West Central Indiana
Educational Service Center
Excellence through Collaboration
You asked.
We listened.
Check out the variety of Virtual workshops scheduled this year!
December 12, 2024
Respond by December 5, 2024
ILEARN: Setting Students up for Success Grades 3-8 (ELA)
Presented by April Connley, INcompassing Education
Are you fully aware of how the ILEARN Assessment will be changing for the 2024-25 school year pilot program and fully in 2025-2026 school year? Do you struggle to find all the resources required to completely understand the 2023 Indiana Academic Standards for ELA?
Join April Connelley for ELA, to get one simple easy-to-use spreadsheet that will include all the resources you need for your specific 2023 Indiana Academic Standards and learn how they will be assessed on the new ILEARN Assessment. Learn exactly when each standard will be assessed on the ILEARN CheckPoint Assessments and which standards will be on the summative ILEARN Assessment. You will also learn how to use your classroom instruction to maximize students’ achievement on the new ILEARN CheckPoints and Summative Assessment. You will be provided with resources that show the types of questions used on the ILEARN Assessments as well as best practices that you can use to increase student performance for those questions. You will receive many valuable resources, activities, and ideas for increasing student performance and they will be modeled for you throughout the professional development.
Audience – Grades 3 – 8 – General education teachers, instructional coaches, leadership, testing coordinators, and special education teachers
Location: 1 N Calbert Way, Greencastle, IN
Time 9:00 am -3:00 pm Lunch on your own
Cost is $150.00 for ESC members, $225.00 non ESC members
K-12 Outreach Professional Development at Rose Hulman
VIRTUAL
SAVE THE DATE
For more information about the AI workshops available On Demand "Just Ask"
Partnerships
The ESC of I.....Rose Hulman ..... Castle ..... ESSA ..... Infobase ..... Frontline ..... Newsela ..... Fiducius .....
Learn more about our collaboration with the ESC of I and how it benefits WCIESC member schools
For the most up to date list of partnership vendors choose this link and then request the members-pnly pricing after you click to Learn More.
https://escindiana.org/partnerships/
We all are looking for ways to run leaner and more efficiently. Cooperative purchasing
and Partnerships help you achieve that goal. You will get more contracts to choose
from and more savings. It's easy, efficient, and cost-effective purchasing at its best
and part of your ESC membership!
This month, we're highlighting some great organizations for the modern school! We bring you technology and programs to keep your school ahead of the game in professional development and mental health.
FranklinCovey Education is committed to equip every stakeholder in your district with the mindset, skillset, and toolset needed to reach new levels of performance and achieve exceptional results. In addition to PD and consulting, we offer a PK-12 school im system called Leader in Me (LiM). Learn More →
Starling Mind isn’t just another digital mental health program. It’s the ultimate mental health companion to help educators better understand, monitor and enhance their mental well-being. They offer customized support based on an educator’s unique personality and learning style. Learn More →
WCIESC has worked steadily with the ESC of I partnership and a with a wide variety of organizations with the goal of supporting the needs of our member districts. The value this brings to our members is not only a cost saving but also saving precious employee time, which adds to further cost savings.
Our partners are vetted by the partnerships team members for quality, service, and return on investment. Our Partnerships page is designed to introduce the partnerships, provide a brief description of their services, and connect you to the partner’s website for additional information. WCIESC member school districts are afforded special discount pricing for the partner services. To request members only pricing, go to the vendor link and complete the short intake form. Please note, you must go through ESC of I to access your special members benefits. LEARN MORE
The Center for Educational Outreach at Rose-Hulman is offering workshops to integrate traditional standards with core computer science concepts and practices to create dynamic learning units based on inquiry and problem solving.
This is a great opportunity to sign-up to attend one or all workshops being offered.
Brief Description: Increasing Computer Science Knowledge Within Any Discipline - An Integrative Pedagogical Approach: The objective to provide a program, in which K-12 teachers increase their pedagogical knowledge in computer science within any discipline, along with instructional strategies that enable students to achieve at higher levels and meet proficiency in their core academic courses. K-12 teachers will develop computational thinking skills vital for success across all disciplines, such as using computational tools to analyze and study data and working with large data sets to analyze, visualize, and draw conclusions from trends. The workshops will engage K-12 teachers in the creative aspects of the field by allowing them to develop computational artifacts based on their curriculum, subject, and grade level. Workshops are in-person.
