​No, not just for cat videos.

Interesting and odd items for teachers fill the Internet, and the miracle of a fast connection and digital display technology means that we can either entertain ourselves or share with our students.  The best stuff, though, is hardly ever the straightforwardly educational.  It's the emotional or funny that catches my attention.

For example, I don't understand half of this video, but I'll bet our physics and math students will find "Bohemian Gravity" whimsical and memorable (and pretty darned clever--clearly not all the grad students in the world have enough to do).

In the same manner, chemistry students might find Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" pleasantly diverting.

English teachers can share the powerful poem from Taylor Mali, "Tony Steinberg, Brave 7th Grade Warrior."  And for themselves, when the world seems excessively bureaucratic, his "I'll Fight You for the Library" reminds them that other teachers struggle too.

Sometimes we just need something funny to start the day, like the Trunk Monkey videos.

And, finally, if the day is dark and my teaching soul needs provocation, fifty seconds with the Despicable Me minions and the "Banana Song" will start me on the path to recovery.

~ Jim Van Pelt

Dear Member,

Happy Monday to everyone!   Here is this week's update:

• The SB191/Educator Effectiveness training was a great experience!   We will be having Linda Barker back in December as we look toward mid-year reviews.   
• We need to know what kind of professional development you want.  Please give us your ideas here.  Also, if you'd like to serve on the Professional Development committee, please let Darren know at dcook@coloradoea.org.  
• Our monthly AR Council will be taking place this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in BTK Room A.  AR's will have an opportunity to share comments or concerns with their Area Director, so please let your AR know if there is something you want mentioned.  And speaking of AR's, BTK still needs an AR!  
• Click here to find out if your school won the volunteer turn out contest!  The school with the highest percentage of volunteers in each area wins.  Winners will have a pizza lunch brought to their building for members, courtesy of CEA.   The next step is to have all our volunteers go through a short training process where we will learn a two minute message, mail a few postcards, and receive candidate literature.  And, yes, there will be food and your children are more than welcome to attend!  You will be receiving an email asking you to confirm a training time shortly.  Oh, and it’s not too late to sign up to volunteer.   
• If you haven't taken advantage of the restaurant discounts for NEA members only, you should!  Click here and get a $25 gift certificate for $10 to several local restaurants. 
• There are a lot of questions surrounding what a grievance is and how our grievance procedure works.  Here is a step-by-step guide.  

Have a wonderful week!

Best,

Darren 

Dear Member,

Hopefully, everyone has had a fantastic start to their school year!   Your MVEA has a lot going on, so please scan through the bullets below:

• The AR Council was a huge success, with only two schools missing due to their Back to School nights.   Areas B, F, and H elected Area Directors.   We also have a new Secretary.  You have an excellent Executive Council with a great vision and action plan for the future of the MVEA.  
• Each building will have a "911 Emergency Meeting" in the next 10 days to bring everyone up to speed on the happenings in the School Board election.   Your AR will be in touch soon.   The building in each Area with the highest volunteer turnout will get a pizza lunch for all members at your school courtesy of CEA!  If everyone has 100% turnout, everyone gets a pizza lunch.  (We're not fooling around with this School Board election!)  To see how your school is doing, look here.  We will update it daily, so check back! 
• We have had 90 new members sign up this month with many of them being returning members, which is amazing!  But we're not done yet.  Make sure each potential member in your building takes a look at our website and watches the video of our members explaining what it means to be a member of the MVEA.  If they choose to sign up, make sure your name is listed on the bottom so we can send you $10 as a thank you.  Our association is able to do more and more to support our profession as we grow in membership!
• The SB191 Educator Effectiveness training on the 7th of September is quickly filling up.  We only have 21 spots left, so if you have had a few questions as you've worked your way through your self-assessment, you might want to sign up here.  It's free to members, and you will receive credit for 4 hours of Professional Development.  We intend to have monthly Professional Development opportunities this month, so be watching for more!
• We'll speak specifically about offers and promotions through MVEA and NEA in the future, but if you want to scan for some great savings opportunities, look here and here.   As an example, member Mary McGuire took advantage of the attorney referral program's two free thirty minute legal consultations per year, and then she used the information to negotiate a great settlement with an insurance agency offsetting many years of her membership dues.  
• No one has forgotten the negotiated settlement from last year that tied us getting the remainder of the 20% of our step to enrollment and grants.  We are keeping a careful eye on the counts and should be able to report out on it soon.   
• Do you have any students or families that need help?  Susana Wittrock with the Office for Advocacy, Outreach, and  Connections is coordinating with the many government and non-profit organizations around the valley to get students and families the help they need.   

Have a great week!

Dear Member,

Hopefully you had a great first week of teaching! 

This week’s news:

• Concerned about the teacher evaluation system under SB 191?  Your association is bringing in Linda Barker to answer your pressing questions and provide some professional development (there will be a 4 hour PD certificate offered!).  The flyer is attached, and the session is limited to 50 members, so sign up here. 
• Your School Board Elections Committee is working hard to finalize their recommendations for this year’s critical school board race.  We should have our pro public education candidates in place by the end of this week, and can begin campaigning shortly thereafter!  Each building will have an “emergency meeting” for members sometime during the next week (if you haven’t already) to inform teachers of the political landscape and encourage everyone to volunteer in some capacity to help preserve public education.   Campaigning need not be confrontational.   The public trusts teachers (our polling says so!).  In fact, they trust us so much oftentimes we don’t even need to explain why we support a particular school board candidate.  All we need to do is post our picks for the school board race on our Facebook page, mail out a few postcards, and – if we choose to – take part in a morning of door knocking (followed by a huge BBQ – more to come on that!).   Filling out a brief form is the first step in being a part of the democratic process in this year’s important school board race so we can be purposeful in our approach, which is key to winning! And we will win…  J
• Remember that we are ratifying our bylaw changes at this week’s AR Council.  Make sure you review the  bylaw changes and give your AR feedback to inform their vote. 
•  Do you like TED Talks?  Here are a few that are absolute “must views”!   
• Each day seems to bring with it a new member enrollment sheet for the MVEA, which is fantastic!  Just remember to sign your name at the bottom of the application as the recruiter so you receive the $10 “thank you” from your association colleagues for helping to grow our professional organization.  
  


Here’s to a wonderful week!