“Chat with the Chief” Sessions Coming Soon

In last week’s Connection update about our agency culture, you read that I will be hosting small group conversations in our offices to listen to your questions and input as we continue to work to improve our overall agency culture. 

Later this month and in February, I will be visiting our offices for “Chat with the Chief” sessions. These are non-mandatory open forum-style meetings with no formal presentation. They are an opportunity for you to talk with me about anything and everything. If you aren’t able to attend the session that is in your region, you are welcome to attend in another region. I look forward to seeing those of you who are able to fit one of the chat sessions into your busy schedule. If you aren’t able to participate in any of the sessions but have input to share, please feel free to e-mail it to me at pvincent@aea11.k12.ia.us. (Remember you can always contact me if you have questions, concerns, feedback or good news to share.) I look forward to hearing from you! 

January 28 
All Johnston campus staff including Regions 4, 5 & 6 
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. 
Johnston Regional Education Center, Rooms 13A & B 

February 8 
Region 7 
3:30-4:30 p.m. (Immediately following the RPC Meeting)
Ames Office, Rooms A, B and C 

February 14 
Region 1 
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 
Carroll Office 

Region 1 
3:00-4:00 p.m. 
Guthrie Center Office 

February 18 
Region 3 
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 
Indianola Office, Conference Room 

Region 3 
3:00-4:00 p.m. 
Knoxville Office 

February 27 
Region 2 
3:00-4:00 p.m. 
Adel Office, Large Conference Area 

February 28 
Region 8 
3:00-4:00 p.m. Newton Office, Quad Conference Room

AEAs Impacting Lives Update for January 2013

January is a perfect time to reflect on past accomplishments and look forward to the future. Below are links to our favorite stories on the Impacting Lives blog. 

• AEA Instrumental in Helping First-Year Teacher Meet Preschool Program Standards 
• Pleasantville Teen Anticipates Transition to College Thanks in Part to Support from AEA 
• Increased Learning Time = Significant Results 
• Assistive Technology Works for Student with Autism 
• Making a Difference for Ava: AEA Staff Assist, Help Her Thrive 
• Supporting 1:1 Schools in Northeast Iowa 
• Northwest AEA/Akron-Westfield Team Keeps Pushing for Student 
• Capturing Student Interest through the Use of Virtual Reality 
• Closing the Achievement Gap for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

There’s Still Time to Sign Up for the 10-Week Live Healthy Iowa Challenge

There’s still time to sign up for the 10-week Live Healthy Iowa Challenge, which begins January 28. This 10-week wellness challenge allows participants to team up (2-10 people per team) over the course of 10 weeks to track activity minutes and/or weight loss through the Live Healthy Iowa website. This challenge normally costs $20 to participate; however, Heartland AEA Wellness will be covering $10 of the cost when you use the Heartland AEA registration ID Code: LHIHAEA11, and you can get an additional $5 off through Hy-Vee, bringing the cost down to $5! 

For more information, contact Tony Chiaramonte, Human Resources Generalist, at tchiaramonte@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14534.

AEA Legislative Update

Click here to read the first update of the Iowa legislative session from the AEA system’s lobbyists, Matt Eide and John Pederson, of the Eide & Heisinger firm. We plan to bring you these updates weekly throughout the legislative session.

What’s New With AEA PD Online & AEA K-12 Online

AEA PD Online’s January blog update is now available. Go to www.aeapdonline.org/ for updates or click on the direct article links below. For real time updates, follow us on Twitter @aeapdonline. 

Recent Updates: 
• Interested in Becoming an AEA PD Online Instructor? 
• For AEA PD Online Instructors: Moving from Moodle Version 1.9 to 2.2 in May 2013 
• Tool of the Month: Diigo 
• Upcoming Online Course Offerings 
• AEA PD Online: Live! 
• External Partner Webinars 

AEA K-12 Online’s January blog update is now available. Go to www.aeak12online.org/ for updates or click on the direct article links below. For real time updates, follow us on Twitter @aeapdonline. 

Recent Updates: 
• Better Together: Iowa's Communities of Practice (CoPI) 
• Upcoming CoPI Events 
• CoPI: A View from the Field by Bridgette Wagoner

It’s the New Year—Clean Up Your iChat Buddy List

The beginning of the year is a great time to do organizing, filing, updating and weeding. And if you’ve ever wondered how to remove someone from your iChat buddy list who no longer works for the Agency or has changed his/her last name, then keep reading. If you look through your list of “Offline” buddies and find someone you no longer need in your list, click once on the person’s name then hit the “Delete” key on your keyboard. It will ask you if you are sure you want to delete the individual from your list. If you are sure, click “Remove” and the entry will be removed. If you don’t see any names listed below Offline, then click on the triangle to the left of “Offline” to expand the list of entries. If you need to add someone to your buddy list, click here for a refresher.