Monday Minute
May 4, 2020
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
The Indianapolis Star ran a nice story today about great teachers, including several middle level educators. You might get some great ideas from it, plus there is a form at the end where you can nominate additional teachers to be featured. You can even watch an episode of the Jeff & Emily Beechler's "Tonite Show" ( ala Jimmy Fallon) here.
Teachers Rule! MadLibs
Want to be Part of a WOrld-Wide Kahoot?
Fifth grade teacher Steve Auslander is drawing families from over 25 countries for his Friday afternoon "pop culture" Kahoots, and has even been featured on Kahoot's blog. You can join in this Friday, May 8 at 3 pm (but register in advance.) The past six weeks have featured a winning team from a different state or country each time. The blog post also explains how you can host a family event of your own. Steve has explained, "My favorite part of this experience is that many teachers are playing with their families and learning how to do something similar with the families in their home/school communities."
This was another example of finding a great idea being shared across several social media platforms, only to discover the creator was from indianapolis! Steve shares other great activities on twitter.
Quarantined Science Mom
Gretchen Peluso from WIlbur Wright Middle School in Munster is drawing quite a following with her "Quarantine Science Mom" videos. She explains, "Each week my own kids help me demonstrate a new experiment, and then I discuss the science behind the experiment (why things happened a certain way). My students watch the video every Friday (and can participate if they want at home), and then they answer questions in their online science journals or discussion board. My students can even upload pictures of themselves with their experiment to the discussion board and journal for bonus points."
National Book Club for Kids (Grades 4-6)
Virtual Backgrounds from Horace mann
Leslie Preddy, media specialist at Perry Meridian Middle, shared her endorsement of the project, "CoBuild19 - Sharing Activities for Kids and Families at Home," led by Adam Maltese from IU. "We host events, post challenges, make videos of how-to's/makes using found materials around the home, and the community has grown to thousands."
"CoBuild19 - Sharing Activities for Kids and Families at Home was created by educators and researchers to help youth and their caregivers to spend quality time together building and creating. We encourage and foster mental fitness, creativity and a safe and welcoming community during an unprecedented time when the world is dealing with the COVID19 pandemic. We hope you will find, engage in and play with, and enjoy the activities, events, and resources shared here. The activities are designed to be completed with free or low-cost materials, supplies, and tools found commonly in homes, around communities/ neighborhoods, or readily accessible at local stores or ordered online."
This is, "Very near and dear to my heart, as most the kiddos in my community don't have money for crafts or parents with free time to take them on roadtrips to parks and such...what we're doing here means a lot to me and I'm quite passionate and devoted to this project!"
You can find COBUILD19 on Facebook, and many of the videos are posted here.
Matt Miller is at it Again!
- More than 2 hours of personal video footage with course instructor Matt Miller of Ditch That Textbook
- A community element with discussion questions for the comments section of each module
- Extra resources, including downloadable templates, video tutorials, podcast episodes and more
- Downloadable (or printable) planning documents to help educators think through their plans
This Week's Quick Hits
20 Things to Ask Instead of "How Are You Doing?"
Many of these questions would be great to use with students. They can lead to answers beyond, "Okay" or "Fine."
Podcasts and Videos from Rick Wormeli
Rick has collected media on such topics as assessment, differentiation, grading, & more here. There are new videos on feedback!
50 Virtual Brain Breaks (and More)
Yes, Even More Digital Breakouts!
This Week's Kindness 101 with Steve Hartman: Purpose
Highlights included in this weekly INSPIRE3 Update for 5/4/20: Thank You for sharing this Update with your staff as these resources would be helpful with their e-learning/distance learning efforts and they would also be helpful to parents and students during this time of social distancing.
- New - LTG Simple Safe Service project guides to help you and your kids #DoGoodFromHome while #LearningtoGive during this time.
- New LTG - Gratitude for Essential Workers guide
- New LTG Elementary and Secondary lesson plans to help link learning to generosity during this time of social distancing and connecting service-learning to Mother's Day and Memorial Day
- "Learning to Serve from a Distance" - NEW Spotlight on Service-Learning Article
LTG Toolkits with lessons, projects, resources on Issue Area tab
- Framework, questionnaire, and links to assist with assigning an online service-learning project to students.
- INSPIRE3 Mini-Grant extension
- Visit our INSPIRE3 page on the IMLEA website HERE or the IASP website HERE and Connect
- Digital Resources include Power Points and Tutorials
- Articles and Snapshots of Service-Learning
- Contact information for free assistance
- Thank You Very Much for sharing our updates and page with your staff, colleagues, and parents
Learning Opportunities
May 6: AMLE Member Maximization Webinar for New Members, 3:30-4 pm ET
May 8: Deadline to Apply for DOE Teacher Leader Bootcamp
May 8: Leslie Fisher Webinar: The Flipgrid You Might not Know About, 7 pm ET
May 11: AMLE Webinar with Lori Desautels, "Addressing Adversity, Trauma, and Resiliency with our Young Adolescents during COVID-19," 3:30 pm ET
May 12: AMLE Webinar: Math + Technology = Engagement, 3:30 pm ET
May 13: Kahoot! Webinar with Leslie Fisher, "New Kahoot! features. New Microsoft Teams features. New fun!" 4 pm ET
May 15: Deadline for Student Entries in AMLE Voice
May 16-17: The Inquiry Educator Summit (TIES), International Oniine Event
May 21: Dollar General Literacy Grant Deadline
May 29: Deadline to Submit Entries for AMLE Innovation Challenge
May 31: New Deadline for IMLEA/AMLE Membership Discount
July 20-24: ICE Online Conference (moved up from October and to online)
February 21-22, 2021: IMLEA Conference
Note: edWeb Webinars are Now Filling Up Days in Advance; pre-register if you are interested
Wrapping Up
We know that there are districts finishing school as early as this Friday, May 8, and several others next week. We hope that final events, collections, and distributions go well for you. It will definitely be a bittersweet ending, especially with the next beginning up in the air.
You can access past Monday Minutes via this link on our webpage, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Principals and others: Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your staff! Encourage them to share great ideas with us as well.
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