Swaroop Krothapalli came to the United States to pursue a master's degree. You can too. Find out how Fitchburg State University can help you achieve your goals. Register for our webinar today!

Are you interested in Fitchburg State's education programs? As part of the GCE blog's "Our Faculty" series, we introduce Teacher in Residence and Fitchburg State alum, Professor Stephen Celona.

When my undergraduate career began at Fitchburg State College in the fall of 1987, I don’t think I realized just how far my degree would take me.

After graduating in 1991 with a bachelor of science degree, I went on to serve many different roles in the field of education. Those roles have included many different teaching experiences, as well as administrative roles later on in my career.

Although I continued my education, completing my graduate degree elsewhere in 2001, I truly believe that it was my undergraduate time at Fitchburg State that instilled in me the content and strategies needed to be a knowledgeable, skillful, ethical, and caring educator. 

Michelle Downey received the Graduate Student Leadership Award at our 2018 spring graduate commencement. Michelle's path to Fitchburg State began when she worked in academic publishing sales for 15 years and worked with professors on how to best meet their needs. From her sales background, she had the benefit of getting to work with professors from colleges all over the state. Michelle chose Fitchburg State because of the professors she met here. 

"They advocate for their students, help foster relationships with colleagues and, ultimately, led me to fall in love with teaching," she said.

Earlier this year Michelle obtained her first full-time teaching job and looks forward to continuing her new career path in Special Education, Moderate Disabilities.  She lives in North Andover with her husband, Brian, and their 7-year-old twins.

For some people it can be intimidating to sign up for their first online class. You might have lots of questions such as:

• What tools will I need?
• How will I complete and turn in my work?
• Do I have to log in at a certain time?
• Is there help available if I need it?

If you have questions like these, read on!

Are you a teacher who wants to take a walk on the “creative, fun side” to make your teaching feel more vibrant and exciting for your students?

1+1+1+1+1 equals 5 fun filled days of learning, exploring and achieving. The key word in differentiated instruction is “different”.  Sign up for Topics: Developing Math Materials to Differentiate Instruction and have fun while enhancing your own professional development!   

Become enlightened with regard to the disadvantages women in music have faced and continue to face as composers, performers, conductors, educators, and scholars in the world of art music and popular music.

Have you ever wanted to learn more about women in music than just the “last” paragraph in music history textbooks? Learn more about “herstory” (history from a feminist perspective) with regard to women in music in the course Women, Music, and Society.

This course will widen your perspective about women in music and push you to think more critically about the past, present, and future of women in music.  Specifically, with regard to:

• the accomplishments of women in music; as composers, performers, conductors, educators, and scholars
• the works by women composers through primary and secondary source materials and through the analysis of musical works.

Ranee’ Maree’ Wright received the Graduate Student Leadership Award at our 2017 winter commencement.  Ranee’ has worked in health care for 14 years and thrives on challenges.  As a forensic nurse examiner in her native Wisconsin, she cares for patients in crisis as they are photographed following sexual assaults and domestic violence. She also works at the Wisconsin Resource Center, caring for prison inmates in a psychiatric setting.

Her care for this diverse patient population is motivated by a fundamental tenet of nursing – everyone deserves to be treated with compassion, and the nurse’s primary task is to advocate for their patients.

Following her studies at Fitchburg State, Ranee’ seeks to continue her education as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, where she hopes to continue broadening the scope and practice of her chosen field.  She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Jeremy, and their children.

With technology constantly changing, schools are investing in technology to help improve and enhance student achievement. And with the common core standards, educators need to ensure that students can demonstrate what they know, and not just say they know. When implemented properly, technology can produce significant gains by boosting engagement with interactive learning especially with at-risk students.

It's time to wrap up another year of the GCE Blog. We've shared a lot of information with our readers and here's a quick look at our top 5 posts of 2017.

Are you interested in Fitchburg State's nursing programs? As part of the GCE Blog's "Our Faculty" series, we introduce Dr. Deborah Stone, Chair of the Forensic Nursing program.

Tell us about your experience in Forensic Nursing.

The majority of my experience as a forensic RN has been as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). Many facilities utilize the role of a SANE combined with a generalist forensic RN role. This includes providing care, evidence collection, and documentation (photographs, diagrams, and narrative) for any forensic patient. Forensic patients seek healthcare which is, or will be, related to a legal proceeding. Common examples include patients who experience domestic violence, child or elder abuse/neglect, sexual assault/perpetration. Other infrequent examples in my experience include photo-documentation of a shark bite, and photo-documentation of a deceased motor vehicle collision victim (MVC) where the airbag failed to deploy. In addition to clinical practice roles, I also have experience as a legal nurse consultant. Most of my work with attorneys involved extensive record review and writing reports. The SANE role includes providing a physical examination, collection of evidence, and testifying in court as an expert and/or fact witness. In 2010, I was approached by the Massachusetts Board of Nursing and asked to create a presentation that details when cardio-pulmonary resuscitation should and should not be done.