Professional Development
Education is a lifelong endeavor and educators are committed to continually improving their practice, regardless of their role. Learn more how MEA helps with continuous professional development for members of all types, including for teachers and education support professionals.
Professional Development News
Attend Virtual Social Justice Conference on April 27
Register now for MEA’s inaugural Social Justice Conference, happening virtually on Saturday, April 27. Learn more about the schedule, which includes sessions, breakouts and roundtable conversations to help improve your understand of social justice issues and how they intersect with our work in public education.
White Fragility book study starts March 4
You are invited to a five-week, online book study on White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. This New York Times bestseller explores the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. Free SCECHs are available for MEA members participating…
Join MINE for winter PD for new educators
Please join us as we explore some great learning opportunities hosted by MEA and MiNE - Michigan New Educators. Centered in the Michigan Core Teaching Practices, this training series is a continuation of our fall offerings. The Winter Series focuses on instructional practices and helping navigate the end of year evaluation meeting. You do not need to attend all offerings…
Core Safety Practices – Winter 2024 Professional Development
Hundreds of MEA members participated in the fall series of professional learning opportunities relating to student violence. The series continues with more offerings focusing on de-escalation, post-incident best practices, communication infrastructure, leveraging policies and law, and managing stress. Register here today!
Paraeducator trains others on how to de-escalate behaviors
Paraeducator and Pontiac union leader Fred McFadden trained his counterparts in Oak Park at the beginning of this school year. The first time MEA member Fred McFadden attended Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) training 27 years ago, he was newly employed as a technician at an inpatient mental health facility in Auburn Hills, Havenwyck Hospital, and he didn’t believe the techniques…
Register now for “Open Doors” fall webinars
Political, social, economic and environmental issues and events confront us daily. The question is how do we meet these moments? We can either face these moments as impenetrable obstacles (walls) or as challenges we can solve and move through (doors). I choose to find doors. The sessions in this series present us topics and techniques that provide a chance to…
“How to Be Anti-Racist” Book Study
The Center for Leadership & Learning department is ready to kick-off our next book study series featuring the title, How to Be an Antiracist. The book study will be held Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 p.m. beginning June 14, 2023. Attendees must be a member in good standing and will need to purchase their own book for this SCECH eligible study. Registration…
Northern MI grant project engages students, families, educators in deeper history
By Glen Young Educators in northern Michigan are utilizing a national grant award to help develop curriculum to address topics of social justice and strengthen reading in local schools. Northern Michigan educators in the year‑long project discussed books and developed lesson plans to enrich students’ reading and understanding of history. “Building A More Perfect Union” funding is supporting 38 groups…
Pontiac paraeducator finds special takeaways at MEA Summer Conference
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 Partnerships Create Quality Supports
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…