The Monday Minute-September 7, 2022

Two Middle School Teachers Among Finalists for State TOY

Helen Hearon, 6th grade Social Studies teacher at Cascade Middle School, Clayton; and Courtney Ramos, ENL teacher at Chapel Hill 7th and 8th grade center in MSD Wayne Township/6th Grade at Westlake Elementary in Indianapolis, are both top ten finalists for Indiana Teacher of the Year. Congratulations! The winner will be announced later this fall, but they have already been selected from among hundreds of teachers!

Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You!

AMLE will be sending postcards to each middle school principal with an offer of 10% off the cost of a school membership and a complimentary copy of The Successful Middle School: This We Believe for new/returning professional members. It is also possible to become a joint member of AMLE/IMLEA. Should you decide to become a the joint member after being a member of just one organization, previous dues paid will be pro-rated. This offer is good through September 30; it's a great way to apply ESSER funds. We would love to have you as a member!

"I VOTED" STICKER COMPETITION

Students can submit designs to be used for voters in Indiana's election in November. Find the details and ways to submit entries here. One of the categories is specifically for grades 4-8.

The sticker design must include the phrase “I Voted” or a representation of the phrase. Entries due September 18.

Criteria One: Design’s focus/attention on voting

Criteria Two: Design’s ability to showcase Indiana

Criteria Three: Design’s overall creativity/uniqueness

MORE BACK TO SCHOOL RESOURCES

Although some people don't seem to realize that many schools have been in session for over a month, the back-to-school resources keep coming in! Some of these activities could be useful at other times of the year.

DIY CURRICULUM WAREHOUSE FROM CARRIE ROSEBROCK

Carrie Rosebrock has been a popular presenter at our conferences, and contributor to the print newsletters we had in the past. Now working as a consultant, she recently shared this basic tool to organize a district's curriculum; you could modify her template for just your school. Several of our members have also recommended her workshops on PLC's. There are many more resources and her contact information on her website.

CONSTITUTION DAY- IT COULD BE "HERE COMES THE JUDGE!"

Constitution Day is now observed on September 17 (many schools will do this on Friday, September 16). There are many judges in Indiana who are willing to speak to classes, not just during this time; you can find them here. There are a variety of Constitution Day resources available from the Constitution Center in Philadelphia and the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and even the Office of Judicial Administration in Indiana.

"Constitution in the National Archives" by Mr.TinDC is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

BIG TEN TEACHER GRANTS UP TO $4000

As part of its mission, Indiana Sports Corp, the Big Ten Conference, and the College Football Playoff Foundation want to honor and support innovative teaching and learning by funding educational initiatives in the state of Indiana.
The Indiana Sports Corp Grants Committee will select 10 teachers, with the goal of recognizing 10 different schools in the state of Indiana. Each of the teachers (kindergarten through eighth grade) will be awarded a grant up to $4,000 to assist them with educational projects. The 10 teachers will attend and be recognized at the Big Ten Football Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Get more information and the application here.

FAVORITES FOR MATH CLASS

These math resources have risen to the top. What are some other favorites? Send them to me, and I'll share!

Sarah Carter on Twitter, "Math Equals Love." Although she teaches HS, many of her ideas could work for middle. She shares things freely!
Robert Kaplinsky on Twitter; Great blog post he wrote proclaiming the best book on math instruction he's read
Indiana's own Alison Strole at Fishers Junior High on Twitter. She shares many pictures of class activities and is an expert at Desmos, among other things.

TINY WOW-- IT'S ACTUALLY A BIG WOW!

TinyWow is a free website to edit and convert PDF's, images, videos, crop, edit, remove backgrounds, and much, much more. They keep your work for just one hour on their servers, and there is just one ad on their site. Check out all of the options here!

QUIZALIZE GAMES

Richard Byrne of Free Technology for teachers recently wrote about a new feature of quizalize: you can turn any quiz into a video game! Find his explanation here. It's a freemium model; you can have 3 classes and 5 activities for free.

Free Raspberry Pi Computing Kit

Through the support of Infosys Foundation USA, qualified educators can request a free kit of materials to participate in a free online course called ‘Design, build, and code a rover with Raspberry Pi Pico’. The offer is available to 1,000 US-based K–12 public or charter school teachers on a first-come, first-served basis. To claim your kit, create a free account on Pathfinders Online Institute and start the course. On the first page of the course, there are instructions on how to apply.

The Secret to Great Middle School Presentations

There are several examples and suggestions for organizing student presentations in this article from edutopia by Carly Van Der Wende. While reading a book by Chip Wood (co-founder of Responsive Classroom), she noted his point that, "...children of middle school age are more invested in what their peers, rather than their teachers and parents, think of them," and found ways to leverage that.

Erskine Personal Impact Curriculum

All schools now have an easy way to utilize the materials connected with the new film and project about Carl Erskine. While more than 300 schools signed up earlier and became part of the EPIC movement (more than 70,000 books were shipped out all across the state!), there is now an Open Educational Resource site. Find classroom lessons, videos and materials there, including classroom versions of the film. Several schools have found this to be a great fit for advisory.

Stay Connected with Us!

Please connect with us on Twitter and Facebook. We follow Indiana middle level schools & retweet/share what we can. We also retweet any learning opportunities (almost always free) grants, and special events that we come across that might be of interest.

And a Podcast for Good Measure...

Do you ever listen to podcasts, on your commute, while running, walking, cleaning, etc.? Each issue we will recommend one podcast that might be of interest or use. Feel free to send me your recommendations!

First up: The Hidden Brain, and in particular, the episode "Why You're Smarter than You Think" with Scott Barry Kaufman, author of many books on teaching and learning.

About IMLEA

The only organization in Indiana devoted to promoting, improving, and supporting middle level education. We are the Indiana affiliate of the national organization AMLE, and administer the Schools to Watch program for the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform.

Join Us! Membership Benefits & Application

Susie Highley, Executive Director

Shirley Wright, Schools to Watch Consultant

11025 E. 25th Street, Indianapolis, IN. 46229 IMLEA_ED@iasp.org (317)894-2937 imlea.org

Accessibility

The Monday Minute-September 7, 2022

Indiana Middle Level Education Association

The Monday Minute-September 7, 2022

Indiana Middle Level Education Association

Two Middle School Teachers Among Finalists for State TOY

Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You!

Congratulations: Unified Champion Banner Winners for 21-22

"I VOTED" STICKER COMPETITION

MORE BACK TO SCHOOL RESOURCES

DIY CURRICULUM WAREHOUSE FROM CARRIE ROSEBROCK

CONSTITUTION DAY- IT COULD BE "HERE COMES THE JUDGE!"

BIG TEN TEACHER GRANTS UP TO $4000

FAVORITES FOR MATH CLASS

QUICK HITS FOR BUSY TEACHERS

TINY WOW-- IT'S ACTUALLY A BIG WOW!

QUIZALIZE GAMES

Free Raspberry Pi Computing Kit

The Secret to Great Middle School Presentations

Erskine Personal Impact Curriculum

Stay Connected with Us!

Learning Opportunities & Resources

And a Podcast for Good Measure...

About IMLEA

And a Word from One of Our Sponsors....

Learn More How To Achieve Student Loan Forgiveness Here!