Professional Learning COVID-19 Update

Due to the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases, EXTERNAL Face to Face Professional Learning has been suspended through the month of December. Virtual opportunities are still available for registration! Stay healthy. Stay safe.

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

Access to Education: Meeting and Exceeding Requirements (Virtual)

January 4, February 8, March 22, April 19, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Register Here
Participants will learn how to create a variety of accessible materials so students will be able to access core content and different learning environments. Participants will develop knowledge and skills to meet the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) which requires assistive technology (AT) be considered at the yearly individualized education program (IEP) meeting of every student in special education.

Restorative Practices Using Circles in Classrooms (Virtual) 

January 4, January 11, January 18, January 25, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Register Here
This course will allow participants to use the basics of Restorative Practices in the classroom and school. Participants will learn by participating in circles with other attendees, taking turns to learn how to facilitate. By the end of the day, participants will be prepared to return to their settings and run circles!

Materials Note: Participants are required to purchase the book themselves prior to the course starting date: Restorative Circles in Schools: A Practical Guide for Educators - Second Edition - available through www.amazon.com.

Substitute Authorization Courses 

Substitute authorization courses continue to be offered virtually throughout the state. LINK to available courses.

Thank You for Attending the Rachel's Challenge Kickoff!

Green Hills AEA held the Rachel's Challenge kickoff event on Wednesday, November 4th in Red Oak. We were overwhelmed by the positive response we received both from superintendents and school teams who participated in the event. We look forward to seeing how Rachel's Challenge impacts the schools in our service area for years to come. If you have any questions about Rachel's Challenge or would like to get involved, please contact Dr. Jenny Barnett. 

America's Farmers Grow Ag Leaders Scholarship

America's Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, sponsored by Bayer Fund, is offering more than $500,000 in scholarships to high school seniors and college students pursuing an ag-related field of study. Students can apply for a $1,500 scholarship now through January 14, 2021.

2021 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest

This contest is a way to teach students about waterfowl and wetland conservation throughout the United States for all grade levels. This program strives to encourage children to investigate the importance of conservation of our natural world and what it means to them.

The following is a list of the requirements to enter the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest:

• U.S. citizenship (In order to receive the national prizes the student will need a SS# or Visa #).
• Currently in schooling from K-12
• Create an original piece of artwork (This may use other pieces as a reference but cannot be a copy of the reference)
• Depict a permitted species, the list is within the JR Duck Stamp Brochure
• Be submitted or postmarked by March 15th, 2021
• Be submitted with an entry form and a reference form (Reference form is required for students in grades 7 and up)
• Entries can be drawn, painted, or sketched
• Styles can include hyper-realism or abstract, etc.

Please send all entries to:
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
Attn: Junior Duck Stamp
1434 316th Lane
Missouri Valley, IA 51555

Entries will be judged in late March and all participants will receive the judging results as soon as possible. All winners will be invited to an award ceremony in late April.

LEARN MORE HERE

Winter Blood Drive

Green Hills AEA would like to invite you to participate in our winter blood drive on December 8th at the Halverson Center for Education! To schedule an appointment or for more information, click the link below.

BOOK YOUR DONATION TODAY

Red Oak Holiday Cheer Drive

 

U.S. History Primary Source Posters

You can order 50+ posters provided by the Library of Congress. Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts that retell, analyze, or interpret events, usually at a distance of time or place. In addition to the posters, you'll find teaching guides.

Go to https://csonline.ghaea.org and log in with single sign-on (username/password used in AEA Learning Online for mandatory reporter and bloodborne pathogens.) Enter primary source in the search box to see all resources. In addition to the printed poster versions, we just added the option of downloading a PDF so you can share the primary source virtually with your class.

Learn more about how to teach with primary sources.

Examples:

• Abolitionist Movement and John Brown
• African Americans and the Civil War
• African-American Suffrage
• Agriculture in a Global World
• American Indian Removal and Relocation
• American Indians and Westward Expansion
• American-Indian Suffrage
• Buxton: A Lost Utopia
• Caucuses and Elections
• Children's Lives: Comparing Long Ago to Today
• Civil Rights: Before, During, and after the World Wars
• Cold War
• Dust Bowl
• Environmental Impact
• Great Depression and Herbert Hoover
• Great Depression and the Dust Bowl
• Holocaust and America's Response to Other Genocides
• How States Get Their Shapes
• Immigration to Iowa
• Immigration: Regulation, Response, and Attitudes in America
• Innovation in Agriculture
• Innovation in Transportation
• Iowa Weather and Its Impact
• Iowa: Leader in Civil Rights and Equality
• Iowa's Connection to the World
• Korean War
• New Deal
• Railroads in Iowa
• Reconstruction
• Refugees in America
• School Desegregation
• Schools: Comparing Long Ago, Today and Other Cultures
• Underground Railroad
• World War I: America's Involvement
• World War I: Evaluating America's Role
• World War II: America's Motivation and Impact

Professional Learning COVID-19 Update

Due to the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases, EXTERNAL Face to Face Professional Learning has been suspended through the month of November. Virtual opportunities are still available for registration! Stay healthy. Stay safe. 

Digital Resource Interactive Notebook Now Available!

The Green Hills AEA Digital Learning team has recently designed an interactive notebook that contains digital resources that can be of benefit to your districts as you support learners. The notebook is divided by tabs and within each topic you can learn about the digital tool. If you choose the "click here" on each note page you will find a one-page sheet that explains how to get started and uses of the tool. We have also provided connections to previously released Return to Learn documents to help in implementation planning. Our interactive notebook will continue to evolve with new resources and supports.

And don't forget about our CLICKABLE CLASSROOM

Our digital learning team has put together a clickable classroom for the universal webinar series that they created. The clickable classroom helps users navigate the webinar series and provides a library of resources. 

VISIT THE CLASSROOM HERE

Occupational and Physical Therapy Universal Tools For Success Resource

The GHAEA Occupational and Physical Therapists have developed a Universal Tools for Success resource, including a 4-minute screencast explaining the process (click on the heading to access the screencast). This document covers universal intervention strategies in the areas of Active Engagement, Environment, Functional Motor Movements, and Self Help Skills. The universal interventions were developed to provide educators with strategies to implement within various school routines and educational settings. Specifically, it discusses:

• Active Engagement: basic self regulation strategies and ways to address transitions
• Environment: positioning, posture, and accessibility
• Functional Motor Movement: fine motor skills (including strategies on the motor aspects of handwriting) and gross motor skills (including strategies for mobility and transitions in and outside of the classroom)
• Self Help: routines such as mealtime, toileting, dressing and recess

If you have any questions regarding this resource, please contact Michele Harrison, Julie Stessman, or Andy Ruff. 

UNI College of Education to Host Virtual Conference on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

The University of Northern Iowa invites you to join them for the fifth Bill and Linda Tubbs Teaching Connections professional development workshop hosted by the UNI College of Education. This year's virtual event, entitled "ACEs: Building Trauma-Sensitive Communities," will take place on November 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Offered as a free Zoom webinar this fall, the schedule will include guest speakers from local and statewide organizations - led by keynote Jen Ulie Wells, with Please Pass the Love - as well as UNI faculty. See the full agenda!