety of opportunities for involvement such
as volunteering with a school sports program, tutoring, or recording yourself reading books for children with reading challenges.
- Make all families feel welcome by holding meetings at a variety of community locations or simply greet parents at school events.
- Communicate effectively by distributing monthly calendars about what is going into the classroom.  
 
March is National Reading Month - Get Your Families Involved
There are many excellent examples for involving families for student success in the Promising Partnership Practice section of the National Network of Partnership School's website. The website also has useful Samplers for every grade level with background research and examples of promising practices that correlate with each topic. Click here for the Family and Community Involvement in Reading Sampler from the National Network of Partnership Schools.
 

Education World rea lly dug deep to collect these teaching resources for the special events in March from Women's History month to The First Day of Spring. You will find all kinds of lessons, articles, and activities for all age groups.
Do You Need a Break From Your Boring Routine?

Brain breaks are a short period of time when you change up the dull classroom routine of in coming information that arrives in very predictable, tedious roadways. Our brain lives and thrives on novelty because we pay attention to every stimulus that is out of the ordinary. Consider the following brain break ideas in your classroom this month!

A Wealth of Resources!  
Need Resources? We have what you're looking for!

Did you know you can check out books from our resource library in the COE office with a collection of over 400 books?  The COE website also has hundreds of helpful articles that are free and just a click away.

Check out these Recent Additions to our Resource Library:
We Can't Teach What We Don't Know  
by Gary R. Howard  
Causes & Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems  
by Margaret Searle

Check out these Good Read Articles from our  Facebook page:
(McIntyre, 2016)
(Reid, 2013) 

Visit our website and discover our research article database!