Although we had to postpone our in-person conference, several of our speakers have agreed to present online! First up, we will have Kimberly Fidler on March 14 at 8 pm EDT presenting on, "How and Why You Should Be An LGBTQ+ Ally." Ms. Fidler is currently a doctoral student at ISU and ISTA Uniserv Director. She taught Spanish for 16 years at South Putnam HS.

There are many questions for all school employees about how and why they should be allies to LGBTQ+ students and adults. Participants in this session will receive answers to these questions and learn about how to help others become allies with a curriculum that offers a variety of activities that can be used for training for new and more experienced school employees. There will also be tips about how to make the community more affirming for LGBTQ+ people.

Register for the March 14 session here; you will receive the zoom link and an opportunity to ask a question.

On April 11 at 7 pm EDT, we have the opportunity to learn from Indiana Teacher of the Year Sharita Ware from East Tipp Middle School.

Ms. Ware uses Project Lead the Way, incorporates robotics, design challenges, Lego League, and much, much more in her classroom. She has an engineering background and became a Woodrow Wilson Fellow to transition to a career in teaching. Purdue recently published this extensive interview with her.

Register for the April 11 session here; you will receive the Zoom link and the opportunity to ask a question.

Stay tuned for announcements of additional sessions! PGPs will be awarded upon request. We are making these two sessions open to all; plans are to put the recordings on a members-only part of our website.

The Bayh College of Education is sponsoring our series and is providing the Zoom links. Preservice education students from ISU were planning to attend our in-person conference, and will be joining us online. Dr. Matthew Moulton has been successful in encouraging several to consider middle school as a career!

Speaking of Indiana State, this website, "Building Love for Algebra and Geometry" created by Dr. Winnie Ko and Conner Goodwin is a two-year project funded by an Indiana Department of Education Learning Recovery Grant. The purpose of the project is to support students whose mathematical learning was affected by COVID-19 Pandemic. The website has slides and worksheets for math origami activities, which could be implemented across grade levels even though they currently target middle school students as participants (and are using them in middle school classrooms.)

Dr. Ko says, "Please feel free to share it with math teachers who you might know. Also, please feel free to contact me and Connor if you have any ideas, questions, comments, and/or suggestions regarding our origami activities."

The middle truly matters! March is a great time to share the great work you are doing with students in one of the most impressionable stages in their lives.

AMLE has provided resources and suggestions for activities you can use in your classroom and on social media to raise awareness of the importance of middle level education and young adolescent students including downloadable posters, Facebook images, and Twitter images. You might consider checking out the celebrations the Georgia Association for Middle Level Education is doing on Twitter this month; for example, today's prompt was to share advice you would give today to your middle level self.

You can use #MLEM in your posts and follow AMLE on Twitter and Facebook to participate in activities throughout the month. And, share your own positive stories about your school/students/children that highlight what makes the middle grades so special. You can also request Middle School Strong laptop stickers for your team by emailing membercenter@amle.org and AMLE will mail them to members free of charge.

Brownsburg East & Brownsburg West Middle Schools participated in the Indianapolis Polar Plunge on March 4, helping Special Olympics support programs like Unified Champions, a program in which they participate. Schools are now planning for a Unified Track season. Please contact Tori Batson if you would like more information; we also have resources on our webpage.

Kudos also to Mt. Vernon Middle School, which is just wrapping up Unified Super Smash Bros (eSports)!

The Indianapolis Colts are awarding ten educators their "Classroom Quarterback" award. It's actually open to anyone in the US 18 and older who works in the education field. See more details here. Entry deadline is May 1.

There's much to discuss in this article from Cathy Gassenheimer, Executive VP of the Alabama Best Practices Center. It is actually a review of a new book by middle school veterans Patti Kinney and Laurie Barron, We Belong: 50 Strategies to Create Community and Revolutionize Classroom Management. Ms. Gassenheimer has additional posts for your consideration available here.

You can get a “boarding pass” at NASA for the Artemis I lunar orbit flight. Your name will be placed on a flash drive that’s being sent aboard the flight. The preliminary launch date is March 20, 2022. Find more details here

Did you know AMLE has a podcast? The link above connects you to Spotify, but you can use other platforms as well. There are six episodes so far, some with guest stars, with the most recent one with Brooklyn Raney on the importance of middle school students having "One Trusted Adult." These can be a great listen during a commute, walk, run, etc.

