A monthly update for the dedicated teachers, administrators and support staff served by GHAEA

In Touch

November 2015

Green Hills AEA

MTSS conference will feature nationally-recognized expert

‘Focus will be on what MTSS looks, feels, sounds like’ Terri Bush, Regional Administrator

GHAEA is fortunate to be able to tap into resources such

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, also known as MTSS, is

as St. Martin. As we move forward in developing support

the revised term for RtI. Green Hills AEA is your source for

services and structure for students, we hope that you put

all things MTSS!

April 5, 2016, on your calendar and join us for this exciting

The GHAEA website is chock full of resources that support the work of MTSS in our schools. In addition,

professional development opportunity! Registration will be available in January.

GHAEA is sponsoring an “all are welcome” conference next spring that will feature a national expert in the field of MTSS, Dr. Kimberly St. Martin. St. Martin is the assistant director for Michigan's Integrated Behavior & Learning Support Initiative (MiBLSi). She provides leadership in the development of MiBLSi’s District Model for implementing an integrated academic

Save the Date!

and behavior MTSS. reading fidelity assessments and implementation capacity

years, she has provided MTSS consultation to school districts and state departments of education across the country and presented at several state and national MTSS conferences. St. Martin has worked directly with the state of Iowa Collaborating for Kids (C4K) and Collaboration

April 5, 201 6

Conference

assessments at both the district and regional agency levels. and classroom teacher. Over the course of the past several

. Ma

MTSS

In addition, St. Martin is co-author of three school-level

Prior to her work with MiBLSi, St. Martin was a principal

Kimberly St

rtin, Ph.D Dr. St. Martin is the assista nt director for Michigan’s Integrated Beh avior & Lea Support Initi rning ative (MiBLS i). She provide leadership in s the develop ment of MiB Model for imp LSi ’s District lementing an integrated aca and behavio demic r Multi-Tier System of Sup port.

Cass Coun

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805 W. 10 S

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GHAEA offi

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Registratio n contact: Michelle Lid gett Information con Jenny Barnet tacts: t, Terri Bus h or Pat

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712-366-0503 844-366-0503

bitt Green Hills AEA does not discriminate sexual orien on the basis tation of race, color disability, religi , and gender identity , national origin in its employm on, creed, mari , gender, disab and activities, ent practices tal or on the basis or as otherwise status, sexual orien ility, religion, tation ment or the cree of race, color proh , gender ibited by statu grievance proc , national origin d, age, te or regulation identity or economic Iowa 50801, edure conta , gender, status in its . For more infor ct Lori Kiny 712-366-0503 educational on, Equity Coor mation conc or lkinyon@ programs erning appli dinator, Gree ghaea.org cation of this n Hills AEA , 257 Swan stateStreet., Cres ton,

Inquiry Questions (CIQ) educational teams. The conference on April 5, 2016, at the Cass County Convention Center in Atlantic, will focus on what MTSS looks, feels and sounds like. The conference is open to all, but the requested audience will be district and building leaders with a desire to know and learn more about MTSS.

Terri Bush Glenwood Regional Office [email protected] 712-366-0503, 844-366-0503

Powers to head GHAEA board Jere Ann “Jake” Powers was elected president of the GHAEA Board of Directors at the board’s annual organizational meeting on Oct. 27. Kenneth Lee was elected vice president. Powers represents Director District 9 (Council Bluffs Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 16, 17; Carter Lake 1, 2) and Lee represents Director District 6 (East Mills, Essex, Farragut, Fremont-Mills, Hamburg, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Sidney and South Page). Powers and incumbents Ed Gambs (DD 5), Marland Gammon (DD 7), Raymond Storm (DD 1) and Karen Thomsen (DD 3) were sworn in on the 27th for another term on the board.

L-r: Karen Thomsen, Raymond Storm, Jere Ann “Jake” Powers, Marland Gammon and Ed Gambs.

