WEBINAR: Outcome-Oriented Planning for Transition-age Youth

Transition planning is critical to ensuring that students’ educational experiences result in success after graduation. But transition planning can also be a daunting task for educators and other practitioners. What are the right pathways to get our students where they need to be? Where do we begin? This session will discuss how we can use person-centered and backwards planning to anchor transition to the outcomes students want for themselves. You will learn practical strategies for engaging students and families through reframing the transition planning process to develop students’ career potential. In this webinar, you can connect and share ideas with other practitioners through small group discussions in breakout rooms. Presenters will also host interactive Q&A discussions.

Date and Time: Tuesday, August 30, 2022, 2-3:00pm ET Location: Online (Zoom)

Presenters: Josh Taylor (UMaine), Janet May (UMaine- Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies), and Gina Oswald (UMaine-Farmington)

Cost: $25.00

Register today! Once you register, you will receive an automated email confirming your registration. We will send reminders closer to the event date with the webinar URL link.

Questions: Contact Lara Enein by email at lara.enein@umb.edu.

WEBINAR: The Role of School Mental Health Professionals in Supporting School Safety Efforts

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools and its Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center will host a Webinar on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET. This Webinar will highlight the role of mental health professionals in supporting school safety efforts at the local level.

The objectives of this 60-minute Webinar are to

Demonstrate the importance of developing a collaborative planning team to support emergency operations plan development, as outlined in Step 1 of the six-step planning process detailed in the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans.
Discuss the role that school mental health professionals — including mental health coordinators, counselors, and others — play in implementing the National Preparedness System mission areas before, during, and after a potential emergency.
Share resources to strengthen mental health professionals’ efforts around climate assessment, behavioral threat assessment, continuity of teaching and learning, and overall plan development.

Register on the REMS TA Center Website to participate in the Webinar!

Presenters:

Mobile County Public Schools

Denise Riemer, LCSW, Mental Health Services Coordinator

REMS TA Center

Janelle Hughes, Project Director

Questions About the Event?

Contact the REMS TA Center Help Desk at 1-855-781-REMS [7367] or info@remstacenter.org from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

WEBINAR: Graduation Reporting

The Maine Department of Education Data Team is holding a Graduation Reporting webinar Tuesday August 9th at 10am. We will be discussing the graduation certification report and related procedures for validating and clearing up any issues on the report. This certification is due by August 30th, so attendance is strongly encouraged for those charged with validating this report. Please follow the “Join Live” link at the time of the training to join us. Thank you.

Join Live

If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding this webinar please contact the MEDMS Helpdesk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@Maine.gov or (207) 624-6896.

WEBINAR: Screening for Early Literacy Milestones, Dyslexia, and other Reading Disabilities

Dr. Nadine Gaab will host a webinar, “Screening for Early Literacy Milestones, Dyslexia, and other Reading Disabilities: The WHY, WHEN, WHO, HOW and WHERE on September 28, 2022 from 3:30-4:30 pm

Audience: General & Special Educators, Administrators, Parents, Caregivers and Community Members Interested in Early Literacy, Dyslexia & Reading Disabilities

Cost: FREE please register for ZOOM Link here

This session will address:

Screening for literacy milestones and reading disabilities, including developmental dyslexia in early grades (pre-K-2nd)
The WHY behind the screening movement with a strong focus on the neurobiology of reading development and reading disabilities.
The ‘Dyslexia Paradox’
Important constructs to screen for with a developmental lens
Practical steps for implementing a screening protocol in various educational or clinical settings.
Different screening instruments and criteria for picking the right screener
Educational and clinical implications of screening and early identification in young children.

About the Presenter: Dr. Nadine Gaab is an Associate Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Nadine’s work focuses on developmental cognitive neuroscience, particularly in language-based learning disabilities. Her research in the GaabLab examines the development of typical and atypical language and literacy skills in the pediatric brain and pre-markers of learning disabilities and the development of screening tools for screening literacy milestones and dyslexia.

