Join Joellen Killion, Deputy Executive Director of the National Staff Development Council and author of Becoming a Learning School, for this exciting professional development opportunity on October 14 and 15, 2010 at Adventureland Inn, Altoona. In the professional learning community of a school, an effective collaborative team is necessary to improve learning for each and every student.
This collaborative process, referenced multiple times in the outcomes of the Iowa Core, is foundational to the successful implementation of any school reform effort. The Becoming a Learning School Conference will provide strategies and tools to: - Strengthen school and district culture
- Establish a focus on common goals
- Clarify roles of the stakeholders in the school
- Troubleshoot issues that are perceived as barriers to professional learning
- Build a strong evaluation system that ensures revisions are based on student needs
Collaborative Teams: If you don't have one, this is how to get it started. If you have one, this is how to measure against standards to improve! To register, go to the Heartland Professional Development Catalog at https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/YYYYYYYYYYYYYYSRCH
The activity number is SI012099991101.
Heartland AEA will be hosting three online Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) seminars that we are happy to bring to you at no cost to you or your district. We encourage you and your staff to come and enjoy the seminars, taking and using the information that is beneficial to you and your students.
To register for any of these seminars, please go to the Heartland Professional Development Catalog located on the front page of our website or at https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/YYYYYYYYYYYYYYSRCH
Why Are We Still Teaching the Wrong Grammar the Wrong Way?
Time: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 from 9:00-10:30 a.m.
Location: Room 13 of the Johnston Regional Education Center (REC) at 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston
Activity Number: ES005692111101
In this seminar the presenter critiques the standard pedagogical model then attempts to simplify it to a more elegant system that might be applied in practice. Alternative approaches might require viewing grammar, not as a discrete, sentence-level system but as both big lexis and small text. Likewise, teachers might be better off aiming to inculcate, not rules, but a “feel” for the way that the systems interrelate.
The Multilevel ESOL Class: A Multitude of Opportunities for Language Development
Time: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 2:00-3:30 p.mLocation: The Learning Center at the Johnston REC
Activity Number: ES0056-92111102
In this seminar, participants examine ways to organize multilevel classrooms, consider the principles of effective multilevel instruction and work with specific presentation and group management strategies that address the challenges of multilevel instruction and enhance its benefits.
A Focus on Academic Oral Language and Vocabulary Instruction in Language Learning
Time: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 from 9:30-11:00 a.m.
Location: Lower Level of Zion Lutheran Church (4300 Beaver Ave., Des Moines) Activity Number: ES005699991101
This seminar will address the role of oral language and vocabulary development in K-12 students’ school success. It will then explore a number of effective and practical ways to teach academic language and the vocabulary of the content areas of math, science and social studies.
The Iowa Department of Education has partnered with TransACT to provide basic user-training sessions designed specifically for Iowa school districts. Click here to download an informational flyer.
The first Curriculum Network Meeting for the 2010-2011 year will be held on Friday, September 3, 2010. The meeting will go from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and will be held in Rooms 3, 4 & the ICN of the Johnston Regional Education Center. The agenda is available at http://curriculumnet.pbworks.com/September-3%2C-2010-Agenda.
Topics for this meeting include a district perspective of instructional rounds and the latest on the inclusion of the Common Core in the Iowa Core.
To our superintendent colleagues, we invite you to join us for our monthly Heartland Administrator Association (HAA) meetings. The meetings are a time to come together, collaborate and discuss educational laws and standards and district-wide issues.
All monthly meetings, with the exception of the May, will be held at the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center. The May meeting will take place in the Johnston Regional Education Center. Meetings are always the first Tuesday of every month and begin at 9:00 a.m. This year’s first HAA meeting will be on September 7, 2010 (the Tuesday after Labor Day).
Agendas will always be available for download in the Administrator Connection on Fridays prior to the meetings. Be sure to check next week's update for the September agenda!
Dates for the 2010-2011 year are the following:
September 7
October 5
November 2
December 7January 4
February 1
March 1
April 5
May 3
If you have suggestions for agenda items please contact your representative on the Superintendent's Advisory Council (listed below) or Sharon Kurns at skurns@aea11.k12.ia.us.Area 1: John Kinley, Gilbert
Area 2: Brian Horn, Madrid
Area 3: Steve Smith, Guthrie Center
Area 4: Randy Flack, Knoxville
Area 5: Mark Wittmer, Pella
Areas 6 & 7: Tom Narak, West Des Moines
Chairperson: Tom Downs, Southeast Polk
Area 8: Nancy Sebring, Des Moines
Area 9: Luvern Gubbels, Des Moines Diocese
Area 10: Doug Williams, DMACC
We’d like to provide you with an update on changes to our agency’s leadership team and to our facilities.Three partnership directors have left the Agency. We have absorbed two of the partership director vacancies, and in those regions, districts have been assigned to other partnership directors. Our third and most recent vacancy has been filled with an interim partnership director serving in Regions 6 & 7. The Agency has chosen Dr. Kristi Flugum Upah to fill that role for 2010-2011. Dr. Upah has been with the Agency for 17 years, and she will serve the Ames, Ballard, Colo-Nesco, Gilbert and Roland Story school districts.Heartland AEA closed two offices during the summer, Woodside (Ankeny) and Newton. Woodside staff were relocated to the Johnston Regional Education Center at 6500 Corporate Drive. The sound booth formerly in the Woodside office was also relocated to the Johnston REC. Newton office staff were relocated to the former Emerson Hough Elementary School building at 700 North 4th Avenue East in Newton. The relocation of the office to Emerson Hough allows Heartland a great opportunity to partner with the Newton Schools. Future plans for the new Newton office will include the creation of classroom space that can be used for professional development classes and agency meetings.
Please consider using the Administrator Connection as a means of exchanging ideas, offering feedback and sharing information. You may post a comment by clicking on an article title, scrolling to the bottom of the page and leaving a comment in the field. A more direct route to leaving a comment is to click “Comments” under the article (shown below) and the Comment field will appear. Note: Posts are moderated by the Heartland Communications Department.