Parent and Educator Connection celebrates 30 years GHAEA’s Parent and Educator Connection (PEC) is celebrating 30 years! PEC is a free program that promotes partnerships between families and schools in order to provide the best educational opportunities for children with special needs. PEC provides individualized services for both parents and educators, access to multiple resources, including a library, knowledge-empowerment activities, workshops and training, as well as parent support group/mentoring referrals. This program, part of a statewide network, is staffed by a parent coordinator, Amy Liddell, the parent of a child with special needs, and an educator, Michele Harrison. In 2014-15, 362 parents/guardians, 158 LEA staff, 663 AEA staff, and 196 community/ state agency staff initiated contact with PEC coordinators. Already in 2015-16, 55 parents/guardians, 30 LEA staff, 144 AEA staff, and 15 community/state agency staff have initiated contact with PEC. The primary reasons for contact have been to seek general information on PEC or other resources, information on secondary transition and IFSP/IEP pre- or post-meeting support. More than 200 educators and 30 parents attended Dr. Laura Riffel’s Challenging Behaviors Workshops, offered in 2014 and 2015.

PEC disseminated Age of Majority materials at the beginning of the year to principals. E-mails are sent the month prior to a student’s 17th and 18th birthday, which is helping to improve data in districts. Statewide PEC is developing a new program design by linking our roles and responsibilities to MTSS in the areas of student learning, active involvement, high expectations and effective communication. For more information on PEC, contact Michele Harrison (Halverson) or Amy Liddell (Red Oak), or visit their webpage.

We value your feedback

AEA/DE Customer Survey closes Nov. 25 Superintendents, principals, teachers and paraeducators are invited to participate in the 2015-16 Statewide AEA/DE Customer Survey. The information obtained from this survey provides valuable data that assists the statewide AEA system in evaluating its services and continuing to meet the current and future needs of schools. Please take a few minutes today to complete this important survey. The survey can be accessed here through Nov. 25, 2015. Thank you.

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November 2015

Mediabuzz

712-366-0203 800-342-7192 [email protected] Medianet Julia Hood, Supervisor, Media Support Services

Dance to the music! Looking for unique ways to introduce music and culture to your students? Then you’ll want to check out the hands-on kits that can be used in music and cultural studies, such as: • African instruments • Bamboo instruments • Global instruments There are also several primary music kits including boomwhackers, rhythm instruments and Chute the Works set For a list of Music Kits available for loan, click here.

The states of the great U.S. Many resources are available for loan from GHAEA for studying the states and regions of the United States. These resources are available as kits with books only or complete with a DVD of the region, flags and more. If you need only books, click here to access a listing of the new Regions book kits. Each title will name the region of the books included in the kit, along with the series name of the books and grade level. If you’d like a little more, each of the Regions of the USA kits include four sets of books and DVD about the states in that region, flags for each of the states, cards with the state flowers, and much more. Check them out here!

Community Helpers resources The Media Center would like to introduce the many resources available for loan for classes studying Community Helpers. Hands-on kits include items such as puppets, Community Helper hats, characters, books and more. DVDs, book kits and individual books are also available. Click here to access a list of book kits (each containing between 10 and 30 books). Many other individual books and DVDs are also available for loan as well.

Featured resource In honor of National Entrepreneurship Month, this month’s featured resource is a Learn 360 video (L18961) Ben & Jerry’s. Learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur! Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream established a new standard for business ethics in America. From the time they met in seventh grade, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have challenged conventional wisdom. With products like Rainforest Crunch and Peace Pops, they proved that a socially-conscious business can become a profitable, multi-million-dollar enterprise.

