Monday Minute
April 13 2020
Want Some Inspiration? Look to Our Students!
For this edition, we decided to share some good news. We realize that many are going through difficult times, with some districts losing staff members and family members to COVID-19 or experiencing very stressful situations.
School as we know it ended on Fri, March 13. I had just met my Quarter 4 Enrichment Class. They were excited to carry on a tradition of giving Spring Baskets to the children at the Evansville Psychiatric Children’s Center. I posted one FB message & sent one email home to see if the interest was still there. Oh my! Was it ever! Baskets were delivered, with the help of local police, and in quarantine. There are going to be some happy children thanks to so many generous students, their families, and community members. Thank you!
Next:
The Castle North Middle School 6th Grade Gold Team will present a collaborative service-learning project assignment to the students. We started the IPARDE process with an online meeting on April 2. We are looking forward to the project ideas as they progress over the next three weeks.
Darlene is one of our INSPIRE3 field reps. You can find her and the other field reps and what they do here.
For Some Crawfordsville MS Students, Service is a Way of Life
- LOTS of masks being made for the nursing home workers that wouldn't have one otherwise
- Several students are grocery shopping with parents for elderly neighbors
- A couple are making coloring books for our Comfort Cart when we return to school
- A plea went out from Meals on Wheels for extra drivers. Several of my kids and their parents are helping deliver.
"I know there are many more but most of my kids just do what they need to do without telling of their exploits :-)"
"Guest" Teachers During Remote Learning? Why Not?
(*Shannon is an accomplished author, and has even been featured by "The Today Show.")
More Digital Escape/Breakout Rooms
Office Hours For Parents?
"Our team is hosting Office Hours just for parents once a week. It's 30 minutes when they can ask questions about tech, curriculum, future plans (what little we know) We have been thanked many times over. We take turns hosting; one week it was an admin."
A Success Story for Special Needs Students
-Started with private Facebook group for the parents. They know FB. All but one were already on. Some were not as familiar with Google Classroom, Canvas, etc. Learning curve small.
-Visual aids posted in the FB albums. Teaching assistants made moderators.
-Daily updates and instructional videos posted daily, created with cell phone.
-Some parents follow the schedule, those working access videos later.
-Google docs, answers to questions, answer keys all posted. No personal information posted that would violate FERPA.
-Packets of sanitized manipulatives were provided at food pick up. Fine motor skill development very important to these students.
While nothing can duplicate the school setting, this teacher feels that, 4 weeks in, this system is working failry well for her students and their families.
Steve Hartman Continues Kindness 101 with Optimism
Thank You for sharing this Update with your staff as these resources would be helpful with their e-learning/distance learning efforts. Many of these resources would also be helpful to parents while they are at home with their kids. Learning to Give (LTG) has been adding useful resources just about every day.
LTG online K-12 lessons to connect learning to generosity - specifically highlighting lessons, projects, videos related to issues students care about, sharing messages of beauty and hope, and animal welfare.
LTG online K-12 lessons related to the "What is the U.S. Census and the Why."
LTG article - Generosity Through Empathy – The Importance of Empathy TODAY
LTG Toolkits on Issue Area tab
- A Call to Action: How to Serve in a Historic Time - framework to assist with assigning an online service-learning project to students
- Investigation Passion Questionnaire and Links: First Phase of the Service-Learning Process
- generationOn Volunteer At Home Project Guides
- INSPIRE3 Mini-Grant Extension Update
- Reminders: Our INSPIRE3 Power Points, Tutorials, Weekly Updates are archived on our INSPIRE3 page
- INSPIRE3 Contact information-free assistance with resources
- Visit our INSPIRE3 page on the IMLEA website HERE or the IASP website HERE and Connect
- Thank You Very Much for sharing our updates and page with your staff.
Learning Opportunities
April 13-24: Whole Child Virtual Summit
April 14: AMLE Webinar with Le Ann Nickelsen and Rick Wormeli: Helping Students Develop the Motivation to Invest in their Learning While Sheltering at Home, 3:30 pm ET
(AMLE Webinars are free to all at this time, not just members.)
April 15: Was deadline to apply for Raspberry Pi Academy-- now canceled
April 15: CTQ Webinar: "Creating and Facilitating Engaging, Effective Online Meetings and Classes" 7 pm ET
April 15: DOE #INedChat "Pivoting Education, Optimizing Remote Learning Opportunities, 8 pm ET
April 16: AMLE Webinar: Teaching Student Writing Remotely, 3:30 pm ET
April 16: Immersive Reader Webinar with Leslie Fisher, 4 pm ET
April 16: CIESC and Indiana Online Webinar "Providing Feedback," 4 pm ET
April 17: Book Creator and Accessibility Even from Home with Leslie Fisher, 1:30 pm ET
April 21: ISTE Webinar w/ Michele Eaton "Making Sense of Content in a Digital World" 1 pm ET
April 21: AMLE Webinar "Thoughtfully applying SEL and Restorative Principles during and after COVID-19", 3:30 pm ET
*April 30: New Deadline for IMLEA/AMLE Joint Membership Discount
May 1: AMLE Collaboration Grant Deadline
February 21-22, 2021: IMLEA Conference
Just for Fun
Google debuted their 3D Augmented Reality (AR) Easter Bunny this week, joining several other animals. You might want to share this with your students. There is nothing to download to access it.(It only works on mobile.) Here is more information and the list of animals. (Photo credit: my daughter and her dog Teddy, who wondered why everyone was staring at him)
We continue to update the resources on a special page of the IMLEA website. AMLE is also adding many, including this crowd-sourced, curated resource page. You are welcome to submit suggestions. You can also access past Monday Minutes via this link on our webpage, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Principals and others: Feel free to forward this newsletter to your staff!
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