Allegheny Intermediate Unit

Word Wizards - ELA Grades 3-12*
2024-12-10 09:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
*This session is part two of multi-day series that requires participants to attend all sessions to receive credit.
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Text Dependent Analysis: Effective Instructional Practices (Grades 4-8)*
2024-12-09 09:00 - 15:00
*This session is part of a hybrid, multi-day series; the in-person format requires participants to attend all sessions to receive credit.
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Lunch and Learn: Attainment: Math and Science K-12
2024-12-06 11:30 - 12:30
Since its inception in 1979, Attainment Company has been dedicated to helping people with disabilities succeed in school, work, and life with practical and easy-to-use products. The goal is to create a solution for teachers and students alike using digital, print, and hands on materials to reach a wide range of learners. Please join us for an overview of our Math and Science continuum, which includes foundational, evidence-based, and standards based resources for K-12.
Audience: Administrators, General Education teachers, Special Education teachers, Interventionists, and Coaches.

Grades 3-5 Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Visual Models
2024-12-06 08:30 - 15:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit, East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Learn about why it is important and how to help students visualize math through concrete and pictorial representations at your grade level.

Grades 3-5: Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Visual Models
“I didn’t learn math with all these visual models my book now has.”
“My administrator wants me to use all these manipulatives stored in our closets.”
“My kids just aren’t retaining what I’ve taught them.”
If this is how you feel about teaching math, then the AIU MSC has you covered.
Join us at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to learn about why it is important and how to help students visualize math through concrete and pictorial representations specific to your grade level. We will host two-day training sessions to engage you in mathematical tasks utilizing physical and virtual manipulatives, then transitioning to diagrams for each of the critical concepts in your grade level.
In the Grades 3-5 cohort – we will focus on multiplication, division, fraction operations, decimals, area and volume through use of base ten blocks, connecting cubes, pattern blocks, Cuisenaire rods, number line models, and area models.
Price: Free for AIU school districts. Non-AIU school districts:$300
Audience: Grade 3-5 mathematics teachers and leaders (including interventionists)
When: December 6, 2024 and February 20, 2025
Where: In-person at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit
Act 48 hours will be awarded pending approval by PDE for those who attend all sessions and complete related assignments.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and grow! See you there at East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA.

ELA Symposium: Key Qualities of Writing Instruction (Grades 3-5)
2024-12-05 09:00 - 15:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
The ELA Symposium is the Reading Achievement Center’s annual workshop addressing a critical need for strengthening teacher practice that improves student achievement. This session, for ELA teachers in grades 3-5, will focus on key qualities of writing instruction at the paragraph level and up.
This in-person event is free to member district educators.

Supporting Students with Dyslexia Interventions & Accommodations
2024-12-05 08:30 - 15:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Participants will examine instructional practices to support learners with dyslexia including a multisensory, structured literacy approach. Time will be devoted to exploring accommodations that provide access to grade-level content for reading and writing.

Trauma Responsive Practices Utilization in the Classroom Setting
2024-12-05 08:30 - 15:00
This series is designed for classroom practitioners to gain a deeper understanding on the prevalence and impact of trauma in the classroom as well as the greater school community. The series will focus on specific trauma responsive classroom practices that can be embedded within daily classroom routines.
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LETRS VOLUME 2 COHORT
2024-12-04 09:00 - 15:30
*Completion of Volume 1 and 2 course meets PA Structured Literacy Chapter 49 requirements.

Developed by renowned literacy experts Dr. Louisa Moats and Dr. Carol Tolman, LETRS® is a flexible literacy professional development solution for preK–12 educators. LETRS earned the International Dyslexia Association’s Accreditation and provides teachers with the skills they need to master the fundamentals of reading instruction—phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and language.
LETRS empowers teachers to understand the what, why, and how of scientifically based reading instruction

Grades 6-Algebra 1 Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Visual Models
2024-12-04 08:30 - 15:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit, East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Learn about why it is important and how to help students visualize math through concrete and pictorial representations at your grade level.

Grades 6 – Algebra 1: Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Visual Models
“I didn’t learn math with all these visual models my book now has.”
“My administrator wants me to use all these manipulatives stored in our closets.”
“My kids just aren’t retaining what I’ve taught them.”
If this is how you feel about teaching math, then the AIU MSC has you covered.
Join us at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to learn about why it is important and how to help students visualize math through concrete and pictorial representations specific to your grade level. We will host two-day training sessions to engage you in mathematical tasks utilizing physical and virtual manipulatives, then transitioning to diagrams for each of the critical concepts in your grade level.
In the Grade 6 – Algebra 1 cohort– We will focus on fraction division, ratio concepts, proportional relationships, one and two-step equations, integer operations, linear functions, multi-step equations, simplifying polynomial expressions, and factoring polynomial expressions through use of tape diagrams, single and double number line models, interactive graphs, and algebra tiles.
Price: Free for AIU school districts. Non-AIU school districts:$300
Audience: Grades 6 – Algebra 1 mathematics teachers and leaders (including interventionists)
When: December 4, 2024 and February 11, 2025
Where: In-person at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit
Act 48 hours will be awarded pending approval by PDE for those who attend all sessions and complete related assignments.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and grow! See you there at East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA.

