News from IMLEA
October 1, 2020 Indiana Middle Level Education Association
YOUR IMLEA BOARD: What's Working? How Can IMLEA Help?
- Find ways to take things off teachers' plates, since so many things have been added. One example: One principal has an assistant who handles virtual attendance, and another who does in-person attendance, letting teachers concentrate more on instruction. Others have designated people who are tracking down missing students and notifying the appropriate teachers.
- Carmel Clay Schools has made support of teachers one goal for the year. Some of the required PD time has been used for staff to take the "Science of Happiness" course from DOE. Past IMLEA president, Jessica Tubbs, says it has made a difference!
- Our president, Jana Vance from Rochester, encouraged us to reach out to local mental health providers. They can supplement the programs your counselors and others have in place, especially with student well-being a big concern now. They also collaborated with the prosecutor's office on attendance policies.
- "Porch visits" and/or home visits.
- One eLearning Day/month designated as catch up/PD. Teachers have learned a lot since remote learning has started, and also have questions on strategies and ideas to share.
- Special virtual class period with students having difficulties
- Being extra vigilant in keeping proximity less than 15 minutes
- Julie Kemp, Boonville principal, shared that she has a teacher who has managed the simultaneous in-person/virtual class very well, and has had visitors observe.
Crowd-Sourced Hybrid Tips from Jennifer Gonzalez: When Things are Scattered
Learning (Math) Virtually: Learning as We Go
From Bill Ferriter: "A Lesson Learned on Grading During a Pandemic"
Have You Tried the Waterfall Chat Strategy?
1. Increasing wait time helps students be more thoughtful about their answers.
2. Often in chats, students will hold back and expect the same 3-5 students to answer first. Then they either copy those answers or don't share at all. This way, no one is really first.
3. They may spend more time looking at what others said.
Others in the webinar called these "Nitrochats" or "Chat Flurries." Here is a link to the recording (sometimes I just listen in the car) they have several other free webinars coming up in October. Fisher also said he has noted an increase in inter-age tutoring
National Geographic Certification Open for This Year; Deadline Sunday
This Week's INSPIRE3 Update
Highlights included in this INSPIRE3 Update 9/28/20. Thank You for sharing this Update with your staff and colleagues as these resources are beneficial in service-learning planning for in-school and/or virtual instruction for the 20-21 school year.
- New Spotlight on Service-Learning Article – Service-Learning BLENDS into VIRTUALLY Everything – Part 2 just published in the Sept. 2020 IASP Indianagram.
- View specific information on LTG’s Social Awareness Resources - Teaching Social Justice and Building Remote Community These Social Justice resource guides include video, literature guides, discussion starters, activities, and lessons organized by grade spans for elementary, middle and high school students.
- Five LTG Activity Guides on the five core competencies of Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Definitions and activities to help students learn about, develop, and engage in each core competencies in the context of teaching generosity.
- Your Voice, Your Vote – LTG K-12 Voting and Civic Engagement Resources and Questions to Ask Your Students.
- October Themes, Lessons, Toolkits from LTG
- LTG Calendar -20-21 Planning
- LTG Develop Skills and Knowledge Resources –Get to the Root; Difficult Conversations; Media Literacy; Resolving Conflict with Respect K-12 Unit; and more.
- generationOn website free service-learning resources for teachers, students, and parents
- Content area and grade level Service- Learning PowerPoints and Tutorials
- INPSIRE3 mini-grants available for 1st semester of 20-21
- Visit our INSPIRE3 page on the IMELA website HERE or the IASP website HERE and Connect
- INSPIRE3 Program Update
- Contact information for free assistance
- Thank You Very Much for sharing our updates and web page with your staff and colleagues
Champions Together: Virtual Training Available This Year!
Free Learning Opportunities & Recognitions (all times listed are EDT)
Ongoing: DOE Study of The Perfect Blend by Michelle Eaton
Ongoing: Keep Indiana Learning Series on The Distance Learning Playbook
October 1: Free Webinar with Todd Whitaker, "Inspirations & Strategies for a Great School Year," 4 pm
October 1: DOE Town Hall, 7 pm
October 3: Celebrate Science Indiana (online) 9:30-5. Keynote by Miss America Camile Schrier (Who did a science experiment as her talent) Many Experiences for Students
October 4: Deadline to Apply for National Geographic Fall Cohort
October 6: Robert Kaplinsky Webinar: Why We Should Reconsider Using Worksheets (And What We Should Be Doing Instead), (Esp good for math) 5 pm
October 7: Digital Citizenship in the Age of Distance Learning, Common Sense/Google 4 pm
*October 9: Updated Deadline for AMLE Student Influencer Contest
October 16: Preliminary Activities Start for AMLE20
October 23-25: AMLE Virtual Conference
November 2 : Lilly Creativity Grant Applications Due
2021: IMLEA Conference-Now Virtual!
ONGOING EVENTS
PATINS Trainings for Accessibility for All
The Emergency Home Learning (and More) Summit
Corwin Monday Afternoon Webinar Series
Indiana eLearning Lab (Must Register to See Live Schedule; Tutorials always available)
That's All for Now!
We don't want to overload you, but want to share some of the best things we've found on the web. Feel free to send us your successes and ideas!
You can access past Monday Minutes via this link on our webpage, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter; we will be posting there more frequently. Principals and others: Feel free to forward this newsletter to your staff, and email us at any time.
And, if you are one of the districts going on break this week, enjoy!
Indiana Middle Level Education Association
Shirley Wright, Executive Director
Susie Highley, Director of Operations
Fax: 317-454-0749
Email: shighleyimlea@iasp.org
Website: https://www.imlea.org/
Location: 11025 East 25th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 317.894.2937
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IMLEA-Indiana-Middle-Level-Education-Association-170748717595/
Twitter: @IMLEAorg