[NewsFlash]

Education Career Fair - Coming This Fall!
Career fairs and professional conferences offer students a wealth of opportunities for networking and learning about their field of interest, as well as, learning about potential job opportunities. Students are able to meet career representatives at career fairs in a relaxed and comfortable environment. Many Former Students visit the campus, as Career Fair representatives, to hire Aggies at Texas A&M University. Interviews and potential job offers can often result from attendance at a career fair!

It's important to dress professionally and bring a resume when attending career fairs or conferences since students will be networking with potential future employers whether they are searching for employment, an internship, or just want to find out more about their field of interest.

The Texas A&M University Career Center will sponsor the Fall 2004 Education Career Fair on October 25, 2004 at Reed Arena. The event will begin at 9:30am and conclude at 12:00 noon. There is no cost to teacher candidates and their guests to attend the career fair. Directions to Reed Arena can be found by accessing the TAMU web site at http://www.tamu.edu/00/map/

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) held their annual conference for 2004 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the week of April 21-24. This years theme for NCTM focused on defining mathematics for all. Daily news highlights from April 22nd to the 24th can be reviewed at Daily News Highlights.

A unique feature located at the NCTM web site is the availability of webcasts from the past conferences. Opening and closing sessions and addresses by the NCTM president can be viewed online. In addition to these webcasts, the featured Cyberchase Session can be viewed, which is entitled "Ask Not for Whom the Bell Tolls! It Is Ringing for Mathematics!" by L. Carey Bolster. To view webcasts from the conference click on NCTM Webcasts.

The Annual Meeting and Exposition for NCTM in 2005 will be held in Anaheim, California from April 6-9. The focus for the conference will be: Embracing Mathematical Diversity. The deadline for submission of research speaker proposals is August 31, 2004 by midnight EST.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
The mission of the National Science Teachers Association is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning. The conventions provided by NSTA are available to all science educators who may choose to attend as either presenters or spectators. Generally four conventions are held every year with a national convention in the spring and three area conventions in the fall. The national conventions bring together between 16,000-20,000 science educators and may feature as many as 1,500 sessions and 1,100 exhibits. The 2004 national convention took place in Atlanta, Georgia during the week of April 1–4. Added to the national conventions starting in 2004 are new Professional Development Institutes. These are four low-cost, content-based sessions exploring key topics in significantly greater depth.

In 2005, NSTA's National Convention will be held in Dallas, Texas from March 31 - April 3. Proposals for presentations at the convention will be accepted until the deadline of April 15, 2005.

For more information about the NSTA conferences and how to get involved and participate, go to the NSTA web site

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[Spotlight Resource]

ePortfolio Center and ePortfolios
The ePortfolio Center was developed by Trina Davis and Arlen Strader in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture, in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University. Future employers and university supervisors can use the ePortfolio Center to search for ePortfolios of teaching candidates. School administrators can explore the center for work that teacher candidates are currently completing through the Accelerate Online teacher certification program.

The Accelerate Online teacher certification program targets highly-qualified science, mathematics and engineering students and professionals to become certified secondary Mathematics, Life Science, Physical Science, or Science (composite) teachers.

During the Accelerate Online program, teaching candidates develop and submit Program Artifacts to their ePortfolios during the preservice component of the program and once they are in the classroom, they submit Instructional Artifacts that represent their organizational, instructional, and management processes used in the classroom. All Accelerate Online students have ePortfolios, and can continue to use them after they complete the program.

Browse the following example ePortfolios of two Accelerate Online students:

Texas A&M University College of Education and Human Development
Daniel Lee
Daniel Lee graduated with a Master of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. One of his professional goals is "to be a great secondary science teacher in the public school system." Daniel is seeking certification in Life Sciences for grades 8-12.
Christi McNealy
Christi McNealy received a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University. Her professional goals include a desire "to create a classroom where students feel safe, respected, and inspired to learn." Christi is seeking certification in Life Sciences for grades 8-12.
To view each ePortfolio, click on the picture. To learn more about the ePortfolio Center and explore the site, go to: The ePortfolio Center

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eZone Quarterly is updated four times a year to spotlight educational technology resources, news, and information. The eZone Quarterly features profiles of useful resources, relevant news regarding education and technology, and descriptions of powerful practices/programs related to integrating technology into K-20 instruction.

To send comments or ideas, contact Trina Davis, tdavis@coe.tamu.edu.

eZone Quarterly is designed and maintained by Trina Davis .

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