Thursday, November 3, 2022

Our Mission

To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.

Our Goals
  • Increase learning growth for students
  • Decrease the gap in achievement
  • Increase annual graduation rates
  • Increase gateways to post-secondary success

  

Digital Learning News from Heartland AEA

Physical computing Playground
In this issue of the Digital Learning newsletter from Heartland AEA:
  • Tech Tip of the Month
  • Computer Science News
  • Canva and Pear Deck
  • Want to Earn Some Credits?
  • Opportunities from Your Statewide AEA System
  • From the Blogosphere

Canva and Pear Deck Go Hand in Hand


If you’re a K-12 educator, you can access Canva for Education for free! You’ll get all the benefits of Canva premium features such as millions of images, fonts, graphics, videos, animations, and templates, plus a dedicated classroom workspace to invite students and teachers to share, review, and manage your work.

AND if you’re an Iowa Educator you get Pear Deck Premium for free! You’ll get all of the bells and whistles of draggables, immersive reader, student paced mode, locks, timers review and reflect and more!

Combine the two and you have a plethora of ways to engage your students. Explore these ready-to-use Canva templates designed for Pear Deck — along with many more or jump on into Canva and create your own!
  • About Me — build connections with your students by sharing an “About Me” presentation
  • Social Emotional Learning (SEL) — understand your students with a Mood or Feelings check-in
  • Science — teach a ready-to-use Science presentation template
  • Social Studies — engage students with an eye-catching Social Studies lesson
Pear Deck also partners with Newsela! This month’s tip is a recommendation from Stephanie Hnesh, 5th grade teacher in Iowa City. She loves using the Daily Decks with Newsela content that are new every day to engage students in rich conversations. Take a look!



Each month, be on the lookout for a variety of tips, tricks and testimonials shared via our newsletter, the statewide Iowa AEA website and via social media (@iowa_aea#iowaaea, Heartland AEA Twitter).

For more information or to share your favorite Pear Deck features and ideas, check out the AEA website!

READ: Heartland AEA Library & Digital Resources Newsletter


In this issue of the Heartland AEA Library & Digital Resources newsletter:
  • New PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next Articles
  • Open House: Explore Robots and Physical Computing Devices
  • First Amendment and Students
  • New Ebooks
  • New Titles in Learn360
  • Test Your Children's Lit Knowledge
  • Teach Computational Thinking with Literature

Heartland AEA Literacy Newsletter is Now Available


In this issue of the Heartland AEA Literacy newsletter:
  • Simple View of Writing
  • Connecting Writing to the Science of Reading, Developing Writing for Young Learners (K-2)
  • Instructional Resources
  • Professional Learning Opportunities

Heartland AEA Introduces Preschool Administrators’ Newsletter

teacher in circle with elementary students
Welcome to the Heartland AEA Preschool Administrator's Newsletter! This e-newsletter is for district and community partner leaders to keep you updated on preschool initiatives, state requirements, professional development, assessment and best practices. Enjoy and share with your colleagues! In this issue:
  • Communities of Practice
  • IQPPS Desk Audit
  • ACHIEVE Professional Learning
  • Assessment GOLD Checkpoint dates
  • myIGDIs
  • Professional Learning Activities

Iowa Department of Education Releases Fall 2022 School Leader Update


The Fall 2022 School Leader Update is now available. Some topics include:
  • Message from the Director
  • Does your student want to serve on the Iowa State Board of Education?
  • Iowa e-Learning Central now offers course sharing
  • School vulnerability assessment update
  • Preschool professional learning webinars
  • Student Reporting in Iowa updates