July Monthly Message
July 6, 2023
Happy July!
Wait—didn’t I just send out a newsletter saying it was June?! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Independence Day celebration.
I am fascinated by United States history and, in Virginia, it’s hard to avoid it. The history of the U.S. is so very complicated, as most histories are. With all of their faults, I am glad that there was a movement to bring about change in the status quo in the late 1700s. The individuals involved did not start with revolution and violence but ended up there. It’s true that their ideas did not include everyone and there is so much more work to be done to be inclusive; however, the experiment continues and relies on all of us to engage to make it better.
It is with this engagement, the ideas of a representative democracy, that the enormity of what we do as teacher educators really hits me. We prepare teachers who, in turn, prepare students to become active, discerning members of the community. These students vote, make decisions, and drive policy. If we mess preparation up, the implications are huge. The fireworks of July 4th are meant to be explosive; celebrating our complicated origin and encouraging us to think about how we can change, learn, and grow to create a better future. I hope we can keep some of the July 4th sparkles going throughout the year in TED.
Stay safe in the heat (at least you’re not wearing a wool coat or stays and petticoats) and all the best—
Peggy
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And now to what’s happening around TED!
Early Career Faculty held a webinar led by Dr. Sarah Powell on 10 Strategies for Grant Writing on 6/28/23. Want to find out how to get involved? Contact our Early Career leaders.
The PD committee is hosting two live webinars on providing effective instruction for secondary students with dyslexia this July and August.
o Dr. Kelly Williams of the University of Georgia will lead the sessions. The first session, on July 27th from 6:30-8pm EST, will cover evidence-based practices for inclusive content-area classes. This session is designed for general educators or co-teaching teams.
o The second session, on August 10th from 6:30-8pm EST, will cover implementing intensive reading interventions. This session is designed for special educators or co-teaching teams.
o Interventionists, paraeducators, and administrators could also benefit from both sessions. Registration is discounted for TED, CASE, and DLD members.
o Please share our flyer and register here.
The PD Committee is also planning to submit two proposals for the CEC PD Fair on September 28th. Dr. Kate Peeples will lead a session for teacher educators on creating accessible course materials, and we are looking for a presenter with expertise in SEL for educators to present a session on that topic. Please reach out to Stephanie Morano at morano@virginia.edu if you or one of your colleagues would be interested in leading that session. Proposals are due by July 24th.
Journal of Special Education Preparation
JOSEP has recently published a special issue on special education teacher shortages guest edited by Dr. Sarah Nagro. The first part of this two-part series focuses on strengthening existing pathways into the profession. Check out these six consequential articles on JOSEP’s website: https://openjournals.bsu.edu/JOSEP. Read “From the Guest Editor” to get an overview of the special two-part series.
SIG/Caucus Chairs met in June to talk and learn about ideas for developing and expanding our collaborative culture at TED. David and Sheherazade facilitated the session, as they had for our Board in March. It was a great discussion and we hope it leads to even more interaction through the year.
Thank you to all of our reviewers and Conference Advisory Committee members! Decisions regarding conference proposals went out on June 15. Brannan is busily scheduling all of the conference events into their times and spaces. We look forward to a great conference in Long Beach. Registration is open and all the information you need is here!
Awards TED has a significant number of awards to give out! If you are thinking about how to bring recognition to your colleagues for the work they do, please check out our Awards page. Most nominations are due in August/September timeframe and are given out at the TED conference. Nominating colleagues for TED awards is a great way to bring their great work to light!