Draft Next Generation Science Standards - Ready for Review

The first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is available at www.nextgenscience.org from May 11 to June 1. They welcome and appreciate your feedback.

The NGSS have been written as student performance expectations grouped by topics, and can be viewed in the topical groupings or individually. The draft performance expectations are composed of the three dimensions from the NRC's Framework for K-12 Science Education. These draft performance expectations describe how students will demonstrate their understanding.

To review the draft standards, go to www.nextgenscience.org. When you are ready to provide comments, click on any of the links that say "Go to the NGSS Survey." Be sure to submit your survey by June 1. Feedback collected during the comment period will be organized and shared with the leading states and writing team members. After the feedback is considered, a feedback report will be issued that will explain how feedback was handled and why.

Feedback from across the nation will be used to fine tune the next generation science standards. The anticipated final standards will probably not occur until early 2013. At which time states may begin their adoption of the standards.

C-Plan Technical Assistance Webinars

The Iowa Dept. of Education is hosting four webinars to provide technical assistance to local schools and districts as they input their data into the new C-Plan application. The dates and times are the following:

Thursday, June 14, 9:00-10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, June 20, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Monday, June 25, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, July 10, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Please visit the DE website to register and for additional information: http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2583

Iowa Dept. of Education's June Issue of "Each and Every Child"

Find ways of engaging students throughout the summer in the June issue of the Iowa Department of Education's "Each and Every Child." The newsletter is designed to enhance communication between parents and teachers and eliminate the achievement gap in the State of Iowa. Please let parents know that the newsletter is available at http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2518.

“Teaching Deliberatively” Workshop Fosters Tools to Promote Student Civic Literacy

Want students to learn to deliberate over important contemporary issues? Want them to learn how "civility" can be better practiced in classrooms and school communities? The "Teaching Deliberatively" workshop is a joint project of the Iowa Writing Project at University of Iowa, the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) and the Iowa Partners in Learning. The institute will be held July 9-13, 2012 at ISEA headquarters in Des Moines. Participants will develop a take-home guide for deliberation over the timely issue of "bullying in schools and communities." Click here for more information about the workshop.

The dissemination of information from external organizations by Heartland AEA does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its educational value.

Registration Extended for UNI/Google Scratch Computer Science Training

Although the registration deadline has passed, the University of Northern Iowa will continue to process applications for their two Scratch workshops as long as seats are available. See below for information of the two offered workshops. To apply for either of them, teachers can submit an application at http://www.cs.uni.edu/connections/cs4hs/.

Questions can be directed to Ben Schafer, Assoc. Professor in Computer Science, at schafer@cs.uni.edu or (319) 273-2187.

Introduction to Scratch in Education - 1 cr. hr
Date: July 11-13, 2012
(plus one follow-up Saturday in November 2012)
Preparation for teachers in Grades 7-12 to have their students use Scratch in the classroom (all disciplines). This workshop will address the basics of Scratch (mostly by example), ways to introduce Scratch to students and a discussion on general classroom integration. No computer science or programming background required. Teachers will be expected to have their students use Scratch and to report on that use during a follow-up meeting in November 2012.

Teaching Programming Using Scratch - 1 cr. hr.
Dates: July 16-18, 2012
(plus one follow-up Saturday in November 2012)
Preparation for teachers in Grades 7-12 to teach a unit on computer programming using Scratch or a similar graphical languages. This workshop will discuss Scratch and several Scratch-based variations. We will review the basics of programming as well as discuss the challenges and methods of teaching introductory programming. Participants are expected to have prior experience with Scratch or some other programming experience. Teachers will be expected to plan and begin teaching a unit on computer programming to an appropriate group of students and to report on that use during a follow-up meeting in November 2012.

The dissemination of information from external organizations by Heartland AEA does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its educational value.

Money Mammal Financial Literacy Program Geared to Young Audiences

Money Mammals is a financial literacy presentation designed for 4-to 6-year-olds that fits in well with the Iowa Core Curriculum requirements. The program has been well received by educators and they often call requesting presenters return year after year. Click here for more information on the Money Mammals program. The first page gives a great description of the program, followed by referrals from educators, an article from a local newspaper and finally, a description of what is covered in the presentation.

The dissemination of information from external organizations by Heartland AEA does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its educational value.

Heartland AEA 2012 Summer Van Delivery

Heartland AEA is in the process of scheduling summer van delivery. We will deliver twice a week to each district administration building. If you have summer school, professional development programs or intercessions and you would like regularly scheduled deliveries to additional buildings, please e-mail Sherise Ahlers at sahlers@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Schedule-to-date:

• Twice-a-week delivery to each district administration building runs June 11 to August 2.
• Twice-a-week delivery will automatically continue to each building that has an extended year calendar.
• Regular fall van delivery resumes August 6.

Printing:

• Heartland AEA will contact the district to arrange for special delivery of large printing orders during the summer.

May 2012 Educator Connection Newsletter Now Available

Click here for the May 2012 issue of the Educator Connection. This issue was emailed to all educators this week and contains information about our summer professional development courses, special print offers and a story about a graduating teen who has been helped by his AEA physical therapist since he was two.

May 2012 Impacting Lives Newsletter

Go to http://aeas4iowa.wordpress.com/ to read the latest edition of "Impacting Lives." The blog newsletter is a statewide effort to communicate AEA success stories and services across the state.

This issue includes:

• AEA Instrumental in Helping First-Year Teacher Meet Preschool Program Standards
• Pleasantville Teen Anticipates Transition to College Thanks in Part to Support from AEA
• Competency-Based Education Catches On at Prairie Lakes AEA
• Northwest AEA/Akron-Westfield Team Keeps Pushing for Student
• AEA Saves Educators Time and Money through the Use of Technology
• ‘Amazing' Results Make Literacy Kits Popular
• Inclusive PE Program Benefits Norwalk Students

AEA PD Online: Online Training Prioritization Survey

With the new ramping up of online professional development, we are dedicating more resources to developing online trainings. We plan on creating five new trainings each year for the online training system. To help us prioritize, complete the survey below.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/aea11.k12.ia.us/viewform?formkey=dF91bklIb0hYcHBWdTlYZGhyOWdlZXc6MQ

IEC Summer 2012 Statewide Paper Buy

Order forms are posted online for immediate download. Paper copies will be sent to schools via AEA van mail during the week of May 14. Complete ordering information is available at http://www.iec-ia.org/pages/IEC/Office_Classroom/Paper/Summer_Buy.

Bid Features Include:

• Wide variety of paper weights, colors and sizes
• Additional discounts for orders of 440 cartons or greater
• Letter and catalog envelopes

Clients Eligible for Participation:

• K-12 Schools
• Public and Private
• Colleges and Universities
• Public Libraries
• City, County, State Government
• Nonprofit educational organizations

This offer is brought to you by the Iowa Educators Consortium, an initiative of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies.