Member Opportunity for Free Professional Development!

 Shedd Aquarium

Free Online Professional Development for Educators

Great Lakes Science Badging Program

Badging Program Information

This free, self-paced program features topics surrounding Great Lakes environmental literacy, science literacy and 21st-century skills. As you build your skills and accomplish learning activities, you’ll be awarded “digital badges”. Educators of all content areas and grade levels are welcome to participate.

Activities are designed to spark curiosity, investigation and critical thinking. Activities are scaffolded to build your confidence in using the online space, to get familiar with Great Lakes basics and to dive deeper into science skills. The program’s learning community encourages you to share, learn and explore alongside other teachers.

Activities may have you …

·         taking pictures of local habitats

·         uploading a design of a simple experiment

·         participating in online interactives to better understand the interconnectedness of an issue

·         practicing citizen science skills

·         sharing your ideas for incorporating the information into the classroom with other teachers.

Illinois teachers can receive 20 CPDUs after completing this program. All participants will receive a “digital badge” that can be posted to their LinkedIn profiles or resumes. Participants will receive a final “principal letter” outlining accomplishments and skills built through program participation.

Registration is easy!  There are a limited number of spaces available.  Registration may be on a first come, first served basis.  Please contact Meredith Byers no later than July 1 and then you may receive a registration invitation code from the Digital Learning department at Shedd Aquarium.  To demonstrate your interest in participation, send an email today tomeredith.byers@ieanea.org with the following information:

Name

Name of local association

Teaching assignment/School work position

Number of years of experience

Email address

Phone number

Pension 101 – READ and ACT

Pension 101 : TWO  Pension Priorities – Call – Email – ASAP!

Call YOUR Illinois State SENATOR!  Now! Today! This Morning ASAP! TWO messages!

1 – 888 – 412 – 6570

 

Message One : Most Important Today -VOTE NO on Madigan’s SB One (1)! Senate will vote today!

Message TWO — Please support and Vote Yes On Senate President Cullerton’s SB2404!(This is the bill hammered out in negotiations with the IEA – It is backed by the “We Are One” coalition — Vote is scheduled forThursday!)

Attached to this E-Mail is a fact sheet on SB2404. SB2404 is a compromise. It is a product of negotiations. Unbelievably tough, delicate, hard negotiations. Therefore none of the sides are totally happy. President Cullerton will be criticized (blasted) on the editorial pages. You will hear some criticism  – on “our” side. I’m supporting this compromise. I applaud the IEA and President Klicka’s courage and persistence and vision that made a negotiated agreement possible. I applaud President Cullerton for not turning his back on the Unions and trying to strong arm us. 

Our time line is short. Hectic. Rushed. Sorry – wish we all had two weeks to study all details. We don’t.  But we have a pension bill the IEA issupporting — SB2404! We have a pension bill President Cullerton is supporting — SB 2404!   Read the Fact sheet attached. There is much more on IEA’s —  www.ieanea.org  — and  Haisman’s  Pension 101 Facebook page (see below for link).

Questions? Bob Haisman – haismanbob@gmail.com – 708 997 1993 Bob Haisman’s Pension Face Book Page …….
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pension-101-Haismans-Pension-Page/358959997556965

Questions? Bob Haisman – haismanbob@gmail.com – 708 997 1993

 

Save your Pension!

SAVE YOUR PENSION!!!

CALL TODAY!!!!

 

– Senator Terry Link represents Hawthorn SD 73 and Senator Melinda Bush the northern part of Lake Co.

 

– Both were recommended by IEA.

 

– Both of them voted for the earlier version of SB 1.

 

– They need to hear your call telling them that you are teacher and you expect them to oppose SB 1 and support only legislation supported by We Are One.

 

– Call their Springfield office today.

 

Senator Terry Link (217) 782-8181

Senator Melinda Bush (217-782-7353)

 

Pension Killer – RED ALERT!

