Education Department Newsletter, April 1, 2016

■ Attend the American Indian Education Conference: The American Indian Education Conference, sponsored by Minnesota ASCD, has added a student fee of $35 to enable education majors to attend at a lower rate.This learning opportunity will be especially helpful in supporting an understanding of MN SEP Standard 3, criteria G: “understand the cultural content, world view, and concepts that comprise Minnesota-based American Indian tribal government, history, language, and culture.”

The Conference will be held on Saturday, April 9 from  8:00 am – 3:30 pm at the Minnesota Department of Education. Interested students should contact Charon Tierney <ctierney.ascd@gmail.com> to register at this lower rate. All others should register through the MN ASCD website: <http://www.minnesotaascd.org>.

■ Teacher Lead for Family Academy Child Classrooms: The Family Academy is seeking a lead teacher for a part-time position, mostly in the evenings. Pay is $30.00/hr. The position is a senior-level position and they are seeking a highly qualified candidate. Please email cover letter and resume to Andre Dukes at <rnathan@the-naz.org>. The deadline is Monday April, 11th, 2016.

■ Teach at River’s Edge Academy: River’s Edge Academy is actively recruiting a Science Teacher and Student Support Specialist (Paraprofessional). The science position requires a Minnesota teaching license. More information about the Science position may be found here. More information about these positions may be found at: <http://www.riversedgeacademy.org>. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

■ Minnesota Literacy Council Summer Reads VISTA: Applications are now being accepted for Minnesota Literacy Council Summer Reads VISTA positions in the Twin Cities metro area for the 2016 program.  Summer Reads is an AmeriCorps VISTA program of the Minnesota Literacy Council that focuses on the decline of literacy skills in low-income children over the summer months, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the “summer slide.” For more information, contact Wendy Vang Roberts, Minnesota Literacy Council Children’s and Family Literacy Program Assistant  651-251-9063 ext. 214 or <wroberts@mnliteracy.org>.

■ Teachers On Call: Teachers On Call is looking for qualified and talented students, alumni, and others to work in your local districts and schools. They provide substitute staff in the form of Teachers, Special Education Teachers, Paraprofessionals, and Education Assistants to your local districts of St. Paul, Hopkins, Prior Lake/Savage, Intermediates 916, 917, 287, as well as hundreds of Charter Schools in the Twin Cities, and they are in high need of applicants. For more information, contact Kellie Amos, Recruiter, Teachers On Call at: 952.346.1656 or <kamos@teachersoncall.com>.

■ Behavioral Dimensions is Hiring: Behavioral Dimensions, a private company based out of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, provides services to children with autism and other disabilities. They are looking to hire for positions throughout the Twin Cities metro, Duluth, & Iron Range. Part time and full-time positions are available. If you are interested, contact Jay O’Neill (Owner & Director of Specialty Services) at 612-889-0278

■ Upward Bound Summer Job Opportunity: Design your own course for high school students! Century College Upward Bound seeks teachers, or soon to be teachers, to develop and teach courses for our college-bound students this summer. Contact Caroline Church: <caroline.church@century.edu> for more information. Application deadline is March 25, 2016.

■ Free MTLE Resources: 240Tutoring has study guides for the MTLE. Also, their blog has a lot of articles about how to create a study plan, do’s and don’ts of studying, and a lot of other helpful articles. Go to: <http://www.240tutoring.com> for more information.

■ 2016 MTLE Preparation Sessions: The TC2 Collaborative has organized a series of MTLE review and preparation sessions scheduled starting in January and going through summer 2016. These sessions include basic math review, in-depth math review and reading and writing support.

The mathematics support sessions are offered for any candidate needing a basic refresher on the math concepts on the test. The intensive sessions are for candidates needing more support in mathematics. You may take both. The reading and/or writing sessions offer support for the reading and writing subtests.

There is no fee for the sessions, but registration is required. For more information and to register, go to: <http://www.tcteacher.org/mtle.php>.

■  Advising and Admissions Up-Dates:

ACT+Writing and SAT Scores in Place of MTLE—Beginning January 1, 2015, The Minn. Board of Teaching (BOT) will accept passing ACT Plus Writing and SAT scores to meet the requirement for a skills exam in reading, writing and math. The BOT has adopted the following passing scores for these exams:

• ACT Plus Writing: Composite Score ≥ 22 and Combined English/Writing ≥ 21
• SAT Reading ≥ 510 and Writing ≥ 510 and Mathematics ≥ 520

Advising—Day students in their final two years at Augsburg may enroll in AU courses if it is the only way that they can graduate in a timely manner.  Registration forms must be signed by Vicki Olson or Peg Finders.

Students in SPE and ESL may switch from Day to AU to finish SPE or ESL licenses.  Day students who need to switch to AU to finish out their SPE or ESL licenses can maintain campus housing.

If you have concerns or questions about the financial impact of this type of change please contact a Student Financial Services counselor immediately about the financial impact of the change. Students can schedule appointments online via the Advising link in Records and Registration, at the service window, or by phone or email.

■ Education Department Office is Also Open Certain Non-Business Hours:

• Tuesday and Thursday until 6 p.m. every week.

Turn things in; pick things up; leave messages or materials for faculty; check your department file – we are here for you.

Submitting news to Augsburg:

• To the Education Department News: Send your news to Joseph Erickson at C.B. 312 or erickson-AT-augsburg.edu.
• To the Augsburg Now published by the Augsburg College Office of Public Relations and Communication: Send your news to C.B. 145 or now@augsburg.edu.
• To the daily A-Mail electronic newsletter: Go to AugNet Home Page and login. Then click on “Submit News and Announcements” link.

Connecting with Alumni and Friends:

Augsburg College provides several ways to stay connected with Alumni and friends. Here are some links to get you started:

• Alumni Information Update: Submit news and contact information changes to the college’s Alumni Office.
• TC2 New Teachers’ Blog

Other Sources of News for K-12 Teachers:

Here are links to some of the very best online news sources for K-12 teachers:

• Education Week
• Teacher Magazine
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (also, subscribe to ASCD SmartBrief, a daily email news resource delivered right to your inbox).