Could Fridays Get Any Better? Only If You Join Us for Standards-Based Learning Framework Friday - with Matt Townsley!

EdCamp-style workshops will be held in the 2019-20 school year to provide additional learning, collaboration and conversation for those interested in Standards-Based Learning (SBL) including Grading and Reporting. The workshops coincide with specific strands of the Standards-Based Learning Framework developed by Heartland AEA. These workshops will be participatory, hands-on, collaborative sessions. Participants will walk away with ideas, information, articles, activities and videos that can be used immediately with an SBL guiding team or building team. You can attend whatever sessions are of interest to you; you do not need to attend all sessions. Curriculum directors, principals, TLC leaders, Professional Learning leaders and members of SBL guiding teams can benefit from attending these sessions. Learn more about the learning opportunities and register at Heartland AEA Framework Fridays.

Join us for Google Expedition Training!

Heartland AEA has two Google Expedition kits (one set of 15 devices and headsets and one set of 30 devices and headsets). To check out the kits for the 2020-21 school year you must attend our half-day training. More information and registration here

IAAE Conference to Feature Keynote from aha Process!

Iowa Association of Alternative Education (IAAE) Spring Conference, April 2-3, Prairie Meadows Conference Center. The keynote speaker this year is from aha Process! and will be focusing on addressing anger, anxiety and violence in the classroom with breakouts based on Emotional Poverty by Ruby Payne. Register here.

MISIC Conference to Focus on Practical Strategies for Improving the Social-emotional Health of Students, Adults and Schools

*UPDATED MARCH 14*

The MISIC conference has now been postponed until Sept. 14, 2020. 

Do you want to help your students feel safe, supported, and nurtured? Join MISIC on March 30 in Ankeny to strengthen your skills in supporting the social-emotional learning needs of students and in helping yourself and your staff engage in self-care strategies.

The keynote speakers will include Joan Becker, author of Sentenced to Life - The Mark Becker Story - Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation, Jennifer Ulie-Wells from Please Pass the Love, and Tonya Hotchkin from Tanager Place.

You will also hear from classroom practitioners, school administrators, mental health specialists and other professionals who work with and support students and teachers. License renewal credit will also be available. If questions, please contact Jamie Morgan at jamie@misiciowa.org or click on this link to register now.

SAM Process Provides Professional Development for Administrators to Strengthen Productivity and Instructional Leadership

Principals go into their jobs wanting to be instructional leaders but much of the time get sidetracked by all the management duties that go along with being a principal. The SAM process changes all of that.

Three national/independent research studies completed on the SAM process found that:

• The SAM process significantly increases leader time spent on instructional leadership time.
• Principals are happier.
• Teachers like their principals better.
• There is a relationship/correlation with student achievement.

The SAM process is the only professional development system for school leaders that has an evidence base. Many districts believe the SAM process is why particular schools perform better. Missouri has adopted the SAM process statewide based on its experience. One administrator said, “I can personally attest to the value of the process because I was a SAM principal for five years. During that time, my instructional time increased from 27% to 70%. I was able to get into every classroom twice a week. My teachers felt supported because I was an active part in what was happening in the classrooms and student achievement increased.”

For more information, contact Sandy Merritt, Time Track Coach with the National SAM Innovation Project, at (319) 560-2295.

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

Reserve Your Seat for Dr. Anthony Muhammad Before They’re Gone!

CANCELLED
Join this special event with Anthony Muhammad, Ph.D., to explore the dynamics of school culture from a sociological, psychological, anthropological, political, historical and economic lens, using the Transforming School Culture framework.

Dr. Muhammad has been a practitioner of education for 20 years, serving as a middle school teacher, assistant principal and high school principal as well as an author and educational consultant. He is recognized as a leading expert in school culture and developing strong PLC schools.

Dr. Muhammad is a best-selling author of the books:

• Time for Change: The Four Essential Skills of a Transformational School Leader
• Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap: Liberating Mindsets to Effect Change
• The Will to Lead and the Skill to Teach
• Transforming Schools at Every Level
• Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division

Transforming School Culture: Understanding and Overcoming Resistance to Necessary Change Featuring Anthony Muhammad, Ph.D.
April 23, 2020
8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn
8600 Northpark Drive Johnston, IA

Registration
Register by April 20, 2020 at this link: http://bit.ly/2MEyMyA using course #181933
$50 per person. Lunch included.
Registration is limited to 125. There is no waiting list for this event.

All educators are invited!

Registration is Open for the 2020 Summit on School Climate and Culture

The 2020 Summit on School Climate and Culture, Aug. 10-11, is designed to help educators improve school climate and culture through professional development, skill building and application of best practices and research. This event will allow participants to engage with leading experts in education and school improvement on how a positive school climate and culture is key to student, school and district improvements. Registration is now open at https://sscc.dmschools.org/. For more information, contact Nyla Kenne, Culture, Climate and Community Coordinator with Des Moines Public Schools at nyla.kenne@dmschools.org.

Join the Faculty at This Year’s Heart of Innovation Summer Summit

Educators love to learn from their peers! Have you done something you'd like to share? We are now accepting session proposals for our 2020 Heart of Innovation Summer Summit. Submit a session proposal by May 1 at this link http://bit.ly/32QTj9t.

Do you need support putting together a proposal for your presentation? Are you unsure how to turn your classroom experience into a session? Let us know! We would love to support you. Email us at haeatech@heartlandaea.org or contact your Instructional Technology Consultant.

Heart of Innovation Summer Summit
June 10, 2020
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Heartland AEA Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston

IAAE Conference to Feature Keynote from aha Process!

The Iowa Association of Alternative Education (IAAE) Spring Conference will be held on April 2-3 at Prairie Meadows Conference Center. The keynote speaker this year is from aha Process! and will be focusing on addressing anger, anxiety and violence in the classroom with breakouts based on Emotional Poverty by Ruby Payne. Register here.

MISIC Conference to Focus on Practical Strategies for Improving the Social-emotional Health of Students, Adults and Schools

Do you want to help your students feel safe, supported, and nurtured? Join MISIC on March 30 in Ankeny to strengthen your skills in supporting the social-emotional learning needs of students and in helping yourself and your staff engage in self-care strategies.

The keynote speakers will include Joan Becker, author of Sentenced to Life - The Mark Becker Story - Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation, Jennifer Ulie-Wells from Please Pass the Love, and Tonya Hotchkin from Tanager Place.

You will also hear from classroom practitioners, school administrators, mental health specialists and other professionals who work with and support students and teachers. License renewal credit will also be available. If questions, please contact Jamie Morgan at jamie@misiciowa.org or click on this link to register now.