As we prepare for spring 2021, please join us for the webinar "Blackboard Learn Grade Center," presented by Brooke Winckelmann, instructional designer, on Wednesday, December 2, from 11:00 a.m. to noon

The Grade Center in Blackboard Learn is more than just a way to record student grades. It is a dynamic and interactive tool, allowing you to collect student submissions, record data, calculate grades automatically, and monitor student progress. You can also drop the lowest grade, display percentages or letter grades, use a weighted grading system, and much more. 

By the end of this workshop, participants will have the skills necessary to use the Grade Center to manage student grades for assignments, tests, discussion posts, and more. You can also create manual grade columns for any campus-based activities or requirements you want to grade, such as special projects or participation. The Grade Center can be individualized to fit your needs to make your grading more efficient. 

This workshop is suitable for instructors teaching face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

It is critical that course material information be submitted to the bookstore this week. To date, only 31 percent of responses have been received. If you are not using any materials, please note that as well using the “no text required” choice in Faculty Enlight.

Last semester, nearly 500 adoptions were submitted in late August and during the first week of classes, making it impossible to get these materials to our students in a timely manner. Publishers are working remotely and have less inventory because of the pandemic; therefore, materials are being backordered and are taking longer to arrive.

With remote learning, materials are being shipped from the bookstore to students’ homes. We begin this shipping process weeks before the start of classes, and we need the books to be here in order to do this. Please submit your course material requests now.

Thank you for your support.

Please join President Conway-Turner and the Civic and Community Engagement Office for a panel conversation about food security, housing, and racial justice featuring Ada Garcia-Poll, ’18; Hannah Kalmeyer, ’21; Elyse Burgher of FeedMore WNY; and Stephanie Lawson of Habitat for Humanity Buffalo today, November 19, at 12:15 p.m.

If you didn't register for Bengals Dare to Care, you can do so now or join us on the CCE's Facebook Livestream beginning at 12:15 p.m. to attend this conversation. 

The CCE also encourages you to dive deeper into some of the engagement materials curated on the topic of food security, housing, and racial justice and to complete one of the Take Action opportunities. Engagement materials and Take Action resources are available on the Bengals Dare to Care website under Week Four.

All Teacher Education faculty are needed! Please join us for the annual TEU Program Improvement Retreat on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. via Zoom videoconference. This year, your attendance is more important than ever. Our self-study report highlighting our excellence in teacher and leader preparation is due this year (2021). Help us tie up loose ends while also exploring your program data during a dedicated guided work session.

Please register online.

Retreat Objectives

• Dig deep into your program-level data with colleagues.
• Explore candidate performance on state and unit assessments.
• Develop action plans to capture the work you do.
• Learn about the new remote teaching CAEP requirement.
• Hear about updates related to our CAEP accreditation.
• Discover the importance of your role over the next few months!

Please e-mail Shannon Budin, professor of exceptional education, with questions.

As we prepare for spring 2021, please join us for the webinar “Debriefing Remote Learning: What the Heck Happened?” presented by John Draeger, director of the Teaching and Learning Center, on Tuesday, December 8, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. via Blackboard Collaborate.

The session will take stock of student learning during the transition to remote instruction. We’ll revisit what worked, what didn’t, and how we might make changes looking forward to whatever adventure might await us in the spring. We’ll discuss how to make decisions about delivery, engagement, and assessment based on the most essential learning elements. While technological solutions will be mentioned, the focus will be on creating a plan moving forward based on the recent past.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

As we prepare for spring 2021, please join us for the webinar “Debriefing Remote Learning: What the Heck Happened?” presented by John Draeger, director of the Teaching and Learning Center, via Blackboard Collaborate. Please register for one of the following sessions:

• Monday, November 30, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
• Tuesday, December 8, 2:00–3:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 9, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

The webinar will take stock of student learning during the transition to remote instruction. We’ll revisit what worked, what didn’t, and how we might make changes looking forward to whatever adventure might await us in the spring. We’ll discuss how to make decisions about delivery, engagement, and assessment based on the most essential learning elements. While technological solutions will be mentioned, the focus will be on creating a plan moving forward based on the recent past.

The 2020–2021 “Conversations in and out of the Disciplines” series continues this Friday, November 20, as John Torrey, assistant professor of philosophy, presents “The Possibility of Black Reparations” at 3:00 p.m. on Zoom. A Q&A and (virtual) wine and cheese reception will follow. Everyone is welcome.

Join the Zoom meeting.
Meeting ID: 898 6309 6628
Join by phone: (929) 205-6099 (New York)

Please stay tuned for more information about our upcoming talks this spring, which will include presentations by Jevon Hunter, Woods-Beals Endowed Chair in Urban Education in the School of Education and interim chair of the Social and Psychological Foundations of Education and Adult Education departments; Kristen Pastore-Capuana, assistant professor of English; and A. K. Shauku, assistant professor of political science and public administration.

The “Conversations” series was started over a decade ago by Ann Colley, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, to “celebrate and draw attention to the research being done in various departments at Buffalo State College.” Over the last few years, colleagues from Anthropology, Art Conservation, Art History, Biology, English, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, and Secondary Education, among others, have shared their work with the Buffalo State and Buffalo communities.

Please join us for the next podcast discussion in our Podcast, Walk, and Talk Series, "Speaking of Psychology, Episode 107: Parenting through the Pandemic," facilitated by Nanci Monaco, associate professor in the Elementary Education, Literacy, and Educational Leadership Department, on Friday, November 20, from noon to 1:15 p.m. via Zoom.

As we enter yet another month of living under quarantine, parents and their kids may be getting on each other’s nerves. Parents working from home may be battling with their children—and each other—for computer access. As youngsters try to finish their school year via remote learning, they may be upset that there will be no summer camp this year, and certainly no big out-of-town vacations. Earl Turner, Ph.D., offers tips for coping, keeping families safe, and handling the relentless drumbeat of coronavirus news.

Take some time away from your desk to go for a walk from noon to 12:30 p.m and listen to the free podcast "Parenting through the Pandemic" from the American Psychological Association (APA). After your walk, join the Zoom call and engage with your colleagues in a virtual discussion until 1:15 p.m. about how we can apply what we learned from the podcast to our own lives. The Zoom link will be sent two hours before the event.

APA Podcast: Speaking of Psychology: Parenting through the Pandemic.

For more information and to register, please visit the Workshop Registration System.

Congratulations to Kevin Williams, associate professor of earth sciences and science education, winner of this week's SEFA online raffle for a $100 gift card to SEAR, one of Buffalo's finest steakhouses. Another raffle will be announced in Monday's Daily Bulletin. All proceeds from the raffle benefit the 2020 SEFA Campaign in support of the United Way. For more information, please contact Tom Koller, officer in charge of Intercollegiate Athletics and this year's SEFA/United Way Campaign chair, 878-6514.

The Buffalo State College NAfME Collegiate chapter and the Music Department Diversity Committee invite you to join us for a presentation by Buffalo State Music Department alumna Karen Saxon, titled "A Beginner’s Common-Sense Guide to Classroom Teaching,” today, November 12, at 12:15 p.m.  

Mrs. Saxon, a vocal music teacher in the Buffalo Public Schools, has been teaching since 1999 at School 8, Houghton Academy (School 69), Futures Academy (School 37), East High School, and the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts. Additionally, she serves as minister of music for First Shiloh Baptist Church and as chair of the Buffalo NAACP ACT-SO Committee. Mrs. Saxon is also a recipient of numerous awards, including the Buffalo State Music Department Music Educator of the Year award.

Please join us through this Zoom link.