Wisconsin Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (WAECTE)

Spring Board Meeting
Date: March 9, 2001
Venue: University Center, UW- Stevens Point, WI 54481
Recorder: Oluyomi Ogunnaike – LAFE
Moderator: Jane Baldridge

In attendance were:
Jane Baldridge- President
Barbara Armstrong
Ni Chang
Stacy Schidemeyer
Monica Newburg
Oluyomi Ogunnaike-LAFE
Amy Werba

Old Business

* WAECTE account
* WAECTE membership & dues

Jane Baldridge called the meeting to order. Financial matters, especially, opening an account for the organization and Linda DeMoe’s payment for speaking at the WAECTE October Meeting in La Crosse were discussed. Ogunnaike- LAFE mentioned that WAECTE was finally able to own an account after procuring an EIN # (39-2018815) from Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Further, a check for $200 was sent to Linda DeMoe. Questions and concerns about national dues and journal were raised, to which Ogunnaike-Lafe replied that national dues at $45 per member had also been sent to Nancy Freeman at the National Office. Barb Armstrong, Stacy Schidemeyer, and Amy Werba paid their membership dues at this meeting and were welcomed to the organization as members.  Having an updated list of members was also discussed.

A complete Treasurer’s report and membership information (addresses, etc) will be prepared by Ogunnaike-LAFE and sent to all the members.

New Business

*   New Secretary-Treasurer
*   Board Matters: Members & Meeting in the fall, 2001
*   Payment for Miriam Meeks (Speaker, Forum)

Since Ogunnaike-LAFE will be taking an academic leave in the Fall 2001 semester, a new Secretary-Treasurer, Barb Armstrong was elected at the meeting. Her election took immediate effect. Ogunnaike-LAFE handed over most of the WAECTE materials to Armstrong at the meeting and informed everyone that the rest of the materials (e.g. check book, financial ledger, and membership information & account balance) will be mailed to Armstrong before the end of the spring semester.

New board membership was also discussed – Ni Chang was elected as the Vice President, while it was suggested that Stacy Schidemeyer and Linda DeMoe be elected as Members at large.  The time and agenda for the fall meeting in Madison were discussed- it was suggested that the Board meeting take place on Friday evening, while there should be a Portfolio Session on Saturday. Ideas about guest speaker and agenda should be forwarded to Monica Newberg. Due to the huge attendance at the annual breakfast meeting of the organization, the option of holding a meeting then was also considered.

Payment for the Speaker at the Spring Forum was decided at the meeting. A gift certificate from Play N Learn ($50) should be presented to Miriam Meeks’ school, as honorarium.

Wisconsin Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (WAECTE) Spring Forum

“Exploring and Sharing Best Practices & Techniques in Early Childhood Classrooms”
DATE: March 9, 2001; 9.00a.m – 2.00p.m
VENUE: Room 207, University Center, UW – Stevens Point

Forum Report

Attendance:

*   WAECTE members – Jane Baldridge, Amy Werba, Monica Newberg, Stacy Schidemeyer, Ni Chang, Barb Armstrong
*   Students: UW-Stevens Point School of Education, Fox Valley Technical College
*   UWSP School of Education – Dr. Patty Caro

The forum began with a discussion on Diversity in our classrooms by the Speaker, Miriam Meeks, an ESL expert and consultant in the Stevens Point Area Schools. She stressed the importance of flexibility in teaching young children from diverse backgrounds. Particularly, she mentioned that our teaching should start from “WHAT THEY KNOW” to “WHAT IS UNKNOWN”. To make this more practical, she shared several resources from her classroom of Hmong children.  For example, class books on Family, Daily Schedule, etc and other hands-on materials on shapes, colors, scarecrow/Halloween, Santa/Christmas were shared. As educators, we need to “break concepts down into small bits” if we are to foster learning and make it more authentic for young children, especially, those from diverse backgrounds, enjoined Miriam Meeks.

Following the Speaker’s session, participants had the opportunity to discuss and share their various projects and activities with one another. The first participant was Stacy Schidemeyer from Mt.  Mary College, she shared about a program Wisconsin’s Early Childhood Excellence Initiative. This program is based on findings from brain research that suggests the need for quality care, in the early years. The program is primarily focused on assisting and supporting low-income, working families. As one of the Coordinators, Stacy discussed the emphasis of human connection and mentoring child care providers in the Sites for Excellence she visits.

Students in Early Childhood Education from UW-Stevens Point shared hands-on projects in Literacy and Science. The literacy project involved the design and use of a flannel board and a color – mixing experiment on Colors with a group of preschoolers. For the science project, two students shared their “crystal-making” experiment – steps and process were illustrated on a large tag board. Another activity shared was a writing project based on the book “Hey Little Ant”, a book about a boy and a little ant.  The UWSP student had read this book to Kindergarteners and asked them to write what the boy in the story should do with the little ant. Several ideas were written and illustrated by the children – for e.g. “the boy should not step on the ant”.

Ni Chang, a professor from UW-Whitewater then shared her project on Children’s drawings. To begin, she asked each participant to draw a picture of ‘pikachu” (Pokemon).  The participants drew several versions of this character and these were compared to a “perfect” picture drawn by a 7-year old artist. She explained that familiarity with a subject/topic affected the quality of drawings. Also, she mentioned the importance of asking children about their pictures in order to understand their “handiwork”. 

After the presentations, participants went for lunch. A very brief board meeting was held by WAECTE members to discuss old business (WAECTE account and membership) and new business (new membership and fall meeting). After lunch, UWSP students took participants on a tour of the two early childhood learning environments, Gesell Institute for Child Development and University Child Learning and Care Center (UCLCC) on campus. The Gesell Institute is a half-day, laboratory program for preschoolers (including infants & toddlers), while the UCLCC is a full – day child care environment. Both places serve the Stevens Point and neighboring areas.

The forum came to an end after the tour. The participants were thanked and wished a safe journey back to their various destinations.  

Respectfully submitted by

Oluyomi A. Ogunnaike-LAFE (Ph.D.)
Secretary-Treasurer, WAECTE
2000 - 2001