Dr. Torrey Trust is at it again; she has created yet another choice board with options for teaching about the conflict in Ukraine.

Make a copy to remix here.

Here are some diplomacy simulations from the National Museum of American Diplomacy and icivics.org, "Convene the Council."

March: Middle Level Education Month & Women's History Month

March 10: School Library Journal Middle School Magic, 9am-5pm

March 10: Learning Forward Webinar-Getting Ready for Summer: Strategies to Strengthen Summer Learning for All, 3 pm

March 10: Hemingway to Manga: Welcoming All Kinds of Books and Genres in the Classroom, 4 pm

March 14: Pi Day (several links with activities)

March 14: IMLEA Webinar with Kimberly Fidler, 8 pm EDT

*March 15: #KahootCup2022

March 16-18: NCTM Regional Conference, Indianapolis

March 17: AMLE Panel-Creating Supportive Learning Environments for LGBTQ+ Students, 5:30 pm

*March 25: How Do I Become an Animator? 2 pm

*March 31: Deadline to Enter Students in ICTM State Contest

April 2: AMLE Recharge Workshop, 10 am-2 pm (Charge involved)

April 4-8: Horace Mann Donors Choose Giveaway (Can enter now!)

April 7: Virtual Voyagers: Exploring Strategies & Resources for Meaningful Online Learning, 10 am (recording available in IN Learning Lab later)

April 14: IMLEA Webinar with Sharita Ware, Indiana TOY, 7 pm

*April 23: Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics State Contest (10 Local Host Sites)

May 1: Nomination Deadline for the Colts Classroom Quarterbacks Award

*involves students

ONGOING EVENTS

Keep Indiana Learning Live Events (many free) Archived Events

edWeb.net Webinars

PATINS Trainings for Accessibility for All

Teachers First/OK2Ask Virtual Workshops

AMLE Podcast Series

AMLE Events (some free, some paid)

IN LearningPartnership (Includes Wednesday PD with IDOE)

Corwin Webinars (Most on Mondays)

Please note: Webinars and events mentioned in this space are not an endorsement of commercial products; on the contrary, we try to avoid listing events that appear to be commercial in nature. Every effort is made to strip social media/tracking data from provided URLs. In many cases you can register and receive a recording later.

You can access past Monday Minutes via this link on our webpage, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. The Monday Minute is usually sent to members on the first and third Mondays of the month, but sometimes we expand our mailing list. Principals and others: Feel free to forward this newsletter to your staff, and email us at any time.

Join Us! Membership Benefits & Application

Susie Highley, Executive Director

Shirley Wright, Schools to Watch Consultant

Email: shighleyimlea@iasp.org
Website: https://www.imlea.org/
Location: 11025 East 25th Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 317.894.2937
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IMLEA-Indiana-Middle-Level-Education-Association-170748717595/
Twitter: @IMLEAorg

To support you, your teachers, and your students, IMLEA long-time corporate supporter, Horace Mann, is funding at least $10,000 in DonorsChoose projects! Please share this with your teachers and encourage them to enter for a chance to win!

Here’s how they do it.

1. Enter their DonorsChoose project at horacemann.com /giveaways now through April 8.

2. During the week of April 4 - 8, Horace Mann will draw winners and fund at least $2,000 in DonorsChoose projects each day.

To learn more about DonorsChoose or if your teachers need help setting up a DonorsChoose project, click here or contact your local Horace Mann representative.

See link for official rules. No purchase necessary to enter or win. Not valid in Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Washington or West Virginia. Must be at least 18 years of age or older to enter. Your school and/or district may have guidelines around DonorsChoose funding. Please ensure you are adhering to all pertinent policies and procedures. DonorsChoose is not an affiliate of Horace Mann.

Horace Mann Service Corporation and certain of its affiliates (Horace Mann) enter into agreements with educational associations where Horace Mann pays the association to provide services aimed at familiarizing association members with the Horace Mann brand, products or services. For more information, email your inquiry to association.relations@horacemann.com.