The Channel

Do you participate in Zoom conferences regularly? If so, you may benefit from downloading the free Zoom app to your smartphone. The app is available from the App Store for iOS devices and via the Play Store for Android. Please keep in mind that the use of video via a data connection has the potential to use a great deal of your data! You’ll want to be careful how often you choose this option if you have a smaller data plan. (Use of the app via a wireless connection should not impact your data usage.) And of course, NEVER Zoom and drive!

If you are the lead for a project that has had materials archived on Basecamp, you have probably already been contacted by Kerri Wilson about moving your materials to Google or another online location. Beginning January 1, 2015, the agency will no longer maintain an account with Basecamp given the variety of other online tools now available. Please contact Kerri if you have questions.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Wednesday, October 1 at 5:45 p.m. in the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center for a public hearing regarding the sale of property located at 1010 Edgington Ave, Eldora, Iowa.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met at 6 p.m. for their regular meeting. During the meeting, the board approved the consent agenda and board members were recognized for their dedicated service to AEA 267 this past year. The board then adjourned the final meeting of the 2013-14 Board of Directors.

Immediately following, the board called to order their first meeting of 2014-15 during which time the board:

• Elected Dr. Deb Rich as President and Roberta Kraft-Abrahamson as Vice President and Kerri Wilson administered the oath of office for all members.
• Appointed Kerri Wilson as board secretary and Dave Nicholson as board treasurer and administered the oath of office to each.
• Set meeting dates and times for the 2014-15 board meetings. Meetings will be held the first Wednesday of each month with the exceptions of December 2014 and August 2015, which will be held the second Wednesday.
• Approved appointments to the AEA Legislative Committee, the AEA Executive Committee, the AEA Audit Committee, the IEC Committee, and the IAEP Committee.
• Approved Wells Fargo Bank as the depository bank and established financial limits.
• Appointed Steve Weidner as legal counsel for 2014-15.
• Considered input from the public hearing on sale of property in Eldora, Iowa and voted to accept a purchase agreement from the Eldora-New Providence Community School District to purchase the property.
• Heard an appeal from a patron in the Marshalltown School District regarding a transportation disagreement and rendered a decision.
• Approved the 2013-14 Certified Annual Report (CAR) for submission to the Iowa Department of Education.
• Approved the 28E agreement with Cedar Falls Community School District for management and operation of River Hills School.
• Approved the reciprocal transportation agreements.
• Approved a recommendation for remodeling the Cedar Falls Conference Center.
• Approved a recommendation for remodeling the Marshalltown Office Lounge.
• Approved an agreement with Grant Wood AEA for employment of Dr. Sara McInerny with Iowa Reading Research Center  for the 2014-15 school year.
• Approved an agreement with Four Oaks Family and Children’s Services-Independence for 2014-15.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

Dr. Roark Horn

Our hard work has paid off! The agency received unofficial word that AEA 267 was fully accredited in all standard areas as a result of our accreditation site visit by the Iowa Department of Education (DE) this past spring. Dr. Roark Horn will go before the State Board of Directors later this month when they will officially accept the recommendation from DE staff. The report (downloadable here) contains a variety of feedback organized around strength areas and recommendations for further study/improvement. The agency Continuous Improvement Team will review the report in detail and craft strategies for addressing any areas for growth.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our staff for this accomplishment,” said Horn. “This report validates that we are indeed doing the highest quality work possible to support students, families and educators in our area.”

As a small part of our effort to present a professional image, please adhere to the following guidelines in setting up your
email “signature.” The signature is a block of text that is automatically added to the end of the email message that contains your name, title, the agency name, the physical address of your agency office, city, state, zip code, phone number, fax number and agency website address. It should look like this:

Dr. Roark R. Horn
AEA 267 Chief Administrator
Administrative Services Center
3722 Cedar Heights Drive
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Office Phone – 319-273-8204
rhorn@aea267.k12.ia.us
www.aea267.k12.ia.us

• Please refrain from adding quotes, sayings or other personal information to the bottom of your signature. If everyone put a one or two sentence quote in their signature (when multiplied by the number of emails each person sends in a year) the addition takes up valuable server and archiver space.
• Avoid using different fonts or text colors due to some spam filters seeing those items as possible spam characteristics (e.g. a person with red cursive font would have their email weighted higher as possible spam versus the person who used blue/black Calibri font).
• The use of one logo or picture is acceptable, but multiple pictures in the signature is also seen in some spam filters as possible spam.
• Please use a standard font such as Arial, Verdana, Calibri, or Times New Roman.