Looking for resources to use in your technology and STEM classroom? Here are a few available through GHAEA: • Osmo – Set of six that includes iPads with programming installed • GoPro Hero4 • Real World STEM Challenges for Primary • Snap Circuits Kits • STEM Early Learning Kits for Primary • Sphero SPRK Edition – plus other Sphero and Ollies

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November 2015

PD notes

As educators, we are constantly striving to learn new skills and strategies that will improve student achievement. Green Hills AEA programs are coordinated to enhance the professional, personal, and organizational staff development needs of LEA and AEA staff. These include both license renewal and graduate credit courses; paraeducator certification; substitute authorization certification; and informational workshops. Educators across Iowa are welcome to join in the quality learning opportunities offered at GHAEA.

Contact: Connie Richardson, 712-366-0503, or Michelle Lidgett, 712-308-7610

Data, Iowa Standards for Professional Learning, 281—83.6(284) Professional development for teachers. Professional learning increases educator effectiveness and results for all students when it: Uses a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate effectiveness of instruction. Data from multiple sources enrich decisions about professional learning that leads to increased results for every student. Multiple sources include both quantitative and qualitative data, such as common formative and summative assessments, performance assessments, observations, work samples, performance metrics, portfolios, and self-reports. The use of multiple sources of data offers a balanced and more comprehensive analysis of student, educator, and system performance than any single type or source of data can. However, data alone do little to inform decision making

Implementing the New Iowa Science Standards In collaboration with the Iowa Department of Education, Green Hills AEA will be hosting two days of professional learning to help practicing classroom teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators begin the work of becoming familiar with the new Iowa Science Standards and their impact on classroom instruction and assessment. Glenwood Middle School, Nov. 19, 20 Avoca Regional Office, Feb. 23, 24 Lewis Central Admin., Feb. 27, March 1 Creston Regional Office, June 2, 3 Avoca Regional Office, June 6, 7 Red Oak Regional Office, June 8, 9 Lewis Central Admin., June 13, 14 Lewis Central Admin., Aug. 1, 2 Avoca Regional Office, Aug. 3, 4

Click here for information and registration. Contact Kim Wise, Avoca, for more information.

and increase effectiveness. Thorough analysis and ongoing use are essential for data to inform decisions about professional learning, as is support in the effective analysis and use of data. Learning Forward additional info here. To what degree are the data being used to plan, implement, and evaluate learning? What strategies are currently in place to assess progress related to professional learning? How are the professional learning evaluation results used? Coming next: Professional learning increases educator effectiveness and results for all students when it: Integrates theories, research, and models of human learning to achieve intended outcomes.

Conducting/Implementing Quality FBA-BIP (Functional Behavioral Assessment/Behavior Intervention Plan) will be offered in Council Bluffs and Creston starting next month. Participants will learn to operationally define target behaviors and conduct a rigorous functional behavior assessment designed to answer specific questions. Indirect and direct methods of assessing function will be taught and applied. Once a thorough assessment has been conducted, participants will learn how to link these results to appropriate, function-based interventions. Data collection resources will be provided through the Challenging Behavior Team site. Click here for registration information. The Creston dates are Dec. 1 and Jan. 21; Council Bluffs dates are Dec. 8 and Jan. 20. Seth Piro (Avoca) is the instructor.

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November 2015

It’s okay to ask questions

Epilepsy from a mother’s perspective Casey Abler, GHAEA service coordinator More people live with epilepsy than with autism spectrum disorder, Parkinson’s disease, MS and cerebral palsy combined. November is Epilepsy Awareness Month and our family takes this time to advocate and educate people on this disorder. Our son Aaron (photo right) was diagnosed with Hemimegalencephaly and epilepsy when he was three days old. He has battled various types of seizures every day since his diagnosis in 2006, having 12 in a day at times. In July of 2014, Aaron had brain surgery, a Hemispherectomy. After that, he didn’t have seizures for 11 months, the longest period ever. Although his seizures have returned, they are not as severe as they used to be. Epilepsy cannot be cured. Medications can help control seizures and surgery can help, by removing a part of the brain, but there is no cure. November is dedicated to improving seizure recognition and first aid awareness. There is a stigma that goes along with the diagnosis. The more we educate and bring awareness, the better life can be for those living with epilepsy. I think some people are afraid to ask questions. It’s okay to ask questions! I have never been offended when people ask about Aaron’s story. Aaron calls his seizures, “his hiccups”. He does not know when they are coming, but he is becoming more aware of his body and lets me or his teachers know when he feels ‘shaky’. If you would like more information, contact Casey Abler (Glenwood) or visit the Epilepsy Foundation’s website.

Literacy intervention event looking for schools to share success stories Celebrating Iowa's Success, a literacy intervention event on Jan. 13, 2016, is looking for Iowa schools that are implementing successful reading interventions every day. Applications are due Nov. 20. The event is sponsored by Collaborating for Iowa's Kids, a collaborative effort of Iowa's AEAs, DE and school districts. It is designed for district and building administrators, reading specialists, classroom teachers and instructional coaches. It will be held at the Iowa Events Center. Register to attend by Dec. 18. Click here for more information.

Helping students on their journey to obtain a high school diploma GHAEA graduation coaches (school based interventionists) implement intervention programs to provide individualized attention and support to students while on their journey toward earning their high school diploma. They are housed at the middle and high schools where they work primarily with counselors, administrators, or juvenile court representatives as a liaison between parents, students and the school. School based interventionists/graduation coaches ​​are able to facilitate groups, individual student meetings, parent meetings or coordinate other services that a student or their family may need. They are integral members of their building where they advocate for students and their families and build relationships to promote student success. For more information on this program, contact Steve McPhillips, Halverson.

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November 2015

REdesigning career and technical

education in Iowa

Development of regional CTE training centers is just one of the recommendations set forth by statewide task force A statewide task force whose goal is to revitalize career and • Provide high-quality, technical education (CTE) programs in Iowa released its final integrated CTE programming recommendations on Oct. 26. Improved career guidance for composed of secondary high school students seeking technical careers, more workexploratory and transitory based learning opportunities and the development of regional coursework to prepare CTE training centers to provide resources for students are students for higher-level, specialized among the recommendations of the Secondary Career and academic and technical training. Technical Education Task Force. • Afford students the opportunity to access a spectrum of Task force members said the ultimate goal of their recomhigh-quality work-based learning experiences through a mendations is to establish a comprehensive career pathway coherent delivery system that streamlines and leverages system to provide every student an opportunity to pursue existing initiatives. careers requiring postsecondary technical education and • Address the shortage of qualified career and technical training. Murray Fenn, GHAEA career and technical education instructors by expanding opportunities to obtain academic consultant, is a member of the task and technical training in licensure force. areas and examining preservice “Career exploration is an “Two of our (task force) main preparation and licensure practices important component in the goals beginning this process, besides to remove barriers for horizontal and junior high or early high updating Iowa Code language, were vertical career advancement for school years.” providing high-quality CTE programs individuals within the profession. with equal access for all students and Murray Fenn, GHAEA CTE consultant • Through collaboration and regional emphasizing the need for purposeful partnerships, provide for increased career guidance,” Fenn said. “Many and equitable access to high-quality times we have heard stories of CTE through a statewide system of regional centers. students entering college or other post-secondary education In Iowa, CTE programs, formerly known as vocational with a major of business or engineering, and the student education, are organized within six broad areas: agriculture, has never taken a business or industrial technology class in family and consumer sciences, health occupations, high school. How do they know they are interested in these business, industrial technology and marketing. careers? Career exploration is an important component in the “These recommendations have the potential to revitalize junior high or early high school years.” CTE so that Iowa students have access to high-quality, globally A shortage of skilled workers in middle-skills jobs that competitive programs that lead to rewarding careers,” Iowa require education and training beyond high school but less Department of Education Director Ryan Wise said in a release. than a four-year degree has left many of these positions “They are in line with several state efforts already underway unfilled in areas such as health care and advanced to reduce a shortage of skilled workers and boost economic manufacturing. growth.” The task force’s recommendations are: Access the report here or contact Murray Fenn, Halverson. • Promote career and college readiness through thoughtful career guidance and purposeful academic and technical planning practices.

