Professional Development

Gabby Price Pontiac paraeducator Gabby Price attended her first MEA conference last week, caught a front-row seat to a well-attended motivational talk by former NBA player Tim McCormick, responded with a smile to the speaker’s light-hearted banter and left with an autographed basketball. More importantly, she said in an interview after the conference session, she learned so much at the…

MEA member Jay Holtvluwer is 29 years into his career and still enjoys learning new ways to improve his practice. A mentor to “anybody who will listen,” the middle school engineering and social studies teacher last year joined a union-sponsored program to strengthen his use of formative assessments. MEA member Carrie Heaney joined MEA’s Assessment Learning Institute to take ideas…

MEA’s Center for Leadership and Learning is holding a series of free afternoon webinars this week and next on topics such as classroom management, motivating students, building a basic website for school projects and more. The Summer Essential Webinar series brings you powerful ideas and strategies that will be the most impactful for you as educators and will serve as…

Registration is still open for two roundtable discussions MEA is hosting in May for members who identify as otherwise abled. Each of the following two events is scheduled from 6-7:30 p.m. and will include dinner: Wednesday, May 18 at the MEA office at 17500 W. 11 Mile Road, Suite 100 in Lathrup Village Thursday, May 19 at MEA headquarters, 1350…

MEA-Retired member Dave Chapman, an award-winning former science teacher from Okemos, is leading an extensive new professional development program to enable mid-Michigan teachers to engage students in learning about watersheds, their importance, and how to protect them. The grant-funded project includes numerous environmental partners and features a number of benefits for the 24 teachers who sign up, including a $500…

MEA’s upcoming “Informed by the Arts” webinar series will provide tips on how educators of all backgrounds and specialties can integrate the arts into their practice. The series begins Tuesday, April 19 and runs every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday through the end of April. MEA members in good standing can sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/mea/event/451713/ SCECH credits and certificates of completion…

In the middle of the most exhausting year of our careers, the work of our union is more important than ever. Despite fatigue and frustrations, educators must engage and persist in this critical moment – and MEA offers many ways for you to learn and get involved while earning SCECHs or certification credits. Sign up today for the virtual MEA…

Finding light and being the light during dark times. That’s the theme of MEA’s winter webinar series, “The Light of Winter Stars.” An offering of MEA’s Center for Leadership & Learning, this new series of peer-led, SCHEH-eligible webinars will run from January 18 through March 24. Topics for this series include managing stress and anxiety (for both students and educators),…

-- The MEA Center for Leadership & Learning will be launching a new SCECH-eligible book study next month. “The Laramie Project,” by Moises Kaufman, is a play that explores the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man living in Laramie, Wyoming. After going through the original play, participants will then read the epilogue, “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.”…

MEA’s Center for Leadership & Learning has launched a new, easy-to-navigate website where members can find information about professional learning opportunities, grants, leadership trainings and more. The Center for Leadership & Learning has been revamping MEA’s professional development offerings since before the pandemic, but as the public health crisis has challenged school districts and educators nationwide, the Center has risen to…