Log in
  • November 06, 2023 9:21 PM | Anonymous
    The Huddle

    According to high school students, school-related stressors are the biggest challenge to their well-being. Maybe even more than cyberbullying.

    How do we empower students to navigate their lives, both online and offline, in positive and healthy ways?

    Let's dive in:

    p.s. Do you love The Huddle and want more ways to help students navigate current events, well-being, and social media in high-character ways? Request information about #WinAtSocial!

      Laura Tierney

      Weekly Huddle Topics

       

      Students Tell All: What is truly impacting their mental health?

      The Gist: Recent surveys conducted by the EdWeek Research Center shed light on a notable difference between what educators believe is impacting student well-being compared to the challenges that students say they are struggling with.

      What To Know: While bullying on social media is often pinpointed by adults as the primary source of teen mental angst, the survey findings reveal a different narrative. High school students, it turns out, identify schoolwork-related stressors as their predominant mental health hurdle. This survey raises a crucial question for educators: How can we be tuned in to the stress triggers that impact our students?

      TSI’s Take: When creating a plan to help students navigate daily stress, we have to take into account that schools are not the sole cause of this stress, but many students don't always feel at ease discussing stressors from their home and social life with teachers. Recognizing this reality, schools can foster an environment that not only acknowledges academic stressors but also equips students with ways to handle the pressure.

      FIND THE HUDDLE QUESTION IN OUR BLOG

      Instagram’s new ‘Collaborative Carousel’ feature connects students through posts

      The Gist: One of students’ favorite apps, Instagram, has just unveiled its latest feature: collaborative carousels. Instagram carousels are posts that contain more than one photo or video, which users can view by swiping left on a post through the phone app. Instagram is now making these types of posts collaborative by allowing users to invite others to contribute photos or videos to their post, fostering a sense of community and shared experiences. 

      What To Know: For educators, staying informed about social media developments, such as Instagram’s new collaborative carousels, allows them to better understand what impacts students' lives outside of the classroom. It's not just about staying informed on new social media updates, but understanding the impact these features can have on students so that educators can support and improve student well-being. 

      TSI’s Take: Instagram’s collaborative carousels highlight an opportunity for students to play to their core and invite others to join them. By huddling with students on topics like collaborative posting, consent, and privacy, educators can empower students to make choices online that reflect their core values, while they collaborate and show their creativity with their friends. 

      FIND THE HUDDLE QUESTIONS IN OUR BLOG

      How the first executive order on AI makes the technology safer for students

      The Gist: In a historic move, President Joe Biden has signed the first-ever executive order on artificial intelligence (AI). While AI can enhance learning experiences, there are concerns about privacy, discrimination, labor market disruptions, and scammers. This order aims to protect AI users from racial inequalities, deep fakes, and copyright infringement– a significant step towards making AI safer for students. 

      What To Know: As technology, safety, and education continue to evolve and overlap, this new executive order will have a profound impact on schools as it creates new guidelines that will shape the future of AI and the way students navigate it. 

      TSI’s Take: It's important to huddle with students about positive technology use and empower them to use tech for good, in and out of the classroom. While the government plays its part in keeping AI users safe, students should continue to protect themselves online and use technology for good.

      FIND THE HUDDLE QUESTIONS IN OUR BLOG

      News From Students

      We huddled directly with students from across the country to find out what trends and news are at the top of their feeds. Find out what they had to share: 

      YouTube
      1. Safety measures: YouTube Updates
      2. What's new: Discord's Teen Safety Assist 
      3. The latest trends: What the research tells us

      Empower students to handle the pressure

      Discover how to help students build habits and skills they need to handle the pressure online and offline 

      From FOMO to increased levels of stress, students face the pressures of social media every day. This month, we're sharing resources and insights that empower students (and adults!) to handle the pressure. 

      Watch this on-demand webinar to explore expert tips from Dr. Catherine Pearlman, founder of The Family Coach and author of First Phone: A Child’s Guide to Digital Responsibility, Safety and Etiquette, on how your school can equip students with the habits and skills they need to handle the pressure on and offline.

      Catherine Headshot
      WATCH NOW

      Platform Playbook

      Equip students to navigate Snapchat in high-character ways 

      Snapchat

      When you partner with The Social Institute, educators and families gain access to our Platform Playbooks. These are curated and detailed breakdowns of the most popular social media platforms that students are using. Check out our Snapchat Playbook for everything you need to know about equipping students with winning moves to navigate one of their favorite apps.

      In this Snapchat Playbook, you will learn:

      • What Snapchat is and how students are using it
      • The features to be aware of within the app
      • Ways to encourage students to use it in positive ways
      DOWNLOAD NOW

      Know a teacher who also wants weekly discussion questions on trending news impacting students?

