Thank you to all that joined us for summer professional learning! Although we have provided both face-to-face and virtual options, we have enjoyed "seeing" you in any format! We are always honored to learn and grow with you. Over 2200 participants joined us this summer in professional learning opportunities, and we hope to see more this fall. We know that this fall presents many challenges as you return to school. However, we are confident that the educators of Alabama will succeed! Please contact us directly for individual support for your school or district.

Continue to review our social media pages on Facebook (@uainservice) and Twitter (@UofARIC) for ongoing announcements. As a reminder, you may find any of our newsletters at: http://inservice.ua.edu/newsletter.

If you need additional information or would like to discuss specific plans for support for your school or district, I am happy to assist you at 205-348-6951 or via e-mail at hgmorgan@ua.edu. We wish you all a blessed 2021-2022 school year!

Happy learning!

Dr. Holly Morgan

Director, UA/UWA Regional In-Service Center

2021-2022 Statewide RIC Needs Assessment: The voices and opinions of teachers and administrators are crucial to this process; therefore, we need your help!

The Regional Inservice Centers want to provide quality and relevant professional learning for all educators across the state. Please take a few minutes to complete the Regional In-Service Education Center 2021-2022 Needs Assessment. For questions, contact Dr. Angie Pelton apelton@alsde.edu at the ALSDE, Office of Student Learning

Please respond by August 31.

Survey link: https://bit.ly/ARIC21-22

Join our free, virtual Tech Meet Tuscaloosa Conference on August 2 for strategies to assist you as you begin your new school year! Our special guests, Mr. Jake Miller and Dr. Barry Wiginton, will offer multiple sessions throughout the conference, which will focus on best strategies for remote teaching and learning. Please register in PowerSchool via this link in order to receive the Zoom access.

We are excited to announce that the 2nd Annual West Alabama Regional School Counselors' Conference will be held on Friday, February 11, 2022 at the Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy.

In order to best prepare for the needs of school counselors, we ask all counselors within our region to complete the following survey by August 31.

The UA/UWA Regional In-Service Center will host the following two networks from the Alabama Best Practices Center:

• Powerful Conversations Network (PCN)
  
• Text: New Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano and colleagues
  
• Teachers will meet in grade bands and/or subject areas planning and identifying lessons for the essential standards.

• Key Leaders Network (KLN)
• Text: High Reliability Schools by Robert Marzano and colleagues
• This year, KLN will connect leaders to strategies that strengthen district and school cultures as they address the challenges caused by the pandemic.

The first training session will be held virtually; other sessions are planned as face-to-face.

If you are unable to secure a school team, contact me (hgmorgan@ua.edu) regarding registering single participants.

We hope that you can join us! For more information regarding registration, please contact Holly Morgan at hgmorgan@ua.edu or Tami Barron at tbarron@ua.edu. Registration deadline EXTENDED TO AUGUST 19!

We are here to support you! If you are interested in pursuing National Board Certification, please join our free, monthly support cohort! Session information, including dates, times, and PowerSchool registration can be found on the calendar located at http://inservice.ua.edu/national-board-support.html

For the fall semester, all informational sessions will be offered virtually. In the spring semester, candidates will be assigned NBCT mentors who will support them face-to-face and/or virtually in their NBCT journey.

Click here to be added to the UA/UWA NB email distribution list in order to receive ongoing updates regarding NBCT support.

Join us on August 19 from 5:00-7:30 pm as we learn from best-selling author of the What Works! Series, Bobbie Faulkner! She will kick-off our yearlong support schedule by providing an overview of best practices through the lens of the National Board Certification process. This session will also offer detailed instructions on application procedures, an overview of the process, helpful resources, grant information, and tips to prepare you for National Board certification.

Register today via PowerSchool at the following link! This session will be presented virtually; a Zoom link will be added to the notes section of the PowerSchool listing and shared with you via e-mail two days prior to the session.

Is it time for you to renewal your National Board certification? Join us on August 26 from 5:00-7:30 pm for this virtual session that will provide you an overview of the renewal process and the support that is provided for renewal candidates through the UA/UWA Regional In-Service Center.

Register in PowerSchool via the following link. A Zoom link will be added to the notes section of the PowerSchool listing and will be shared with you via e-mail approximately two days prior to the session.

Turnaround Academy for District Leaders

Strengthening the District System of Support for

Principals Leading Instructional Transformation

Training Goal

Evaluate the current district support system to prioritize and strengthen district level supports for principals who are leading instructional transformation.

Structure

· Personalized support

· ALCD PLU Opportunity

· Training Participants - up to 3 District Support Team members who commit to all four sessions (1 of the 3 participants is the superintendent or designee).

***4 Virtual Sessions (3 to 3.5 hrs. each) with an intersession period (4-5 weeks between each virtual session)

If you are interested in participating, complete this Registration Form by Friday, August 27.

