MNEA’s Online Professional Development Series
The Missouri NEA Professional Development Series offers an online learning format that allows you to ask questions and learn from the input of others without having to spend money on travel or lodging. Presentations are ideal for individual instruction or group learning. You may participate anywhere using a computer with an Internet connection. If your computer has a speaker and microphone, you do not even need a phone. If not, you can call a toll-free number for the audio.
Session topics fall under the categories of professional practice, legal rights and responsibilities, leadership and policy, and money management. Participants in these live sessions may download a professional development achievement certificate.
If you are interested in a topic and are not available the date the training runs live, in most cases, you will have the opportunity to view the session online for a month following the live session.
The Online Training program is exclusive to MNEA members.
2011-2012 Online Training Series
Click here for a current listing of the MNEA Online Training offerings and to register. All sessions are free to MNEA members, unless otherwise noted.
| Legal Rights and Responsibilities |
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Educators and the First Amendment (March 5 & 7)
The touchstone protection of the First Amendment is the guarantee of Freedom of Speech. Unfortunately, court decisions have significantly narrowed the speech rights of educational employees, creating confusion as to when speech is protected. This session will explain the contours of the free speech right in the light of both recent cases and changes to Missouri law. We will also focus on how to use your speech rights to organize your coworkers and expand your workplace rights through collective bargaining.
Mandatory Reporting for Educators (March 8)
Learn current requirements for reporting suspected abuse or neglect of children, as well as tips for recognizing signs of abuse or neglect. Fulfill your responsibility to do what is right for children while protecting your career.
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| Money Management |
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Planning for Long Term Care: What are Your Options? (Sept. 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 and Oct. 3, 4, 5)
Audience: NEA members and their extended family
Join an informative session with a long-term-care plan specialist on how best to plan for a long-term-care event and avoid melting down your savings and investments faster than any other risk you insure for.
Do I Need to Save for Retirement? Thinking Beyond PSRS and PEERS (Recorded Training)
Audience: all members
Discuss the why’s and why-not’s of retirement savings outside of PSRS/PEERS. Emphasis will be on discovering financial flexibility for your future.
It Pays to Use MNEA Member Benefits (Sept. 14 and Nov. 16)
Audience: all members
Learn how to find thousands of opportunities to save on holiday purchases and regular expenses, such as car maintenance, fast food, restaurants, hotels and even automobiles.
Affordable Care Act Update (Jan. 19)
Audience: all members
Get the timeline and an update on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. After you register to attend, you’ll receive a link you can use to submit questions.
403b & 457 Plans: Which is Better for You? (Feb. 7)
Audience: all members
Choosing the right financial plan could save you hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars. Discover the questions you should be asking before making a decision.
Register for Online Training.
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| Leadership |
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Successfully Nominating Your Local for The Leila Medley Quality Local Association Award (August 6)
Do you want to nominate your local for the Leila Medley Award, but can’t seem to find the time to collect and submit the information? This webinar will provide information on delegating the responsibilities, collecting and organizing information and submitting the nomination. Presenters will include local leaders who have successfully submitted the nominations as well as the chair of the Membership Advisory Committee, the committee that reviews the nominations. Please feel free to invite your designee to attend to learn about how to submit a winning nomination! Missouri NEA President Chris Guinther will facilitate this session.
Get in the lifeboat! Missouri's NCLB Waiver Request (April 12, May 1)
Get information about the content of Missouri's No Child Left Behind waiver request. Some decisions made by your local school district may have a huge impact on teacher evaluation. Get a heads up so you can influence those decisions. This presentation takes 45 to 50 minutes. The live presentation will start over each time it finishes, so you can join at anytime and then leave when we get back to where you came in. Two dates are available April 12 and May 1, 3:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Effective Organizing (Sept. 28)
Audience: all local officers and building representatives, interested members
Join local leaders from across Missouri to discuss engaging members and achieving positive change in your district. Learn how effective organizing led to improvements for Springfield educators.
MNEA Local Presidents’ Webinar (Oct. 10)
Audience: presidents and vice presidents of local NEA affiliates
Join with other local presidents and vice presidents to receive information about the “state of the state” and the upcoming Nov. 12 MNEA Representative Assembly. Time will be allotted for a Q&A session.
MNEA Pre-Representative Assembly Meeting (Oct. 17)
Audience: MNEA state R.A. delegates
Regional meetings will be held throughout the state but are not always at convenient times or locations for members. If you're an R.A. delegate unable to attend the regional meeting, this webinar will provide an opportunity to prepare for the R.A. Plan for this session to last more than one hour.
MNEA Recruitment Tools and Strategies (Recorded Training)
Audience: local leaders
Learn the print components of Missouri NEA’s membership campaign, how to use each piece and how to organize a year-round campaign. We will discuss the tools MNEA offers and share ideas on how to make the most of the print media we have and discuss communications skills that lead to success in growing membership.