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November 2015

Doodle 4

notes Hamburg CSD recognized as STEM RLE Congratulations to Hamburg CSD for being named a STEM RLE (Redesigned Learning Environment) model. It is one of 12 districts named as a STEM RLE or STEM BEST. The Iowa Governor’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisory Council made the announcement on Oct. 29, naming 12 districts that are committed to innovate through business-education partnerships. Each selected program submitted an indepth proposal, considering factors like education driven by business and industry need, rigorous, relevant and dynamic STEM curriculum and authentic partnerships. The $300,000 STEM council investment made possible through a combination of state and private sector funds is divided equally among the 12 awardees to purchase equipment and provide teacher training. “These 12 new models will help bridge the education to workforce gap by addressing local industry strengths and challenges in each region of the state to ultimately shape the future of Iowa’s economic development,” said Dr. Chris Nelson, co-chair of the STEM council.

Google’s Doodle 4 Google contest is open until Dec. 7, 2015. The winning student and his/her school will receive some amazing prizes such as a $30,000 college scholarship, $50,000 Google for Education Grant for their school, a Chromebook, an Android tablet, a trip to Google headquarters in California for the winner and a teacher, and a t-shirt with their design on it. Check it out here. The website includes lesson plans. These lesson plans can help students start getting creative. Students will be encouraged to explore the things that make them unique and reflect on the characteristics, likes, and dislikes that define them. In other activities, they’ll think about the evolution of self expression by observing and interpreting the work of other artists. The activities are broken up into four grade groups.

Change in access to early childhood referral database The link to access the early childhood referral database will change effective Nov. 21. More information will be forthcoming. Contact Debbie Hayes, Creston, if you have questions.

We make it easy to contact GHAEA staff! Trying to reach a GHAEA employee while on the run? The GHAEA website provides a couple ways to find contact information for GHAEA employees. One provides a search based on an employee’s name, position or specific program. Click on Staff Listing on the GHAEA homepage. That same page provides a link to the 2015-16 GHAEA Directory staff listing which lists employees by regional office.

EdCamp set for Feb. 13 in Council Bluffs Mark your calendar for Feb 13, 2016! That’s the date for the 2016 EdCamp. EdCampIowa is for educators, students, parents, board members, policymakers, community members . . . basically anyone who cares about education. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops, tablets, smartphones and other electronic devices. Best of all, it’s free. Visit the EdCamp Iowa website for details.

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November 2015

On the calendar See what meetings and workshops are coming up by visiting the GHAEA calendar link at ghaea.org

The future of the world is in my classroom today, a future with the potential for good or bad. Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of the next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these same young people could be the thieves and murderers of the future. Only a teacher? Thank goodness I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be vigilant every day, lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow. Ivan Welton Fitzwater

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Connect with us

Stay In Touch The mission of Green Hills AEA is to collaboratively advocate for families, communities and schools to help them achieve their goals by providing dedicated professional consultation and quality system-wide supports. Equity statement: Green Hills AEA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity in its employment practices or on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or economic status in its educational programs and activities, or as otherwise prohibited by statute or regulation. For more information concerning application of this statement or the grievance procedure contact Lori Kinyon, Equity Coordinator, Green Hills AEA, 257 Swan St., Creston, IA 50801, [email protected], 712-366-0503.

In Touch is a monthly newsletter for the dedicated teachers, school administrators and support staff served by Green Hills AEA. Throughout the year, we’ll keep you abreast of current education topics, upcoming trainings that may be of interest to you and your staff, as well as information on GHAEA services and programs. If there’s something you’d like to see in In Touch, let us know or click here to submit a story idea. Denise Fricke, Communications Specialist 712-366-0503 • 844-366-0503 • [email protected]

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November 2015