Join Dr. Daniel Cohen, Co-Director of The University of Alabama's Center for Interconnected Behavioral and Mental Health Systems (CIBMHS), for Youth Mental Health First Aid training. Training will include asynchronous modules and participation in one synchronous session. The synchronous session will be held on Tuesday, September 21. Registration for this opportunity closes on September 6. The synchronous zoom training session will start at 9:30am and end at 3 pm. The self-paced portion takes about 2.5 hours to finish and must be completed 3 days prior to the chosen training date.

To register, please use the following link in PowerSchool. Space is limited! If you teach within the UA/UWA In-Service Center region, your registration fee will be paid for this opportunity.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including ADHD), and eating disorders. The facilitator, Daniel Cohen, PhD, is an assistant professor of school psychology at UA and is an expert in the provision of mental health supports in school settings. The training includes a self-paced module and a synchronous day-long remote training session.

• September 15: Birmingham
• September 21: Montgomery
• September 22: Mobile

• Meeting Format: Whole Group Session – 9:00 – 12:00; Specified Breakout Sessions from 1:00 - 4:30
• Meeting Logistics: Specific locations, agenda topics, parking information, afternoon breakout session titles and target audiences, and other logistical information will be sent to LEAs through Dr. Mackey’s Midweek Matters and the OSL Updates email blast from Dr. Davis.
• ALSDE Contacts: For additional questions and/or clarifications, contact Susan Zana at susan.zana@alsde.edu or Cristin Dillard at cdillard@alsde.edu in Instructional Services.

Operation Success: The Role of the Mental Health Service Coordinator Training

• Overview: All LEAs awarded the funds for the MHSC are required to attend and additional social workers or MHSC that an LEA has hired in addition to the MHSC grant or non-grant funded LEAs who use ESSER funds to hire MHSC or social workers may also attend.
• Dates & Location: September 21-22, 2021, at Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; 9:00 – 4:00 each day
• Registration Information: Required to attend and must be done in PowerSchool PL via the following link; Capacity is 300 and will be based on PowerSchool registration for the event.
• Contacts: Dr. Kay Warfield kaw@alsde.edu or Ms. Shenitra Dees Shenitra.dees@alsde.edu in Prevention and Support Services for additional information

• September 24, 2021
• 10:00 am-11:30 am
• Virtual meeting via Zoom
• This year, we will host 3 meetings with the curriculum directors/professional learning directors who serve as direct liaisons to the In-Service Center.
• Each of these regional meetings, beginning with September 24, will occur 2-3 weeks after the ALSDE's Curriculum and Instruction meetings. The purpose of this timing is so that we may discuss specific updates, data, and requests for support based upon the information shared at the ALSDE meetings. We will share ideas and network to share best practices within our region.

The first ever virtual joint Alabama-Georgia Middle Level Education Conference is based on the fifth edition of AMLE's position paper, The Successful Middle School: This We Believe. The conference will support middle level educators at all stages of their career who want to learn more about how to support the attributes and characteristics that define successful middle schools, teachers, and students.

The conference features educators and school leaders from across Alabama and Georgia. We are also proud to host author and leader Robert Jackson as our keynote speaker along with other incredible featured speakers.

We will kick off the weekend Friday night (September 24) with a tailgate social hosted by Dru Tomlin, and rally together to tackle middle level education on Saturday (September 25) during our half-day conference.

If you are an educator in Region 4 who would like to attend, please e-mail Banks Gordy at bgordy@uwa.edu. The in-service center is offering scholarships to pay registration for middle school educators within our region.

Join Kari Jurgenson on Tuesday, September 28 for this afterschool virtual session from 3:00-4:30 pm! Middle and high school math teachers will learn more about increasing the rigor of mathematical tasks in daily instruction.

Register in PowerSchool via the following link. Zoom information is included in the "notes" section of the listing.

• Spiral bound hard copies have been delivered to each school/central office in Region 4.
• The ELA teacher's name was affixed via a label to the front of each document.
• Copies were printed based upon last year's educational directory. You have the option of downloading additional copies at https://www.alabamaachieves.org/content-areas-specialty/english-language-arts/.
• Contact Dr. Holly Morgan at hgmorgan@ua.edu with any questions.

ARI Lunch and Learns for Administrators- As outlined in the Alabama Literacy Act (ALA), the ARI local and regional literacy specialists must be clear and intentional in working with the school administrators to create a strategic plan for coaching that includes coaching and mentoring teachers daily (p.10). This strategic plan for coaching will assist in a seamless transition to the 2021 Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts (ELA COS). Each Lunch and Learn will include time to explore a specific area of foundational reading from our 2021 ELA COS and support administrators in ensuring all educators in our buildings have a clear understanding of how the science of reading is explicitly incorporated to enable K-3 students to master grade-level content.

