Iowa Teacher of the Year nominations due April 26

Thousands of talented Iowa educators lead and inspire their students, but only one is chosen annually as the state’s top teacher. The deadline to nominate the 2014 Iowa Teacher of the Year is April 26.

The award is an opportunity to recognize an exceptional Iowa teacher who is helping to redefine education. Nominations will be accepted from anyone, including students, parents, school administrators, colleagues, college faculty members and associations.

Nomination forms can be found on the following webpage: http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=686&Itemid=2683

The Iowa Teacher of the Year award was established in 1958. The annual program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Education through an appropriation from the Iowa Legislature. Winners are chosen by a committee that includes representatives of the Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa State Education Association, the School Administrators of Iowa, the Parent Teachers Association and the current Iowa Teacher of the Year.

The Teacher of the Year serves as an ambassador to education and as a liaison to primary and secondary schools, higher education and organizations across the state.

Tania Johnson of Cedar Rapids was named the 2013 Teacher of the Year. The 2014 Teacher of the Year will be announced this fall.

STEM Scale-up Program Applications for 2013-14

Once again, the Governor's STEM Advisory Council has STEM programming available for implementation in our K-12 schools. Descriptions of each program can be found at http://www.iowastem.gov/2013-2014-stem-scale-programs#overlay-context=stem-program-scale-call-applications-0 and detailed information about each program is available by clicking on the hyperlink title of the program.

Please note, LEAs are not applying for grant money; instead, they are applying for the opportunity to implement a program. Therefore, anything that is listed as an included deliverable in the description would be provided to the LEA at no cost. In general, programs provide deliverables such as registration, professional development and materials. However, the time commitment for implementation and what is included/excluded in the programs vary greatly so please carefully read the summaries of the programs before filing out an application at http://www.iowastem.gov/stem-program-scale-call-applications-0#overlay-context=node. Applications are due April 10! Please contact your Regional Manager (see the cover letter to the application) with any questions.

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.

UNI to Offer Summer Course on Scratch in Education

Teachers in all disciplines, from upper elementary through high school, are encouraged to take the course to teach and use Scratch in the classroom.  Scratch is a graphical programming environment designed at MIT to be appropriate for students in grades 4-12. This workshop will address the basics of Scratch (mostly by example), ways to introduce Scratch to students, and 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 2013.

Date/Time: June 26-28 or July 17-19, 2013, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Plus one follow-up session Saturday, November 2 or 9, 2013

Instructor: Ben Schafer, Assoc. Professor, Computer Science, schafer@cs.uni.edu or (319) 273-2187

Location: ITTC 328, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA

Tuition/Fees: Tuition, supplies and lunch will be provided to all who complete the course thanks to a generous grant from Google. 

Application: To apply for this workshop, submit an application prior to May 3, 2013 via http://www.cs.uni.edu/connections/cs4hs/
 
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.