Thursday MAMLE Keynote Announced

Posted on by mainemamle admin

Our theme this year is “Filling Our Cups.” We recognize that in 2019, between changing policies, administration, trends, and students, sometimes we just need to remember to take care of ourselves to be the best teachers we can be. Our jobs as middle level educators are more complex than ever– sometimes we need to “refill our cups.” We also recognize that teaching is ultimately about relationships– if our students are not ready to learn emotionally, it is hard to motivate them to do so. One of the “16 Keys to Educating Young Adolescents” from This We Believe is that educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them. We need to refill our cups in order to help theirs overflow with positivity and engagement.

In addition to our traditional sessions that you have grown to expect from us– pedagogical and practical sessions rooted in middle level best practices that you can take back “to use Monday morning–” we will also have sessions focusing on mindfulness, strategies to avoid teacher burnout, and advice and Q&A sessions for administrators, new teachers, and experienced teachers. We also have sessions which will focus on social-emotional learning, multiculturalism, and “filling the cup” for our students.

With that, we are so excited to introduce our Thursday keynote speaker, Jamie Toohey, who will lead us through an “Adverse Childhood Experiences” ACEs workshop.

Jamie Toohey is the Instructional Coach at Oxford Hills Middle School in South Paris, Maine and has been teaching in SAD#17 for 14 years.  Prior to making the jump into education, Jamie was a Commercial Lending Analyst with General Motors working in Atlanta, Rochester, and Philadelphia.

Jamie holds a BS from the University of Georgia and both a Master’s degree in Education and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Maine.  Jamie is also a 200-hour registered yoga teacher and a Kripalu Yoga in the Schools certified instructor.  Last summer, Jamie had the pleasure of spending a week in New York with other educators from around the globe at the C.A.R.E. retreat (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Educators)  in which she grew her social and emotional awareness to better serve herself and her school community.Screen Shot 2019-02-01 at 10.16.10 AM

Two years ago Jamie was approached by the Oxford County Resiliency Project to champion resiliency efforts at Oxford Hills Middle School.  Since then, Jamie has joined forces with the Maine Resiliency Building Network (MRBN) to help spread the word throughout Oxford County about the impact of adverse childhood experiences and the power that resilience can offer.

Present at MAMLE 2019!

Posted on by mainemamle admin

Have a great lesson or unit? Want to share what you learned from your recent grad degree? Passionate about teaching at the middle level? Share your expertise!

We are looking for middle level teachers and administration to present at this year’s MAMLE conference, October 17th-18th at Point Lookout, ME. Our theme this year is “Filling the Cup.”

Presentations can be but are not limited to:

  • How to manage teacher stress and avoid burn out
  • What “fills you” and inspires you about middle level education; inspiring messages
  • Creative and innovative content
  • Encouraging positive student-teacher relationships and teacher-administrator relationships
  • Educational trends
  • Positive leadership
  • Technology integration
  • Interdisciplinary learning
  • Teaming and coaching
  • The arts and physical education
  • Pedagogical approaches that WORK
  • Teaching students of rural poverty
  • Multicultural education
  • Empathetic teaching

Fill out our Intent to Present form by June 1st, 2019! https://goo.gl/forms/Q57KzoB7TqYnDxiG2 

Nominate for a MAMLE award!

Posted on by mainemamle admin

We are currently accepting nominations and self-nominations for all MAMLE awards. The deadline for all nominations is June 1, 2019.

Every year, we give out a variety of MAMLE teacher awards.

The Janet Nesin Reynolds Outstanding Educator award highlights an experienced (3+ years) educator who has contributed to the middle level field at large.

The Promising Middle Level Educator award celebrates a relatively new teacher (preservice teacher- 3 years experience) teaching with exemplary techniques and results at the middle level.

The Exemplary Practice award celebrates an individual or team that showcases innovative and effective middle level techniques in their classroom.

We accept self nominations as well as nominations of colleagues! We encourage students and/or adminstration to nominate teachers as well.

Find out more and find the links for awards here: https://mainemamle.org/about/maines-best/