News2012October

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CCT News

29 October 2012
See also previous news and alum news and exchanges. Please use this form for all inquiries, notice of events, contact updates, career updates, web/wiki glitches, suggestions, resources for us to put in news/calendar, request to be emailed when there's a new monthly news compilation, or request to be removed from such mailings.
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Contents: Student matters, CCT community, CCT events, alums, other events, opportunities, resources, food for thought, humor
All students, alums, and others in the CCT community: please use our main contact form for all inquiries, notice of events, contact updates, career updates, web/wiki glitches, suggestions, resources for us to put in news/calendar, etc. Any items of interest to be shared with the wider community will be posted in the upcoming month's CCT Newsletter and Calendar.

Student Matters


The application deadline for Spring 2013 admission is November 1, 2012

Registration begins November 5th for Winter/Spring 2013. More information:
http://www.cct.umb.edu/spring13.html

Winter 2013:
Spring 2013 (classes start the week of January 28th):
Hybrid courses (=face-to-face with distance option, for many of these):
Online courses:

CCT Community
Peter Taylor gave a CCT-ish talk on Participation and Collaboration around science and society at the Social Studies of Science meetings in Copenhagen, where he also chanced upon a talk by the sister of CCT faculty Abby Yanow and reconnected with a roommate from 33-years ago in Australia (now doing a PhD in sustainability after his children have all finished "uni" [as the Aussies call college]).

CCT Events
CCT Community Open House: "Teaching in the Key of CCT"
Monday, November 5, 2012
6:45-9:00pm, UMB Campus Center, Third floor, room 3545.
http://www.cct.umb.edu/CCTNetwork5Nov12.html
topics: what it means to teach in a graduate-level critical and creative thinking program; participation by various CCT faculty
Free and open to all. Refreshments served.

Alum and CCT associates Notes
CCT alum Candace McDuffie ('11) has published a book of poetry: Lush. Candace joined us to discuss her ongoing work in teaching and the arts in the October CCT open house.

Events
Graduate Studies Showcase
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
4:00-7:30pm, UMB Campus Center Ballroom
Visit with and learn about UMass Boston graduate programs in all areas and the graduate admissions process, and speak with financial aid representatives. Visit the CCT program's table and learn more about options for study in Critical and Creative Thinking.
Food will be provided. For more information and to register: http://www.umb.edu/admissions/visit/graduate_studies_showcase

"A Systemic Approach for Preparing Educators of English Language Learners – What We Need to Know and Do"
A presentation of the Curriculum & Instruction/Applied Linguistics speakers series
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
6:00-7:30pm, UMB McCormack Hall, Ryan Lounge (third floor)
Presenter: Michaela Colombo, Ed.D.(UMass Lowell)
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is in the process of implementing Rethinking Equity and Teaching English Language Learners (RETELL), a comprehensive approach for preparing educators for working with English language learners (ELLs). In this presentation, Michaela Colombo will discuss the importance of a systemic approach to preparing all educators of ELLs: pre-service teachers and faculty, in-service teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals. Using current research and a pilot professional development project to illustrate key points, Michaela will highlight what educators, such as ESL and content-area specialists, administrators, and paraprofessionals need to know about teaching ELLs, and the ways in which all educators must collaborate to provide effective instruction to ELLs.

State of Creativity Forum 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
7:00am-5:30pm, Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City
A full day of sharing and increasing capacity for creativity with presentations, workshops, and discussion among creative minds in many fields.
For more information and to register: http://www.stateofcreativity.com/events/okcf2012/

Opportunities
Open position:
Assistant Director of Supplemental Instruction for the Academic Support, Middlesex Community College
The Assistant Director of Supplemental Instruction, funded by the Vision Project, supports the comprehensive redesign of the College’s learning assistance programs through the Supplemental Instruction (SI) model within the Student Affairs Division. Responsible for supervision of a staff of professionals and peers providing supplemental learning services designed to assist our diverse student body achieve academic success. This includes but is not limited to: individual and group SI, learning styles assessments, and instructional technology-based learning support programs. Collaborates extensively with other academic, professional and administrative positions within the college and in professional associations as well as represents the college in a positive manner. The Assistant Director of Supplemental Instruction is committed to inclusive excellence and diversity, and collaborates with Academic and Student Affairs departments to contribute in a significant way to student success.
For information and to apply online:
http://middlesex.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=35715

Graduate Students: Apply to become an OLLI Scholar and teach a non-credit course with stipend ($500 per course) - deadline of November 28th, 2012 for Spring 2013 courses.
UMass Boston's Osher Lifelong Learning Instituteseeks graduate students to teach a 5-6 week non-credit course in their area of study or a related area. This program provides an opportunity for graduate students to develop professionally by gaining teaching experience with a friendly audience. Courses sought in many areas:
Art & Architecture, Computers & Technology, Culture & Travel, Film, Music & Theater, History, Literature & Language, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Medicine, U.S. & World Affairs, Wellness & Health, Writing, Others
Application steps - please submit the following materials to to: Paula Ogier, Program Coordinator / OLLI, UMass Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125-3393:
1) Completed course proposal from http://www.umb.edu/olli/courses/teach
2) An outline of the course plan for each week
3) A brief bio and a resume
10 applications accepted each academic year; applications will be reviewed by the OLLI curriculum committee. If your proposal is approved, you will be invited for an interview. Questions to Paula Ogier: paula.ogier@umb.edu or (617) 287-7322.

OLLI UMass Boston seeks graduate students to teach a 5-6 week non-credit course in their area of study or a related area. This program provides an opportunity for graduate students to develop professionally by gaining teaching experience with a friendly audience.

Boston Area Kodály Educators (BAKE)
upcoming workshops of interest to music educators: November 17th at the Fine Arts Building at BU.
Please see http://www.bostonareakodaly.org/for registration and information. Also, please see http://www.bostonareakodaly.org/round_robin.htm for BAKE's newsletter, Round Robin, with many items of interest and inspiration for music educators.

Resources
Toward better understanding of education in the online world: The Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

Presidential Campaign Finance Explorer: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/campaign-finance/
Electoral Vote Tracker: http://www.usatoday.com/interactives/news/politics/electoral-vote-tracker/

Food for Thought
The Ghosts of World War II: The photographs found at flea markets superimposed on to modern street scenes
Meet the 2012 MacArthur Fellows
How the Brain Learns From Mistakes

From the recent IDEAS Boston conference (Oct. 24):
"Games are the medium and culture of systems and...help to uncover systems dynamics" (Janot Mendler de Suarez)
We live in a "world economy where no one is in charge...we are adrift together." (Simon Johnson)
"There is a myth of information overload" concerning where the raw materials come from in the things we buy - we "need to be aware of their origins". (Leonardo Bonanni)
"Ideas are worthless...[taking] action is what is important...we need more doing and less thinking." (David Cancel)
"When the sunset comes, it means the angels are baking cookies for you" (words of a young poet, from Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project)

Humor
The Journal of Irreproducible Results

This Month's Challenge
Classic Riddle:
Can you explain the real "problem" here, and why this is confusing?
The Missing Dollar
Three students checked into a hotel and paid the clerk $30 for a room ($10 each). When the hotel manager returned, he noticed that the clerk had incorrectly charged $30 instead of $25 for the room. The manager told the clerk to return $5 to the students. The clerk, knowing that the students would not be able to divide $5 evenly, decided to keep $2 and to give them only $3.
The students were very happy because they paid only $27 for the room ($9 each). However, if they paid $27 and the clerk kept $2, that adds up to $29. What happened to the other dollar?