       

      Forward this email to them and point them to this link!

      Facebook
      LinkedIn
      Twitter
      Instagram
      The Social Institute

      The Social Institute empowers students to navigate their social world positively — including social media and technology — to fuel their health, happiness, and future success.


    • November 02, 2023 8:40 PM | Anonymous

      It’s the shared effort of teachers, support staff, principals, administrators, students, families and communities that makes education a success. And we know educators are at the center of bringing it all together.

      Thank you, this week and every week, for all you do.

      We’re your biggest fan!

      Horace Mann is a long-time PAMLE corporate supporter. Please visit us at horacemann.com or contact your local agent if we can be of service.

      Horace Mann Service Corporation and certain of its affiliates (Horace Mann) enter into agreements with educational associations where Horace Mann pays the association to familiarize association members with the Horace Mann brand, products or services. Contact association.relations@horacemann.com for more information.

      EMM-00537-1 (10-23)

    • October 31, 2023 5:28 PM | Anonymous

      Some Spooktacular news from #PAMLE24 Keynote speaker, Jack Berckemeyer

      Read more here!


    • October 28, 2023 3:11 PM | Anonymous

      Thousands of Pennsylvania kids under 19 could lose their CHIP health plan coverage if they fail to renew their eligibility now that the public health emergency has ended. This has a direct impact on the health and wellness of your students. CHIP families are again required to complete their renewal information using the state COMPASS system to maintain their child’s State coverage.

      Highmark HEALTHY KIDS can provide helpful details and assistance for those families who need to complete their CHIP renewals or no longer qualify for Medicaid. CHIP coverage, an HMO offered by Highmark Healthy Kids is affordable, comprehensive health insurance. All kids who are under 19, residents of PA, are a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or qualified alien, and do not qualify for Medicaid are eligible for CHIP, regardless of income.

      Contact Cami Burns at camellia.burns@highmark.com for additional information.

    • September 30, 2023 10:51 PM | Anonymous

      Hello, PAMLE members!

      We at eCYBERMISSION are thrilled to join forces with the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education to help bring high-quality education to Pennsylvania students and support Pennsylvania educators. 

      eCYBERMISSION is a free, virtual STEM competition for students in grades 6-9. Students form teams of 2-4, led by an adult Team Advisor, and select a problem in their community to investigate with science or solve with engineering. eCYBERMISSION is phenomenon-based, project-based, and problem-based, and encourages students to see the impact they can make with STEM while learning to work together to solve real-world problems. Registration for eCYBERMISSION is now open at www.ecybermission.com/register and projects can be submitted any time until March 6, 2024.


      eCYBERMISSION aligns with Pennsylvania state science standards and provides free teaching resources in the form of lesson plans, activities, and more at www.ecybermission.com/advisorhelpcenter. Additionally, students have access to eCYBERMISSION CyberGuides, real scientists and engineers who are available to answer questions and provide technical support for projects through our online message board and monthly Zoom Live Chats (both of which are monitored by staff and invite parents and Team Advisors to attend with their students).

      Funding in the form of the eCYBERMISSION Mini-Grant is available to Team Advisors that incorporate eCYBERMISSION in their classroom. Mini-Grants come in the form of two payments, the first to the school to cover the cost of project supplies and the second to the Team Advisor(s) as a professional stipend. The application takes less than 10 minutes to complete, requires no essays, and is open until November 16 at www.ecybermission.com/minigrantprogram

      Once again, we are so excited to begin our partnership with PAMLE in support of Pennsylvania STEM education. If you have any questions or just want to say hello, feel free to email us at missioncontrol@ecybermission.com or follow us on social media!

      eCYBERMISSION is an Army Educational Outreach Program competition administered by the National Science Teaching Association.



    • September 27, 2023 11:23 AM | Anonymous
      Long-time partner, @HoraceMann, wants to help make your classroom wish lists come true! Enter your #DonorsChoose project now through Oct. 19. Every Thursday during the sweepstakes, Horace Mann will draw winners and fund at least $5,000 in projects! Enter: https://woobox.com/neqqzq?source=pamle
    • September 25, 2023 2:02 PM | Anonymous

      Check out this great webinar from PAMLE-partner American College of Education.


      Register today! https://aceedu.zoom.us/.../WN_qSEGIU1uTaaiANhjINNTAw...

    • September 24, 2023 3:06 PM | Anonymous
      View this email in your browser

      Looking for a motivating, engaging, practical, fun and relevant professional development experience?  Tired of paying for expensive conference registrations, airfare, hotel and rental cars for 10 people when you would love to have brought more people to a conference? 

      Nuts and Bolts can help.

