Professional Learning Opportunities

This page lists information regarding professional conference opportunities along with professional learning classes being offered by the AEA. If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Carruthers or Cari Teske, Central Rivers AEA Librarians.

Upcoming Opportunities

Fall Teacher Librarian Meeting – May 1, 2019 – “Diversity Creates Dimension in the School Library”
- Diverse Books for K-12 Libraries – a bibliography by Katelyn Browne, Youth Services Librarian, UNI
- Iowa School Library Program Standards
- New Iowa School Library Standards – Google Slides

Conference Opportunities

ISTE Conference – June 23-26, 2019 – Philadelphia, PA
IRA/IASL Reading Conference – June 25-26, 2019 – ISU Scheman Bldg
ILA/Nebraska combined conference – October 2-4, 2019 – LaVista Hotel and Conference Center, LaVista, NE
AASL National Conference – November 14-16, 2019 – Louisville, KY

Past Professional Learning Opportunities : Resources

MackinVIA Curriculum Integration – August 8, 2016

Topics covered during the day include: MackinVIA – setting up Backpacks & Groups; Instructional examples using text complexity and close reading while utilizing the MackinVIA Reader tools; Instructional examples from a practicing teacher perspective; Exploring different mobile device options with the MackinVIA App.

Support materials for the class:

Zoom Links to Presentations

AM Session – MackinVIA Basics and What’s New in MackinVIA
Heather Lister Presentation – Teacher Librarian, Hershey, PM
PM Session – MackinVIA and Devices and MackinVIA Scanvenger Hunt

Using AEA Digital Resources for Text Complexity & Close Reading – September 16, 2014

This day will focus on the topic of using AEA Digital Resources for text complexity and close reading. The Iowa Core calls for an increased use of informational text throughout students’ schooling. Educators need to be more aware of the scope of informational texts students should be reading in their classrooms. Teachers will need to purposefully choose texts for students to access easily as well as texts that will allow students to build strength for grappling with complexity. As students engage with more complex text, they will need to learn how to look at multiple layers of meaning within a text. Close reading is used to move students deeper into complex text.

Presentations and Handouts for the Day

Morning Session – Text Complexity	Afternoon Session – Close Reading
Using AEA Digital Resoruces for Text Completxity PPS	Using AEA Digital Resources for Close Reading PPS
Iowa AEA Online Overview Flier_Draft 2014-15	Qualitative Factors for Text Complexity
Text Complexity Cverview	Polar Opposites article – Cobblestone April 2009
Informational Text Qualitative Measures Rubric	Sample Text Dependent Questions
Literary Text Qualitative Measures Rubric	Beating obesity – SIRS Researcher
Reader and Task Considerations	Annotation Tips and Tools
Soceer article by Lopata
Cell Phone article by Bray

Iowa AEA Online Webinars

Close Reading and the Iowa AEA Online Resources

March 6, 2014: Statewide-registration on IAO website under Iowa Webinar tab – http://tinyurl.com/IAwebinars
The purpose of this webinar will be to assist teachers in locating and analyzing instructional resources which support the Iowa Core with a focus on Close Reading using the Iowa AEA Online resources. Please invite classroom teachers to attend with you! Webinar will be held at two different times on each day – 11:30 to 12:45 and 3:45 to 5:00. Please register for this session at least one week in advance as webinar instructions will be sent out via e-mail to those registered.

Text Complexity and the Iowa AEA Online Resources: Archived version of November 15, 2012 webinar is found on this site.

Archived versions of 2010-2011 webinars on Literacy, Science and Social Studies are available on this website as well.