Nine Characteristics of Successful Leadership (Oct. 20)
Audience: leaders and aspiring leaders, including building representatives and committee chairs
Join us to examine nine psychological characteristics of leader¬ship you can develop to increase your effectiveness as an association leader and as a leader in your school.
Running a Great Meeting (Nov. 3)
Audience: leaders and aspiring leaders, including building representatives and committee chairs
Managing a meeting is the first step toward helping your local association achieve great things. Spend an hour learning new skills to help you lead your local association or other organization. The seminar will include Q&A time.
Table Talk Series: Tenure Under Siege (Recorded Training)
Audience: Any interested member, active or retired
Tenure reform” is a top priority of the current Missouri legislature. “Tenure reform” often means elimination of tenure and placing all teachers on contracts of at most a few years. This webinar will address the various reform packages we saw in the Missouri legislature in 2011 and what we anticipate may happen in 2012. We will discuss messages for public education employees to take to their respective state House and Senate members this year. This session is part of a series to provide Education Advocates up to date information about the most pressing issues to address with their legislators.
Table Talk Series: Connecting the Financial Dots on Education Funding (Nov. 5)
Audience: Any interested member, active or retired
Missouri’s legislature has fallen far short of providing adequate funding for schools in the last decade. MNEA members have seen the consequences of this shortage of funding in districts and programs. The lack of attention to fully funding public schools led to staff layoffs, increases in class size and salary stagnation. This webinar will discuss a brief history of public education funding, what is projected to happen going forward and how you can take effective messages to your state legislators around public education funding. This session is part of a series to provide Education Advocates up to date information about the most pressing issues to address with their legislators.
What does it Mean to be an Education Advocate? (Recorded Training)
Audience: Any interested member, active or retired
We need you to be the connection to your elected officials on issues like tenure, charter school expansion, school funding and attacks on your collective bargaining rights. Being an education advocate means you’ll become a contact person and voice for public education to your elected officials. You don’t have to be an expert on legislation or all the issues. You are a public education employee, and your representative needs to know about your public education experience.
Register for Online Training.
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| Professional Practice |
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Next Generation Science Standards Part 1: The Framework (Tuesday, May 15, 7:00 p.m.)
The first draft of new science standards will be released in early to mid May, and will be open for comment for three weeks. Join us to learn about the process used to develop this draft and how to customize your own exploration of the draft. This session will focus on discussing the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas on which the standards are based.
Common Career Technical Core Standards (Wednesday, May 9, 7:00 p.m.)
The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) led the effort to develop the draft CCTC standards in consultation with educators, administrators, and industry representatives, and now invites all stakeholders and interested parties to review and provide feedback on the draft career technical core standards. The comment period is open until May 11, 2012. NEA is submitting comments, and this session will allow Missouri educators to discuss your ideas for improvements needed to get the best possible language.
Exploring National Board Certification (Monday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m.)
Teachers considering applying for National Board Certification will learn about the requirements, eligibility, cost and time considerations, apply the National Board standards to their own work, assess whether this is a good time for them to pursue certification and begin preliminary work on one portfolio which can include work from previous years.
Job Search and Career Management Strategies for PreK-12 Educators (Monday, Feb. 6 at 6:00 p.m., free) Register Now
Audience: Anyone
While the demand for knowledgeable and effective educators is increasing, so is the competition for today’s most desirable teaching positions. Learn how to better market yourself as a top-notch educator with a free webinar from Walden University. Walden University is a proud partner of the National Education Association (NEA) Academy. Through this esteemed alliance, NEA members are eligible for educational opportunities and special benefits. For more information, contact an NEA advisor at 1-800-893-0396.
Led by a panel of career experts and educators, the free one-hour webinar will cover:
· Evolving trends and career opportunities in preK–12 education.
· Effective job search strategies and interviewing skills.
· Tips for creating résumés and CVs that communicate your strengths.
· Advice for expanding your professional networks—online and offline.
· How Walden’s master’s degrees in education can help you advance your career.
Protect Your Career by Managing Electronic Media (Oct. 5 and 19)
Audience: all members, student members and local leaders
Hard Facts about the Soft Skills of Student Engagement
On Tuesdays in January 2012, Mary Kim Schreck will lead a book discussion.You’ve Got To Reach Them To Teach Them: Hard Facts about the Soft Skills of Student Engagement. Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Indiana. 2011
Unless students are engaged, standards and rigor can’t guarantee achievement. Even when a teacher possesses the hard skills of the profession—knows the subject matter, knows pedagogy— research reveals that educators need mastery over a wide range of people skills (soft skills) to be effective. In these webinars, Schreck provides opportunities for educators to recognize and fine-tune these skills. Using her book, You’ve Got to Reach Them to Teach Them, participants will examine soft skills, reflect, build a personal inventory, and decide on actions they can take to make the most of their own wealth of personal attributes.
