Monday Minute
February 3, 2020
Congratulations to Cascade Middle School, the Newest STW!
- Cascade Middle School is a very warm and inviting place to be, as evidenced by the reports of all stakeholders from the students to the superintendent.
- There are many opportunities for students to be involved given the small size of the school.
- Staff members enjoy their work and have positive morale.
- Positive parent/teacher relationships are evident.
- The community appears close-knit and happy with the program.
- Routines, procedures and programs are firmly in place to support a sustainable and consistent education model for students.
The “Schools to Watch” program is supported by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. Cascade Middle School will join the following schools who have been Re-Designated this year: Rochester MS, Tri-West Middle School, Triton Central MS, and Shelbyville Central MS. (Watch for more profiles in upcoming issues of the "Monday Minute"). They will all send a team to Washington, D.C. in June to be recognized and to receive an award from the Forum. Approximately 750 other teams from 17 other states will also attend, and each team will present sessions about their unique programs. Indiana now has 14 designated Schools to Watch. For more information, go to www.imlea.org
Lowell Hosts Champions Together Training and Celebration
Great Resources for No One Eats Alone Day
The Outsize Influence of Your Middle-School Friends
"...The ability to make and keep even one close friend has been seen as vital to children’s well-being for more than half a century. What has changed is that we now understand at a biological and even evolutionary level why that is so. And we are beginning to appreciate that the intensity of feelings generated by friendship—or loneliness—in childhood and adolescence is by design."
What? Drama by design? And then the next line: "Middle school is about lunch." Understanding the physiological and psychological changes our students experience can help in so many ways. This article could lead to some great discussions among educators and parents.
Raspberry Pi Training Coming to Indianapolis This Summer!
Picademy is for all educators, including classroom teachers, librarians, technology coaches, after-school and community educators and beyond. No experience with computer science or coding is required.
There will be two sessions in Indianapolis, June 15-16 & 17-18. More information and the application are available here. (Deadline April 15) I have several friends who have attended in other cities and rave about the experience.
Your School Could Win a $100,000 Fitness Center!
Today Governor Holcomb and fitness icon Jake Steinfeld announced that three public or charter, elementary and/or middle schools in Indiana will win a $100,000 DON’T QUIT!® fitness center from the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC).
Not Exactly Breaking News...
INSPIRE3 UPDATE
Highlights included in this weekly INSPIRE3 Update for 2/3/20, which can be downloaded below. Thank You for sharing these Updates with your staff.
· All of our INSPIRE3 Updates now archived on our INSPIRE3 webpage under Resources
· Exhibiting and presenting “Service-Learning and Interdisciplinary STEM” session at the HASTI conference – Feb. 9-11, 2020.
· NEW informational flyer available “Service-Learning Connections to Employability Skills”
· Peace/Kindness Snapshots of Service-Learning Stories
· February Events: LTG Teaching Resources for Black History Month, Presidents’ Day, Valentine’s Day, and Random Acts of Kindness Day
· generationOn website Book lists and Fact sheets for Black History Month
- INSPIRE3 $250 mini-grants still available for the 2019-2020 school year.
Learning Opportunities
February 3-7: National School Counseling Week
February 5: World Read Aloud Day
February 10: Children’s Museum Educator Preview Evening, 5-7 pm ET
February 10: John Hattie Webinar, "Maximizing Impact: The Power of Implementation", 6 pm ET
February 11: Middle-Level Workshop, Valparaiso University (Last chance to register)
February 11: DOE Webinar-Engaging Learners with Virtual Reality, 4 pm ET
February 11-12: DigCitCommit Virtual Congress
February 12: Girls Who Code Webinar, 4 pm ET
February 14: No One Eats Alone Day
February 14: Deadline for Solution Tree Rebecca Burnette DuFour Scholarship
February 15: Deadline to Apply for $1000 STEM Grant from Adopt a Classroom/Staples
February 17: DOE Book Study begins, Don't Ditch That Tech
February 18: Deadline to Apply for Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars
February 27: Digital Learning Day
March 22: Deadline to Submit Proposals for AMLE Conference (Nov, 2020)
That's All for Now...
Please send Susie Highley any ideas or suggestions of things to be included. We would love to feature more school activities! We are now sending the Monday Minute to members only, but we invite you to forward it to anyone who might be interested. You can also access it via this link on our webpage, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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