She is the 2019 recipient of the LDA Award (Learning Disabilities Association America) for her work on learning disabilities. In 2018, Nadine was presented with the Allan C. Crocker Award for her advocacy on behalf of children with dyslexia and reading disabilities and efforts around the recent passage of the Massachusetts screening legislation (under the guidance of Decoding Dyslexia MA). She has also been recognized by the International Dyslexia Association in her receipt of the Norman Geschwind Memorial lecture 2020 and the Alice H. Garside Award for outstanding leadership in advancing the science and advocacy of dyslexia. She is an international speaker, frequently presenting to teachers on the brain science of typical and atypical literacy development.

If there are additional questions please email Tracy (Tracy.W.Whitlock@maine.gov), Anne-Marie Adamson (Anne-Marie.Adamson@maine.gov_) or Dee Saucier (danielle.m.saucier@maine.gov).

WEBINAR: Registering and Enrolling Refugee and Immigrant Students in Secondary Schools

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) is hosting to a webinar where panelists will discuss best practices and resources for facilitating refugee and immigrant students’ transition into U.S. schools, including scheduling considerations, academic evaluations, and options for registering newcomer students who arrive without academic credentials or who do not meet state academic requirements.

The panelists will also discuss models of academic background review and assessment that can be used during newcomer immigrant registration and enrollment to set students on a success trajectory and pathway to graduation.

Aug 12, 2022 02:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

More Information and Register Here

2022 Foreign Language Association of Maine Summer Institute

The Foreign Language Association of Maine in collaboration with The University of Maine Department of Modern Languages and Classics invites you to the 2022 FLAME Summer Institute.

Date: August 22, 2022
Place: University of Maine, Orono. Bennett Hall Bldg.
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: Registration is $50 with FLAME membership 2022-2023. $60 without FLAME membership. Registration for new teachers and student teachers (0-1 year of experience)$30 with FLAME membership 2022-2023, $40 without membership (learn more about becoming a FLAME member here).

Keynote Speaker: Gisela Hoecherl-Alden, Assistant Dean & Director of Language Instruction Professor of the Practice in German at Boston University.

Gisela Hoecherl-Alden is currently Professor of German and Assistant Dean and Director of Language Instruction at Boston University, where she works closely with the faculty in over 20 language programs. She recently received ACTFL’s Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture and has also served on the boards of the Northeast Conference, American Association of Teachers of German, and FLAME.

Keynote Address: Starting Strong: Where Do We Go From Here?

As we reimagine our language classes, we let our experiences teaching during the pandemic and our students’ aspirations and fears guide us. While we ensure that our students engage with products, practices and perspectives from target language communities, we also help them move from basic concepts to big questions, so they learn to think critically about how social structures impact daily lives. The talk explores how and why our language classes are important sites for connecting with social justice issues and highlights approaches to making them relevant for a changed reality.

Session Highlights:

5 Tricks to start the year strong! Ready to go activities for the first week of school
How to Integrate Cooking into Language Learning?
How to Love Teaching and Prevent Burnout
Card talk in Bulgarian
Creating Comprehensible Input Activities with Authentic Resources
Responsibility of the Cultural & Language Broker
How to create a lesson from an authentic game

For a full list of sessions and descriptions click here.

Register here for the Summer Institute!
(Paypal link).
Deadline to register is August 15, 2022

Free One-Day National Conference for Educators: Virtual State of Agriculture

Maine Agriculture in the Classroom (MACITC) is offering a FREE Professional Development Opportunity from National Agriculture in the Classroom and CHS Foundation. The Virtual State of Agriculture is a one-day virtual conference on July 28th from 10:00am – 5:45pm (ET).

The conference will will feature a keynote address from the award-winning author Peggy Thomas. Sessions will feature a variety of agricultural subjects and interests for all grade levels. There are two session tracks, one for elementary and one for secondary, and participants can switch back and forth to any session that interests them.