      • You provide the location - we provide the speakers, sessions and the fun!
      • Conferences can be 1-4 days in length. 
      • The Ready to Lead Symposium is perfect for school leadership teams.
      • NB - The Never Boring Conference for Educators is perfect for teachers grades K-12.

      Contact us so we can create the perfect conference experience for your amazing educators.


      Jack Berckemeyer


      Dedra Stafford


    • September 19, 2023 6:33 PM | Anonymous

      With a new school year underway, I've got four bits of news to report.

      1. My book Culture by Design - The Discovery Process as a New Way for Schools (Rowman Littlefield, 2023) is hot off the press and available on Amazon, Kindle, and on-line platforms. (Many of these on-line platforms are being made available as I write.) Any and all profits resulting from book sales this year will be poured back into the program. So, buy a book and help a school. (See Amazon link below)

      https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Design-Discovery-Process-Schools/dp/1475872380/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=5ed528a1-628b-404b-a52f-90ae2a0f46e5

      2. We have introduced an individual sale option for the Discovery Process learning platform. Why? During many of the presentations I have given during the past couple of years, many teachers have approached me and said, "This is great, but my school district would never step away from convention to make a move like this." Such teachers can now purchase an annual subscription to all the learning content to share with their classes. (Annual Cost: $79.95) It is also an option for parents who want to follow along with what their children are doing in the Discovery Process.  FMI, go to www.hydeinstitute.org

      3. On 9/11/Mon, I was interviewed by Rob Caldwell on the Maine 207 (Portland NBC affiliate) news program. Topic: School Culture. Following the airing date, our communications department wrote/assembled a press release that has since been shared with over 1500 news outlets in Canada and the USA.  Here's the link to that press release (including a link to the 5-minute interview):

      https://www.einpresswire.com/article/655774123/longtime-maine-educator-malcolm-gauld-shares-insights-on-school-culture-on-maine-207-an-affiliate-of-nbc

      4. I am pleased to report our partnership with the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools (https://pacharters.org/). I will be speaking at their annual conference (10/3-5) in Lancaster, PA. Presentation Title: "The Secret Sauce of School Cultures."... Pennsylvania is home to 188 public charter schools across the state. Looking forward to interacting with them and exploring ways that the Discovery Process might enrich the cultures at their respective schools.

      Finally, if you've got educator colleagues or friends who are all about culture in their schools, please connect me!    

      Onward, Malcolm 

      ***********************************************
      Malcolm W. Gauld - Executive Director
      The HYDE Institute – Bath, ME
      207-443-7390
      Malcolm's Blog:
       https://www.thoughtsoncharacter.com/
      www.linkedin.com/in/malcolmgauld/


      *******************************************


    • September 17, 2023 3:39 PM | Anonymous

      JOIN US!

      OMLA State Conference at Kalahari

      November 9-10, 2023

      Register for #OMLA2023 today!

      #OMLA2023 | November 9-10, 2023 | Kalahari Resort and Conference Center in Sandusky, Ohio

      Gerry Brooks - Keynote Speaker

      Chris Singleton - Keynote Speaker

      Breakout sessions led by Ohio Educators

      Click here for conference sessions!

      Book your hotel reservations at Kalahari, click here.

      Special Conference Rate - Book Online Only

      Room reservations filling up quickly!



      Gerry Brooks

      Gerry Brooks has been an educator for 25 years, beginning as a third-grade teacher in Palm Bay, Florida. He earned his master’s in administration and has been an elementary principal for 12 years. Originally using humorous videos to encourage his staff, Brooks has become a national encourager for teachers through social media and speaking events. He is a voice for teachers, but his passion is leading others to be responsible for their own personal climate and culture in the workplace. His book, “Go See the Principal” outlines strategies for taking on this responsibility. Brooks and his wife, Kelly, have 3 adult children and live in Lexington, KY.

      Gerry Brooks YouTube Channel

      Chris Singleton

      Chris Singleton is a former minor league baseball player drafted by the Chicago Cubs. He became a nationally-renowned speaker with a message of resilience, forgiveness, and unity following the loss of his mother in the 2015 Mother Emanuel Church tragedy in Charleston, SC. Chris now shares his message with over 80 organizations annually and over 100,000 students and educators across the world. Chris’s overall mission when speaking is to inspire his audience with his story of resilience and to unite millions of people with his belief that, “Love is Stronger Than Hate.”

      Triumph Over Tragedy



      Conference Questions? CONTACT US

      Visit Our Website
      Facebook  Twitter  
      Ohio Middle Level Association | OMLA, PO Box 289, Fort Loramie, OH 45845



    Pennsylvania Association
    for Middle Level
    Education


    P.O. Box 312
    State College, PA 16801

    Contact Us

    © 2025 PAMLE All rights reserved


    PAMLE is a proud affiliate of the Association for Middle Level Education


    Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software