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The Monday Minute

Indiana Middle Level Education Association

The MondayMinuteIndiana Middle Level Education Association
The Monday Minute is a periodic newsletter intended to share resources and professional learning opportunities that apply to middle level staff and students in particular. We try not to make it too long, so that you can read it in just a few minutes. (It's usually shorter than this one!) We send the first few issues to a long list of principals with some grade 5-8 students; subsequent editions are sent to members only. Many administrator positions have changed recently, so feel free to forward this to the appropriate individuals as well as your staff.

The Indiana Middle Level Education Association is a non-profit organization that is member-driven. Our board members represent all regions of Indiana and help direct our activities while enjoying great networking opportunities. Through 2019, we have had a well-attended annual conference. We are funded primarily by memberships and sponsorships. We are the Indiana affiliate of the Association of Middle Level Educators and administer the Schools to Watch program for our state. Our office is in IASP's building in Indianapolis.

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Helping Adolescents Learn about Their Brain

An initiative at UNC-Chapel Hill, Teens and Tech, just launched a psychology and neuroscience-based outreach website about adolescent brain development and healthy technology use.

The website includes a middle school curriculum, with lesson plans, slides, and activities. The first two modules relating technology use to adolescent brain development and reward-processing are now available.

The curriculum's goal is to empower adolescents by teaching them about their changing brains, so that they are aware of their unique developmental opportunities and vulnerabilities.

You are welcome to give feedback, and more modules will be posted in the future. These lessons could be ideal as a part of advisory.

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The Olympics are Almost Over-- But Would You Like Some Lesson Ideas?

There are some current lesson ideas and resources through the Olympic Museum. There are a lot of great stories on the Team USA site, including biographies of each US athlete.

And, this is a rare school year that will have 2 Olympics; the Winter Olympics in Beijing are February 4-20, 2022.

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News from Champions Together

IMLEA has partnered with Special Olympics Indiana to promote the Unified Champions program at the middle level. Many high schools participate, but middle schools have found great success as well! Oscar Haughs of Rochester Community Schools describes it as, "the best anti-bullying program I have ever seen." SO North America recently added some mental health resources you are free to use. To learn more about how your school can participate, check out the flyer below, or resources on our website.

David Finkle: My Radical Approach to Classroom Management

I have followed David Lee Finkle and his comic Mr. Fitz via FB for several years. His recent post to the Middle Web blog gives a different approach to articles about discipline.
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Child Care Scholarships

Classified as essential workers, Indiana teachers & other school staff at all income levels are eligible for $$ support from the state for child care, both for summer and before/after school care through March, 2022. Many of the participating sites are located at schools; yours might even be included! A flyer is available here to share or post. Learn more about the initiative and apply here.

In the Lead--Great PD Opportunity

This PD series is a grant-funded collaboration of DOE, Keep Indiana Learning, and the Educational Service Centers of Indiana. Priority registration ends August 13.

Organized into 6 key strands, district teams of administrators will identify and attend workshops in the high-priority topics that are essential to their needs. Each strand is a collaboration of national thought leaders and the Educational Service Centers of Indiana to provide global thinking, local conversation, and professional support.

As an attendee at IN the LEAD, district/school leaders will engage with:

  • Prominent national thought leaders in each strand
  • In-Person 2-day workshops (in regional locations) with virtual or self-paced follow ups
  • Communities of practice for on-going support and collaboration

New Resources and Webinars from Horace Mann

Horace Mann now has a series of webinars for you to learn more about their helpful programs, like Student Loan Solutions, their support of DonorsChoose projects for teachers, and Section 125 and retirement programs. You can find the complete webinar list here, or on our website.
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Learning Opportunities (all times EDT, Free Unless Noted)

August 4: How to Teach Copyright This Year, 4 pm

August 4: Digital Escapes with Google, 6 pm

August 5: A Guide to Standards-Based Grading, 5 pm

August 7: edcamp edtech, 10 am-noon

August 7-8: Middle Ground Book Fest Author Panels 9 am-6 pm


ONGOING EVENTS

Keep Indiana Learning Live Events (many free) Archived Events

PATINS Trainings for Accessibility for All

edweb.net Webinars

Teachers First/OK2Ask Virtual Workshops

AMLE Podcast Series

Indiana eLearning Lab. Must log in to see workshop topics. This week's live sessions: Revive Your Google Drive, Smart Start EduProtocols, and Worksheet Redesign: Docs vs Slides

By Thursday, the site will migrate to http://inlearninglab.com/


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.

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You can access past Monday Minutes via this link on our webpage Principals and others: Feel free to forward this newsletter to your staff, and email us at any time.

You can join both IMLEA and AMLE in a joint membership!

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