General Education Workshops being held through April

"Supporting All Learners Through General Education Interventions" workshops will be held on various dates in April. These workshops will update participants on new rules about general education interventions and will provide an opportunity for building leaders to develop capacity to provide professional learning about general education interventions for their teaching staff. Click here for more information.

"How To Stay Focused on Teaching and Learning in Tough Economic Times" Workshop to be offered in May

As school leaders face difficult budget decisions, focusing on teaching and learning is even more challenging. Click here for information on a one-day workshop with Dr. Allan Odden who will offer strategies to assist in squeezing the most out of your education dollars.

The workshop will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on May 12 for 1A-3A districts and May 13 for 4A districts. Register online at http://www.sai-iowa.org/stayfocused/.

Short Videos: "A 21st Century Education"

Go to the Mobile Learning Institute's website to view a series of short videos on school reform. The videos may be used with staff, school boards or community members to start, extend or nudge the conversation about how to make change in education happen. Videos can be viewed online or downloaded by going to the below URL address.

http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/

Iowa Reading Association sets date for 2011 Reading Conference

Next year's Iowa Reading Conference will be held on April 7-8, 2011. The Association hopes to boost their attendance by asking schools if they would be willing to plan an in-service day on one of the Iowa Reading Conference days next year. Your district can save money on hiring substitute teachers and will get a quality professional development day as well.

There are many highly respected speakers already confirmed for next year's event. Patrick Allen, who recently wrote a book on conferring, will be one of the Keynote speakers. Valerie Ellery will also be attending and will share her ideas on creating strategic readers.

Other great speakers for 2011
David Schwartz: How Much is a Million?
Donalyn Miller: Book Whisperer/Middle School level
Aimee Buckner: Notebook Know How/Middle School level
Mike Artell: Fun speaker and author
David Nieves: Writing with Reptiles
...and possibly Frances Kennedy, an Iowa author

If you would like further information on next year's conference you may contact Julie Neal, Vice President of the Iowa Reading Association, at jneal@jefferson-scranton.k12.ia.us.

Iowa AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey open until April 9

This is a gentle reminder that the AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey will remain open until Friday, April 9. The survey provides us with your insight on how to improve our services to your school(s), staff and students.

We recently sent a reminder email this week and will continue to send reminders through early April to insure that all district staff have a chance to participate. Since the survey is anonymous, we have no way of knowing who has contributed and who has not. You and each of your staff members are only asked to fill out the survey once. After you complete the survey, you may disregard the reminder notices.

The survey can be accessed at http://survey.aea267.k12.ia.us/survey/5558/1299/.

Please encourage all of your staff to participate. If you have already completed the survey, we thank you for your support!

Iowa Core Curriculum Update

Leadership for the Iowa Core Year Two, Day Three sessions are quickly approaching. There are still opportunities to register if you have not already done so. The session will focus on updates for the six outcomes, future plans, information about collaborative teams and their role in outcome 6, and time for teams to engage in implementation planning. A team needs to register for and attend just one Day Three session, as the content will be repeated at each location. Please note each is a full day session.

Participants must register for the session they plan to attend using the online registration on Heartland’s website, www.aea11.k12.ia.us. Click on Course Catalog in the Quick Links on the lower left hand side, enter the appropriate activity number and continue with your registration information.

Date: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m.‐3:30 p.m. with lunch on your own
Locations:
1. Third Reformed Church, 708 East 13th Street, Pella
Activity number: DR287099991013

2. First United Methodist Church, 307 W Ashland Ave, Indianola
Activity number: DR287099991014

3. Botanical Center, 909 Robert D. Ray Drive, Des Moines
Activity number: DR287099991015

OR

Date: Monday, April 12, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m.‐3:30 p.m. with lunch on your own
Location: Zion Lutheran Church, 4300 Beaver Ave, Des Moines
Activity number: DR287099991016

OR

Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m.‐3:30 p.m. with lunch on your own
Locations:
1. Carrollton Inn, 1730 US Highway 71 North, Carroll
Activity number: DR287099991017

2. Oakwood Road Church, 2400 Oakwood Road, Ames
Activity number: DR287099991018

3. Zion Lutheran Church, 4300 Beaver Ave, Des Moines
Activity number: DR287099991019

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact: Linda Biermann Hoobin, Teaching and Learning Consultant for the Iowa Core, lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us, 515-270-0405 extension 14327.

Workshop to help link Iowa schools to healthy, local food sources

School food-service directors play a crucial role in the health of Iowa's children, according to Andrea Geary coordinator of the Northern Iowa Food & Farm Partnership (NIFFP) housed at the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Energy & Environmental Education.

NIFFP is sponsoring an educational workshop for food-service directors, farmers, community members and interested individuals to show how food service directors can serve healthy, fresh food to students through a farm-to-school food program. The workshop will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Thursday, April 15, at UNI's Malcolm Price Lab School.

Click here to download a flyer for the workshop. The event is open to the public. Registration is required; the $30 registration fee includes lunch. To register contact Geary at andrea.geary@uni.edu or (319) 273-7883.

NIFFP is the co-lead agency for the Midwest National Farm to School Network (NFTSN) and works with farm-to-school programs in the Waterloo Community School, Independence Community School District, and UNI's Price Laboratory School. Find more information at www.niffp.org.