Participants focus on specific skills to improve the student-teacher relationship, student motivation and interest in schoolwork. These skills create a classroom environment more conducive to risk-taking, enjoyment and achieving equity. When these soft skills are present, classroom management problems decrease, and learning increases.
Audience: teachers, ESPs, substitutes, administrators
Registration for each one-hour session is $10.
Schedule
Tuesday, Jan. 10, 4 p.m.
Recorded session available until March 15
Hard Facts about the Soft Skills of Student Engagement: Relationships
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 4 p.m.
Recorded session available until March 15
Hard Facts about the Soft Skills of Student Engagement: Emotions
Tuesday, Jan. 24, 4 p.m.
Recorded session available until March 15
Hard Facts about the Soft Skills of Student Engagement: Motivation and Confidence
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 4 p.m.
Hard Facts about the Soft Skills of Student Engagement: Open Discussion
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Although the benefits of social networks are often self-evident, the dangers of sharing our private lives with the world are all too often overlooked. This presentation aims at maintaining the benefits of social networks while working to minimize the career-endangering risks.
Understanding IEPs and 504 Plans (Nov. 1, Cost: $10)
Audience: all beginning teachers and paraprofessionals
Correct use of a student's Individual Education Plan improves outcomes for the student and keeps educators out of hot water. Understand the distinctions between IEPs and 504 plans, key points to look for in both, and how to use each of them for a smoother school year.
Introduction to National Board Certification (Oct. 18)
Audience: certified teachers with ar least three years teaching experience and administrators
Learn the basics of the National Board Certification process, its history and how to be a successful candidate. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek advice.
English Language Learners: Recognizing Culture & Building Equity (Recorded Training, Cost: $10)
Audience: pr-K through high school teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators
Participants will learn about the current social and cultural trends affecting ELLs’ equity and access to education. Participants will also learn about advocacy strategies and how to capitalize on diversity to close the achievement gap.
Preparing for Praxis II Exams (Nov. 1, 2 and Feb. 29)
Audience: anyone seeking teaching certificates or wishing to add a certification
Learn which Praxis II you take for a Missouri teaching certificate, information about your test, what to expect the day of the test, and what to take with you to the test site. If you have a Missouri teaching certificate, find out which areas of certification you can add just by passing the Praxis II.
Test Taking Tips for Praxis II Exams (Nov. 8, 9 and March 1)
Audience: anyone taking the Praxis II
Review good test-taking skills and strategies, as well as get suggestions for how to study for the Praxis II.
English Language Learners: Understanding Language Acquisition and Stages of Development (Nov. 8, Cost: $10)
Audience: pre-K through high school teachers and paraprofessionals
Participants gain practical knowledge about how ELLs acquire social and academic English. Drawing from current research, participants will learn about the stages of language development, the characteristics of students at each stage and techniques for applying this information to support ELLs in the classroom.
Documentation That Matters (Nov. 10)
Audience: all beginning teachers and paraprofessionals
What do I need to document? What will be accepted as documentation? Learn what documentation really matters and all kinds of teacher-friendly short cuts that will save you time on your documentation.
English Language Learners: Instructional Strategies to Enhance Academic Language Proficiency (Nov. 15, Cost: $10)
Audience: pre-K through high school teachers and paraprofessionals
Participants gain knowledge of a variety of research-based instructional strategies to enhance academic language proficiency of ELLs. They also will focus on the specific content area challenges for ELLs and identify concurrent strategies to make material accessible.
Involving the Community in Your School (Nov. 17)
Audience: all members
As the recipient of an NEA Public Engagement Grant, Columbia MNEA played an important role in helping Columbia Public Schools stimulate more community input and involvement. Come hear what worked, what they would do different next time, and how your school can reach out to your community.
Tracking Progress (Jan. 12, Cost: $10)
Audience: special education teachers, paraprofessionals and teachers using "Response to Intervention"
How do you track progress for RTI response team intervention groups? How do you get tier II students the help they need? Learn steps to take to reduce frustration for all involved.
Making School Safe for Gay Students (Jan. 25)
Audience: all members
Learn why a school anti-bullying policy needs to identify groups of students most in need of protection from bullying and what teachers and administrators can do to make school a safe place for all students.
Early Literacy Strategies for the Preschool Classroom (Jan. 26, Cost: $10)
Audience: pre-school teachers and paraprofessionals
Learn strategies to use before, during and after reading to preschoolers to boost student comprehension, vocabulary and general knowledge.
Register for Online Training.
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