Join us for a day sure to leave you with valuable agricultural literacy resources and excitement for the new school year!

Learn more and register here.

For more information reach out to Maine Agriculture in the Classroom at P: 207.287.5522 or E: maitc@maine.gov.

Employment Specialist Certification Training

The Maine Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services are pleased to announce the new Working Together Maine Workforce System training led by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Successful completion of this training leads to an approved Employment Specialist certification that meets the requirements of Maine state agencies to support individuals with disabilities on their paths to employment.

To learn more about this in person training and to register view the flyer.

For additional information or questions, please contact Lara Enein at lara.enein@umb.edu.

Registration for Statewide Early Childhood Education Conference is Now Open

This year’s annual statewide Early Childhood Education Conference, Connecting Early Childhood Education; Birth through Eight Across the State has been organized through a collaboration of early learning partners, including the Maine Department of Education (DOE). The conference will be held on October 28th and 29th at the Cross Center in Bangor.

Breakout sessions for Pre-Kindergarten through 3rd grade educators will include a wide range of topics that focus on trauma informed practices as well as practical tools for supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to foster communities. Other sessions will offer support on social-emotional learning through literacy and language, mindful leadership, building bridges with child care programs to ease the transition to Kindergarten, the power of play, early intervention for dyslexia, math for all learners and engaging with families. Speakers and presenters will focus on best practices in early learning for all those working with children from birth through early elementary years.

Information about sponsorship and/or exhibitor opportunities can be accessed here.

Come for one day or come for both! Cost of attendance is $100.00 per person per day and will include a continental breakfast, lunch, a keynote address each day, over 50 breakout sessions from which to choose, an exhibitor hall, networking opportunities and chances to connect with peers.

How to register:

Please visit the conference website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/maine-early-childhood-education-conference-tickets-347892053497
Click on the green button that says Tickets and a pop-up window will open.
This registration process will secure you a ticket to one or two days of the 2022 Statewide ECE Conference. Participants will select breakout sessions for the conference at a later date.

Please contact the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children with any questions or concerns related to registration by emailing info@maineaeyc.org or by calling 207-747-2490.

For other questions, contact Maine DOE’s Early Childhood Specialist, Nicole Madore at nicole.madore@maine.gov.

Space Still Available for Leading Early Learning Series

Applications for the Leading Early Learning Series will be accepted through July 5. School administrators who support the PreK to Grade 3 span are strongly encouraged to explore this dynamic professional learning opportunity.

Leading Early Learning—A Professional Learning Series for Elementary School Administrators

“Participating in the series has helped me to look at the decisions we make about our instructional programming and school community through the lens of early learning and what is developmentally appropriate for our youngest learners.” – Quote from Cohort 1 participant

As Maine elementary schools have added preschool programming and are promoting whole child approaches across the Pre-K -Grade 3 span, elementary principals have requested professional learning to support their work as educational leaders. The Maine Department of Education and several Maine educational organizations (listed below) have collaborated to design an exciting professional learning series to address identified needs and support professional growth. The Leading Early Learning series was piloted with 16 administrators in 2021-22 and we are pleased to announce the second cohort for this series will launch during the 2022-23 school year.

The series will not only provide participants with opportunity to deepen their knowledge of early learning pedagogy and best practices related to supporting students and teachers across Pre-K-3, but it will also provide a professional learning network, opportunity to design a concept for an implementation project, and be supported through facilitated discussions. Participants will engage in a variety of modes of learning, from asynchronous modules to professional learning communities to attendance at a statewide early learning conference.

If this opportunity interests you, please review the details for the series in the informational guide. A link to apply for the series is included in the informational guide. The series will support up to 25 participants. Applications will be received through July 5, 2022. Once spaces are filled, a waiting list will be generated.

For additional information, please contact Lee Anne Larsen, Director of Early Learning at Maine DOE, leeann.larsen@maine.gov.

Leading Early Learning Partner Organizations