THE SKY IS FALLING!     Any you’ve been warned….Do your part to save your pension!

Make a call today! 1-888-412-6570

Send an e-mail!     Share with colleagues!!!    READ ON…..

Pension 101 — The FIGHT STARTS WEDNESDAY MAY 1!   Call Your Rep! Red Alert! Call Your Rep Red Alert!  CAll! An E-Mail Newsletter for Retired and Active Teachers Concerned with the Preservation of Our Pensions  —  …..Please forward!! Please forward Today Please forward today! Please forward Today! Please Forward! Action Alert! Pension-Killer “Mega-Bill” Will Move May 1st!! Call your Representative Your Pension depends on it!!! Call/Email three other teachers ask them to call — 1-888 412 – 6570!   VOTE NO MADIGAN’s PENSION BILLS! The Illinois legislature will return to Springfield on Tuesday, April 30, and will remain in session throughout the month of May. House Speaker Michael Madigan has indicated that three bills — HB 1165, HB 1166, and HB 1154 — will be packaged together in a new “mega-bill” and voted on by the full House. (The new “mega-bill” has not yet been introduced and could include more than just these three bills.) We are hearing that the Speaker’s “mega-bill” will be unveiled — and voted out of the House — on Wednesday, May 1. Your phone calls are needed immediately — click here to call your House legislator. For now, the three bills that may be contained in the “mega-bill” are summarized below. These pension cuts would affect all active and retired public workers, except judges: ·         HB 1165 is opposed by the coalition. It caps cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) at extremely low levels and delays COLAs for five years or until age 67, whichever comes first. The caps alone have the effect of reducing the value of a pension by one-third after twenty years in retirement. HB 1165 was approved by the full House in March and now awaits Senate action. The House vote was 66-50 and is available to view by clicking here. ·         HB 1166 is opposed by the coalition. It increases retirement ages anywhere from one to five years. (Employees under age 35 would face a five-year increase, employees between age 35 and 40 would face a three-year increase, and employees between age 40 and 45 would face a one-year increase.) HB 1166 was approved by the full House in March and now awaits Senate action. The vote was 72-45 and is available to view by clicking here. (Note: Reps. Hoffman, Jackson, Lilly, and Sims switched from a “yes” to a “no.”) ·         HB 1154 is opposed by the coalition. It puts a cap on the amount of salary that qualifies for a pension. HB 1154 was approved by the full House in March and now awaits Senate action. The House vote was 100-16 and is available to view by clicking here. (Note: Rep. Pritchard switched from a “yes” to a “no.”) HB 3411 (Nekritz/Cross) contains all of the pension cuts included in HB 1165, HB 1166, and HB 1154. In fact, HB 3411 goes even further, forcing new hires in TRS and SURS into a “Tier 3” 401(k)-hybrid retirement account and increasing employee contributions without an ironclad guarantee. HB 3411 is also opposed by the coalition. It has yet to receive a full House vote, but that could happen at any time. Many of HB 3411’s components, like the 401(k)-hybrid plan, could surface in the “mega-bill.” Take action today! Tell your House legislator to oppose the forthcoming pension “mega-bill,” HB 3411, and any other bill not backed by the IEA and the ” We Are One”  coalition of unions! Click here to call your House representative. If link does not work — Call 1-888 – 412 – 6570 – enter zip code and follow prompts! Click here to go to our sample e-mail, where you can personalize and send a message to your legislators. IEA Website –  WWW. IEANEA.ORG  Bob Haisman’s Pension Face Book Page ……. https://www.facebook.com/ pages/Pension-101-Haismans- Pension-Page/358959997556965 Call 1-888 – 412 – 6570 – enter zip code and follow prompts!  Call your Representative Your Pension depends on it!!!Call/Email three other teachers ask them to call — 1-888 412 – 6570!   VOTE NO MADIGAN‘sPENSION BILLS!!  Questions? Bob Haisman – haismanbob@gmail.com – 708 997 1993