Participants: Not just for computer science teachers - workshops are open to ALL K-12 Teachers interested in integrating computer science principles into their own classroom.
Incentives may include: For K-12 Teachers: Mileage, Lodging, Meals, Attendance Incentive, PGP Points, and All Curricular Materials
For Schools: Reimbursement of Sub Pay
Cost: FREE
K-12 Outreach Professional Development at Rose Hulman
WCIESC partners with The Castle. The Castle offers professional development opportunities to teachers and supports learning experiences in partner schools that maximize creative problem-solving, enhance the curriculum, nurture self-expression, honor varied learning styles, and encourage essential 21st Century skills.
From the beginning, The Castle was designed to support teachers in their efforts to create energizing, meaningful, authentic and productive learning spaces for their students. We know how stressful and chaotic the last few years have been, for you and your students. We wanted to find a way to make it a little less so. At the suggestion of our lead teachers, who thought it could be helpful and joy-making in this bizarre time to get some fresh ideas to spice things up, we contracted three teaching artists (bios below) to develop the BOOST video series just for you. Each video is designed to be as adaptable as possible to your individual teaching needs, and include concrete strategies and moments of reflection for teachers as well as mini-lessons that can be shared directly with students. Our hope, in making this series, is that you’ll find a few quick takeaways that you can try out in your classrooms (or virtually) to boost student morale, engagement and enthusiasm. We send our deepest thanks to the Indiana Arts Commission/Arts Illiana for their generous funding that has made this series possible.
The videos series includes:
Arts Integration and Creative Movement (grades K-2)
Arts Integration and Creative Movement (grades 3-6)
Arts Integration and Creative Movement (grades 7-12)
Created by Jessica DiLorenzo, who has worked with our teacher cohort in past years. Everyone loved her joyful energy so much that we wanted to bring it to all teachers in the region. These videos—targeted specifically to the given grade levels—model sample activities and help teachers consider how to frame them as both stand-alone energy boosters and science curriculum enhancers.
Integrating Art into your Math Course
Created by Geoff Krall, this video is aimed at math teachers K-12. Lucid and dynamic, Geoff briefly describes the benefits of integrating art into math courses, then dives into several sample projects to make it all come to life.
Engaging Student Voice in the Classroom through Music and Arts
Created by Martin Urbach, who we discovered through a recent feature piece on NPR, this video delves into the theory of participatory learning and describes a number of strategies that can be used with students K-12 to open up spaces for student voice, particularly in these tumultuous times. It is slightly more geared towards older students.
FRONTLINE TECHNOLOGIES
The Center provides a discounted rate for Frontline products. Save time reporting on absence trends -Reduce paperwork and manual data entry, Ensure there’s a qualified substitute when needed, Stay compliant with labor law. This is an internet-based program that utilizes you existing substitute pool.
Contact: Debbi Christy
ESSA CONSORTIUM
All schools are eligible to apply for Title IIA grant funding via an application process and some of the WCIESC districts have chosen to consort a portion of their ESSA funds so that teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, and administrators are eligible to attend the ESSA supported sessions at no cost, while the non-consortium schools will pay the member registration fees for the sessions. Additionally, we will provide, at the school’s request, planning for a specific Workshop/Training for that school district. The district may pay for a portion of the actual cost of the workshop; the planning by the WCIESC will be done at no cost to the district.
WCIESC serves as the facilitator/administrative unit for the regional ESSA Consortium. This consortium focuses on the needs of the individual school corporations to demonstrate improvement in categories required by the ESSA Act. The ESSA Consortium is open to any West Central ESC member corporation; however, it is optional to join this Consortium.
This year the designated ESSA Representatives will meet in the Spring to decide on specific types of workshops that the Consortium member Schools would like to have.
Contact: Tim McRoberts
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The WCIESC strives to assure superiority in teaching, learning, and educational leadership through region-based staff development programs. The Center provides in-service staff development trainings for all school personnel, planning and technical assistance, resource material, and a communication link with the IDOE, local school corporation staff development contacts, and state and national staff development groups.
Contact: Tim McRoberts