Given low usage and costs associated with upgrading technology, the ICN equipment has been removed from the Clear Lake Office. This is consistent with trends across the state although ICN access is still available through Clear Lake High School, Mason City Newman as well as three sites at North Iowa Area Community College. The room has been converted to a dedicated Polycom meeting space and renamed “Room E” with the former Room E (the smaller room down the hall from the administrative offices) becoming open work space.

An email is going around with the subject “URGENT AND IMPORTANT” and asks you to click on a link. This is a “phishing” scam that pretends to give you a link to a Google document, but in reality it is a link that sends you to a fake Google Site that asks you to enter your email address and email password (claiming you need to login with your account credentials in order to “access Google Drive” to “see the document”).

What really happens, is that you unknowingly give away your account username and password, allowing scammers to simply login and take over your account, sending further email (phishing for more accounts) to everyone in your account’s contact list/address book.

Phishing scams sometimes appear to come from someone you know, or from a reputable business, such as a bank, PayPal, Ebay etc. AEA 267 takes measures to block such email, but our most important line of defense is you, so if an email asks for a username or password, or just doesn’t seem right, it most likely is not. Simply deleting it and not clicking on the link is the most prudent action you can take. If you are unsure of the authenticity of the email but think it may be legitimate, contact the sender and ask them if they sent it. If you think you may have given away your account credentials, please notify our AEA technology staff and change your account password right away.

While the online searchable schools directory (including labels) is current and accessible, the hard copy of the Ed Directory is still being printed. The directory will be distributed to AEA 267 staff members within the next two weeks. Questions? Contact Lori Thomas.

The AEA Contact Manager system will be current with updated educator contact information by the end of the month. (Use your email login/password to access.) Remember that this system is a great tool to target email messages to specific groups of teachers served by our agency. Need help? Contact Beth Strike.

Are you in need of a business card? A new interactive order form is now available on the staff website (remember to use your email login and password to access) under Communications & Technology>Communications Guides & Templates>Business Card Print Order. Please be sure to include the billing code for your department when placing your order!

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Wednesday, September 3 at 6 p.m. in the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center for their regular meeting. During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a program review regarding the Accreditation (Site Visit) Report from Dr. Jon McKenzie.
• Removed Item #5, the approval of the 2013-14 Certified Annual Report (CAR) for submission to the Iowa Department of Education due to a technical problem with the uploading tool.
• Appointed Richard Vande Kieft as the AEA 267 delegate and Dr. George North as the alternate to the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) Delegate Assembly to be held on Wednesday, November 19, 2014. David Giese was appointed Legislative Action Network (LAN) representative for the next IASB state convention.
• Approved all consent agenda items.
• Approved an agreement with Charlson Physical Therapy for 2014-15.
• Approved the E-rate Management agreement with Let Me Help You With That, LLC for 2014-15.
• Approved a lease agreement for 2014-15 with Hampton-Dumont CSD for office space.
• Approved a lease agreement with Lutheran Services in Iowa, Inc for shelter classroom space for 2014-15.
• Approved the 2014 Iowa AEA legislative priorities.
• Held a discussion regarding the sale of the Eldora office, approved the resolution and set a public hearing date.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

The AEA 267 Foundation meeting was held immediately following the regular board meeting.

Nearly 130 staff members were recognized during the August Sector meetings for their years of service to children, families and educators served by the agency. Staff members receiving recognition included those staff members who had reached five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35-year milestones. Although each individual recognized deserves congratulations, special recognition goes to our 40-year employees including Judy Moser, Janice Dykstra, Catherine Edwards, Rick Pearce, Georgine Myles, and Joanne Broadston.

A complete list of employees who were recognized is available on the staff website under Sector Resources and 2014 Sector Meetings. (Remember to use your email login and password to access the staff website.)

Congratulations to all!

Nearly 40 new AEA 267 staff members took part in this year’s New Employee Orientation which was held on August 8 at the AEA 267 Cedar Falls Conference Center. Dr. Roark Horn and Kathy Enslin, along with other central office support representatives, helped welcome new team members and orient them to the agency and our work.

All of us remember what it was like to be “new” to the organization. As you go about your daily work, please reach out to any of the following new staff members you may come in contact with and help them to become better acquainted with the agency.

