Green Hills AEA Professional Learning

Be on the lookout for your 2019 Spring Professional Learning Catalogs to be delivered to your schools next week!

If you have taken Fierce Conversations (Foundations, Team, Coaching, Delegation and Confrontation Conversations) and are interested in adding two more conversation models to your repertoire, join us for FIERCE 2 on February 1st and 15th in Avoca to learn more about the Generations and Feedback Models. This has been approved for 1 Evaluator Approval/License Renewal credit. Register today! Course #160607

The Collaborative Leadership Institute with Peter DeWitt wrapped up on Friday, December 7th with several representatives from 12 school districts and Green Hills AEA in attendance. Participants engaged in deep discussions about building collective efficacy and providing effective feedback within their organizations. Students from the CAM school district interviewed several participants about their most important takeaways and ideas for implementation. They also enjoyed the opportunity to interview Mr. DeWitt about his experiences as a student, teacher, administrator, author and international speaker. These students will now analyze the information from their interviews and provide feedback to Green Hills about the themes and overall responses they received. Their digital learning class is excited about this project and we are thrilled to partner with them!

Iowa'a AEAs Customer Satisfaction Survey Extended

Great news! You now have an additional week to complete the customer survey from Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEA)!

Share your input: https://bit.ly/2RVBUWx

The survey will close at 4:00 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2018.

We ask school administrators and teachers to complete this survey so that Iowa's AEAs better understand stakeholder awareness of and satisfaction with AEA services. We hope that you will participate in this survey, as your feedback is critical to ensuring that Iowa's AEAs continue to provide quality services to local schools.

Iowa's AEAs have partnered with Hanover Research to administer and analyze this survey. Hanover Research is an independent market research firm based in Washington, D.C., and is in no way affiliated with any other entity or organization. Your responses are completely anonymous and will be kept strictly confidential, so please be as open and honest as possible. The survey should take approximately 15 min. to complete.

Take the survey: https://bit.ly/2RVBUWx

Thank you for your time!

Gov. Reynolds Announces More Iowans on Track for Success in Postsecondary Education, Training

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg on Wednesday announced that fewer Iowa high school graduates are taking remedial coursework during their first year at Iowa’s community colleges and state universities, a signal that more students are on track to earn a degree or other postsecondary credential.

Iowa AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey

Green Hills AEA is undertaking an important, system-wide effort to review our mission, vision, and core values as your AEA. Following that, we will be launching the 2019-20 school year with a new 5-year strategic plan based on The 4 Disciplines of Execution model. We are very excited about what this will mean for our ability to improve our services, support and impact for students and schools in southwest Iowa.
One powerful tool to guide us in this work will be the results of the Iowa AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey that you would have received recently. We sincerely want your feedback and assessment of our AEA services and will use the results in our strategic planning. Please take time to complete the survey by Friday, December 14, 2018. If you haven’t already done so, you can use this link. It should only take you 10 minutes to complete, but will provide us with rich and meaningful information to help us improve. Thank you in advance for helping us in this important way.

Iowa Authentic Learning Network

Have you heard about the Iowa Authentic Learning Network (IowaALN)?  This partnership with local businesses provides students with opportunities to help solve real-world problems while they gain invaluable experience. Learn more about Iowa ALN from Brodie, a member of Creston CSD's CAST program.
For more information, contact Stephanie Lane.

Green Hills AEA Holiday Schedule

All Gren Hills AEA offices will close at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, December 21, 2018. Offices will be closed Monday, December 24, 2018 through Tuesday, January 1, 2019. They will return to a normal schedule on Wednesday, January 2, 2019.

Our van mail delivery will not run while the agency is closed. Please be aware of this as you place your print and design job orders and request media supplies.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

K-2 Special Education Math

The Green Hills AEA Math team will be offering a Sped Math K-2 Follow-up Class for any teacher who has previously participated in the 3-5 Sped Math Project on January 18 at the Red Oak AEA. This 1-day training is for returning teachers/coaches who would like additional information about supporting K-2 students with math IEPs. This expansion will include new content around understanding early counting, a diagnostic assessment, and materials.

For more information about this training, visit this link.  Please contact Lisa Magnesonif you are interested or if you would like any additional information.

Self-Care for Parents

Missouri Valley CSD is hosting a parent self-care night on December 12th with Katie Pohlman. Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Katie's presentation will demonstrate the impact stress has on our lives, which includes the impact it has on the children we are raising! Participants will learn about their top stressors and new ways to take care of themselves.
Click here to learn more!

Iowa AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEA) are administering a survey to local school administrators and teachers to better understand stakeholder awareness of and satisfaction with AEA services. You should have received an email yesterday containing this information and a link to the survey. We hope that you will participate in this survey, as your feedback is critical to ensuring Iowa AEA continues to provide quality services to local schools.

Iowa AEA has partnered with Hanover Research to administer and analyze this survey. Hanover Research is an independent market research firm based in Washington, D.C., and is in no way affiliated with any other entity or organization. Your responses are completely anonymous and will be kept strictly confidential, so please be as open and honest as possible. The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. The survey will close on December 14.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cate Keller (ckeller@hanoversurveys.com) at Hanover Research.

Please click the link to begin.

SPARK for Autism

Want to be a part of something big? The University of Iowa invites you to join SPARK for Autism, the nation's largest autism research study. The SPARK site in Iowa City is the closest clinical site for all of Iowa and Nebraska. But on January 5, SPARK for Autism is coming to YOU! Free for anyone participating in SPARK, participants will enjoy a sensory-friendly night at The Durham Museum in Omaha.

Learn more HERE

Find an EdCamp Near You

There are two EdCamps coming to you this winter! Save the date for the Council Bluffs EdCamp on February 23 and the Lamoni EdCamp on December 8th.

WHAT IS AN EDCAMP?

 EdCamps are FREE "unconferences," designed to be teacher centered. They are great places to network and learn from each other. Each session is created and run the day of the event by the individuals who attend an EdCamp. Sessions could include exploring a technology tool, a discussion about best practices, or a collaborative presentation with multiple facilitators. All participants are encouraged to discuss and provide content as well as ask questions. Edcamps also operate on the “Rule of Two Feet.” This means if you attend a session and you decide it isn’t what you expected, you are encouraged to get up and go to another session.

STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training Program Grant

As shared in the November School Leader Update, The Iowa Department of Education was awarded a $494,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Justice’s STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training Program. The federal funding is intended to help schools prevent and respond to acts of violence, and respond to students who face mental health challenges.

Iowa’s project has three objectives:
• Train teachers and school employees to respond to threats of violence and to prevent violence in schools. Training content will align with school emergency plans.
• Train school staff, area education agency staff, and community members to respond to students who may be struggling with mental health or addiction.
• Educate students on preventing violence against themselves and others.

The application to participate will be open from Nov. 5 to Dec. 3. To learn more, register to attend the informational webinar on Nov. 5, at 11 a.m. The webinar will be recorded. For questions, contact Nancy Ankenhy- Hunt at 515-326-1031 or nancy.ankeny-hunt@iowa.gov.