Lunch & Learn 1

• September 30, 2021

Lunch & Learn 2

• December 2, 2021

Lunch & Learn 3

• January 27, 2022

Lunch & Learn 4

• March 10, 2022

Lunch & Learn 5

• April 28, 2022

All sessions will be held via Zoom from 10:00-11:00 am. Register in PowerSchool via the following link to receive the Zoom links.

You may also review ARI updates via their ARI Literacy Leadership | Smore Newsletters.

Title: Alabama’s Teacher Observation Tool: An Overview for Administrators

Course Description: Alabama Achieves, the strategic plan of the Alabama State Department of Education, specifically focuses on providing students with highly effective teachers. The ALSDE has partnered with Cognia in creating a teacher observation tool that provides educators with specific areas of strengths/growth and aligns with the Alabama Core Teaching Standards. The instrument also assists educators in developing professional development plans and choosing informed professional learning experiences. In this session administrators will be able to

• Understand the Teacher Observation Tool

• Utilize the Teacher Observation Tool for classroom observation

• Calibrate scores on the Teacher Observation Tool

Time: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Region 4 Dates: October 12 or 13 (Choose one full day to attend; two sessions are open each day)

Region 4 Location: Bryant Conference Center, 240 Paul W. Bryant Dr., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

Register via the PowerSchool links below for the following opportunities in Region 4:

October 12, Mason Room

October 12, Mobile Room

October 13, Mason Room

October 13, Mobile Room

When
Friday, October 15, 2021 from 7:45 AM to 4:15 PM CDT

Where

St. James Church
9045 Vaughn Rd.
Montgomery, AL 36117

• Register now via this link
• Keynote speakers: Natalie Wexler and Linda Farrell

• For more information, view the following site!

The annual ACGAL conference will be held on October 16 at the new I3 Academy in Birmingham. The conference will feature Matt Townsley and Nathan Wear, authors of Making Grades Matter, as keynote speakers. The cost for attendance is $90 each (or $75 for groups of 5+). A copy of the text is included with the registration fee.

If you are an educator in Region 4 who would like to attend, please contact Banks Gordy at bgordy@uwa.edu regarding scholarship availability.

• ASIM Biology Training and Support (Lisa Clark, lclark@ua.edu)

• ASIM Chemistry Training and Support (Brooks Moss, moss020@ua.edu)
• ASIM Physics Training and Support (Julie Covin, jcovin@ua.edu)

Contact our specialists today to request on-site instructional support as you return to school! We are here for you!

Deliveries

We are happy to be able to deliver labs to your school this year if you are one of our trained teachers. The process will look a little different this year than it has in the past. Mr. John Pointon will be our new delivery driver this year. Please be on the lookout to welcome him to your school.

Training

If you are a new teacher needing ASIM training, please reach out to us directly via email, phone, and/or text.

Lab Safety

We are unable to provide printed safety contracts, but you will be required to have one on file for your students. You may use the Flinn Safety Contract (also available in Spanish) or a personal/district plan. Try paperless! Use your LMS platform and ask students and parents to sign digitally.

Mark your calendars for the "Scientist for a Day" event in November 2021!

Contact Dr. Robert Mayben at rmayben@ua.edu to support your school or district's technology professional learning needs. He will be working with many districts in our region during the first two weeks of August. PLU opportunities and other training opportunities will be posted soon!

AMSTI has been busy providing professional learning to teachers in our region for math and science. We were excited to hold our first coaching academy to support building-based math coaches. We look forward to working with this great group of educators in our coaching communities this year.

We will hold two more virtual K-5 Math COS overview sessions on August 9.

8:30 – 11: 30 am https://alsde.truenorthlogic.com/ia/empari/learning2/registration/presentRegistrationDetails/399896

12:00 – 3:00 pm https://alsde.truenorthlogic.com/ia/empari/learning2/registration/presentRegistrationDetails/399901

Please contact Sara McGee (smcgee@ua.edu) if you need other professional learning needs.

The University of Alabama Online offers premier degrees at a cut-rate price. Our graduate Education degrees have been nationally recognized as top programs by U.S. News & World Report, and our distance tuition allows you access to UA's programs at a lower rate with no hidden fees. We offer master's, EdS and EdD programs in a number of subject areas in online and hybrid formats. GRE/MAT scores are waived for a limited time, so contact us today to get started!

Start Your Journey Today At UWA!

Choose from more than 70 degree and certification programs at the University of West Alabama Online.

Learn how an online program can give you the convenience and flexibility you need. Scholarships available at: https://online.uwa.edu/tuition/scholarships-partnerships/teacher-connect/

https://online.uwa.edu/

Dr. Holly Morgan, Director

Mrs. Tami Barron, Administrative Assistant

Ms. Angela Lewis, Office Associate for In-Service Center and AMSTI

Mrs. Banks Gordy, UWA Assistant

Email: hgmorgan@ua.edu
Website: www.inservice.ua.edu
Location: 260 Kilgore Lane, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Phone: 205-348-3319
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uainservice/
Twitter: @UofARIC