• Whitney Aldrich, Teacher of Mental Disabilities/Severe & Profound (River Hills)
• Jason Andersen, Teacher of Behavior Disorders (Pinecrest Center)
• Jennifer Anderson, Special Education Consultant (East Sector)
• Elizabeth Ascherl, Speech-Language Pathologist (NW Sector)
• Jeromiah Bliss, Teacher of Behavior Disorders (Bremwood)
• Wendi Coen-Ward, Sector Administrative Secretary (Charles City)
• Stephanie Collins, Special Education Consultant (South Sector)
• Michelle Cowell, Instructional Technology Consultant (Cedar Falls)
• Suzie (Doris) Cuellar, Educational Assistant (State Training School)
• James Fineran, Teacher of Mental Disabilities/Severe & Profound (River Hills)
• Patricia Foster, Consultant for Reading/Language Arts (Cedar Falls)
• Brooke Foster, Educational Assistant (River Hills)
• Kelly Gallagher, Consultant for School Improvement (Cedar Falls)
• Kara Graves, Detention Center Teacher (Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center)
• Shannon Graves, Educational Assistant (Pinecrest Center)
• Michelle Haberman, Early Childhood Consultant (Clear Lake)
• Christopher Hamilton, Art Teacher (Bremwood)
• Angela Harvey, Audiologist (Clear Lake)
• Molly Johansen, School Psychologist (NW Sector)
• Jeremiah Johnson, Math Teacher (Bremwood)
• Jodie Klatt, Teacher of Behavior Disorders (Pinecrest Center)
• Jennifer Kluesner, Educational Assistant (Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center)
• Hannah Korcuska, School Psychologist (East Sector)
• Ann Lasher, Special Education Consultant (NE Sector)
• Jenna Nasheim, Physical Therapist (NW Sector)
• Sara Nickel, Consultant for School Improvement (Marshalltown)
• Sara O’Brien, Audiologist (Cedar Falls)
• Audrey Putz, School Social Worker (East Sector)
• Corey Rogers, Consultant for School Improvement (Cedar Falls)
• Alayna Schutte, Assessment Intern (Cedar Falls)
• Jessica Sexe, Speech-Language Pathologist (South Sector)
• Kara Slagle, Speech-Language Pathologist (South Sector)
• JR (Scott) Trembly, Special Education Technology Specialist (Cedar Falls)
• Craig Tubbs, Educational Assistant (Pinecrest Center)
• David Valdez, Physical Education Teacher (River Hills)
• Diane Volkman, Special Education Consultant (South Sector)
• Jennifer Waterman, School Psychologist (NE Sector)
• Kami Wenzel, School Psychologist (NW Sector)
• Sara Wiley, Speech-Language Pathologist (NW Sector)
• Amy Williams, Technology Services Coordinator (Marshalltown)
• Dawn Williams, Special Education Consultant (NW Sector)
• Blake Yanda, Educational Assistant (Bremwood)

Cedar Falls CSD teachers share learnings at a recent Workshop Model training.

AEA 267 Educational Services consultants Barb Shafer, Terry Boezinger, Patty Foster, Heather Gould, Shaelynn Farnsworth, and Drinda Williams are leading a major effort to implement a groundbreaking approach to supporting students in reading and writing. Known as ‘the workshop model,” the approach has proven a successful model to improve core instruction in reading and writing.

“This is the right time because the focus now is on addressing core instruction and creating a framework in which teachers can provide levels of support to all students,” said Drinda Williams. “This model really lends itself to the multi-tiered system of support.”

The workshop model is a structured instructional framework. To start, the teacher provides a 10-15 minute “mini-lesson”that has a focused teaching point. At the end of the mini-lesson students engage in a brief guided practice to try out their learning under close teacher supervision. Next there is independent practice, when students apply their learning to their own work–whether that be reading “just right” books they have selected, or as they write on topics of their own choosing. During this independent practice time, the teacher confers with students and provides additional teaching to those who need more support. Finally, students have an opportunity to share their learning.

Currently, seven schools/districts have been selected to participate in a pilot including Central Springs, Aplington-Parkersburg, Orchard Hill Elementary & Holmes Jr. High in Cedar Falls, Grundy-Center, East Marshall and West Marshall. Each of the seven were selected based on a readiness survey and overall goals in literacy. Two teachers from each building or district will receive on-going training and weekly coaching during the first semester of the year. During second semester, these model classroom teachers will also begin learning more about how to be coaches and change agents in their schools. Next yearthese teachers will serve as model classrooms and they will work with AEA consultants to train others in the school to realize the promise of system change.

“My greatest hope is that this changes a school building, moving them to best practices in a cohesive way,” said Williams. “This is not a shotgun approach where we just spill the professional development  out and hope a few get it. It’s got to be a systems change and student-centered.”

A huge thank you to everyone for participation in the August Sector meetings held August 11-14! It was great to reconnect, learn together and prepare for the school year ahead. Photos from the week will be available to view on the AEA 267 Facebook page in the near future.