UNI College of Education Professional Development Webinars

The University of Northern Iowa College of Education is launching a new 2010-2011 professional webinar series for educators, Hot Topics in Education: Professional Development Webinars. These free one-hour webinars taught by faculty and staff will be offered once a month, September through May. The webinars allow educators an opportunity to learn from UNI experts in the comfort of their classroom, office or home. This year's webinars will feature popular topics such as classroom management, core standards, achievement gap, technology in the classroom, STEM education and more. Participants can choose the topics of their interest.

Do you want to learn classroom management strategies? Join the next free Hot Topics webinar, Classroom Management for the First-Year Teacher, at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010.

For more information about these free webinars and to register for this presentation, visit www.uni.edu/coe/professional-development-webinars

IAHPERD Convention, November 19-21

The IAHPERD Convention (Iowa Association For Health, Physical Education, Recreation And Dance) will be held from November 19-21 at the Davenport West High/YMCA complex. A pre-conference workshop will take place on Friday, November 19. For more information on the convention, visit http://www.iowaahperd.org/.

Reminder: Title III Reimbursement and the ICLC

The Iowa Culture and Language Conference (ICLC) will be held in Coralville, Iowa at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. Pre-conference sessions will be on November 1, 2010, with conference sessions on November 2-3, 2010. All the information you need to register can be found on the Northwest AEA website, http://www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/upcoming_events/iowa_culture_language_conference/

The early bird registration rate has expired, however, Title III will pay the full $140 fee for the next 50 participants who register. If you have already registered at the $140 rate, Title III will cover your registration.

If you have already registered a team from your district and would like to register additional people, please contact Pat Latham at platham@aea11.k12.ia.us or (515) 270-0405 ext. 14861. There is a possibility that Title III funds can help.
Title III will pay for the registration, sub pay for the conference, and offer a small mini-grant to help defray travel costs. There are a few guidelines, however.

• Districts with 75 ESL students or more may send 10 participants under Title III funding.

• Districts with fewer than 75 may send 5 participants. Of course, your district may send as many participants as wanted, however, Title III won’t be able to cover funding for more than the allotted slots.

• Title III will provide a mini-grant to help pay for travel expenses. Districts with 75 ESL students or more qualify for a $200 mini-grant. Districts with fewer than 75 ESL students qualify for a min-grant of $100. Districts do not need to apply for this mini-grant, it will automatically be noted on the reimbursement claim form.

• Claim forms for district reimbursement will be sent to one district administrator after the conference. Reimbursement will be made only to the district, not to individual participants.

• Participants will not need to sign in at the conference, however, administrators will need to list all participants from their district on the reimbursement claim form. For the district to receive reimbursement, participants must attend the entire pre-conference day and/or both conference days they are registered for. Please note the beginning and ending times. If you cannot stay until the last session is over each day, you do not qualify for Title III support.

Iowa one of 31-State Consortium Awarded RTTT Assessment Grant

At the October 5 HAA meeting, Kevin Fangman, Interim Director of the Iowa Department of Education, shared that the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) was awarded a $160 million Race To the Top assessment grant. Iowa is one of the states associated with the 31-state SBAC. Click here to download the press release of the announcement and an explanation of how the federal funds will be used.

E-Rate Revision Supports Cell Phone Use in Schools

The E-Rate program will now allow schools to create and fund mobile pilot programs—dedicating federal dollars to devices such as smartphones, iPads, and netbooks that can be used in school, and at home, to access school materials. Read more at http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newsletters/newsletterbucketextrahelping/887213-443/e-rate_revision_supports_cell_phone.html.csp