Direct Instruction Mathematics
2024-12-04 08:30 - 15:00
This training program helps teachers improve their math teaching skills using Direct Instruction (DI). Participants will learn the key ideas and strategies from the “Direct Instruction Mathematics” book. They will get practical experience and knowledge to effectively use DI in their classrooms. The course covers lesson planning, teaching methods, assessment techniques, and ways to support different student needs.The content in this series can be used for any learner, including those with higher support needs in autistic and life skills support settings to those students learning advanced mathematical concepts.

Follow-up for the Administrator-focused Science Professional Learning
2024-12-03 12:45 - 15:45 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit, East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
This professional learning offering is a follow-up half-day to assist administrators with supporting science teachers’ STEELS implementation

Who: Any and all administrators (district or building) who have previously attended the Administrator-focused Science Professional Learning
When: December 3, 2024 from 12:45 – 3:45 PM
Where: Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 E. Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA 15120
Price: Free
What: You’ve previously attended the Administrator-focused Science Professional Learning offered by the Math & Science Collaborative (AIU MSC). Are your teachers starting to make some of the needed shifts in their science classrooms? If so, you might want some follow-up to what you learned. We are offering a three-hour session to share some “look fors” in K-12 science classrooms. These can be used during walk-throughs or informal observations. We’ll also share information about how the Danielson Framework (especially Domains II and IV) connects with shifts in science instruction.
Tech: Please bring a laptop and/or tablet to access online resources.

RENEW Resilience, Empowerment, and Natural Supports for Education
2024-12-03 09:00 - 10:00
RENEW (Resilience, Empowerment, and Natural Supports for Education and Work) is a Tier 3 level intervention within a PBIS framework and an evidence-based practice. Developed in 1996, for students with serious emotional disorders, RENEW is a structured school-to-career transition planning and individualized wrap around process. RENEW focuses on developing a positive social student-driven process using person-centered planning.

Administrator-Focused Science Professional Learning
2024-12-02 08:00 - 15:30 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit, East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
This administrator-focused PL offering was specifically created to help leaders support shifts in science instruction

PA Science of Reading
2024-12-02
This course is intended for anyone eager to understand more about the science of reading including classroom teachers, administrators, specialists, paraprofessionals, and families, and what it should look like in our Pennsylvania schools. This course also serves as part of the professional development requirement for all K-8 teachers as detailed in Pennsylvania legislation. While it is intended to address the Kindergarten through 2nd grade levels, the information is applicable to all beginning and struggling readers, regardless of age.

AIU-Operated Special Education Schools – No School - Thanksgiving Break
2024-11-27 - 2024-11-29
AIU-Operated Special Education Schools, Mon Valley, Pathfinder and Sunrise are closed for Thanksgiving Break.

Board of Directors Meeting
2024-11-25 18:15 - 20:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
2024-2025 AIU Board of Director Meeting Dates
All AIU board meetings begin at 6:15 p.m. in the McGuffey Room, with the exception of the November meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. All board executive sessions begin at 5 p.m. in the Rogers Room. There are no meetings in July or December. The board will meet on the following dates:
Monday, August 26, 2024
Monday, September 23, 2024
Monday, October 28, 2024
Monday, November 25, 2024
Monday, January 27, 2025
Monday, February 24, 2025
Monday, March 24, 2025
Monday, April 28, 2025
Monday, May 19, 2025
Monday, June 23, 2025

RAC Reading Specialists' Network
2024-11-22 09:00 - 15:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Join the RAC Reading Specialists’ Network for an opportunity to connect with other reading specialists in Allegheny County.
Each hybrid session will feature research-based best practices and strategies that specialists need in order to be effective in their role as they work with students, teachers, and parents in all three tiers of literacy. The network is open to Reading Specialists who have participated in past networks as well as new participants.
Cost: Free
2024-25 Meeting Dates: September 27, November 22, February 7, April 4
Registration

Learn more about the Reading Achievement Center

Make-AT-looza
2024-11-22 08:30 - 15:30 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Free transformED Educator Workshop
An AT-making party to create accessible solutions through toy adaptations and 3D-printed products
November is National Assistive Technology Awareness Month. Celebrate by joining an AT-making party at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Participants will spend the day creating AT switches from 3D-printed components, designing and sharing 3D products, adapting simple toys, creating and assembling accessible aids for daily living, or creating and adapting items of their own. The purpose of this day is to produce accessible solutions for a wide variety of potential users that can be distributed to students and adults in our region.
Skill Level: No formal instruction will occur at this event. A variety of projects will be available for this making event, however, most will be geared toward participants with basic to intermediate skills in AT-making. For participants with no maker experience, consider attending the AT Making – Solder, Switches, & Stuffing workshop on the day prior to this event.
What to Bring | All supplies and the products intended for later distribution will be provided for this workshop. If participants are interested in adapting their own toys or products, they are welcome to bring those items to this event to make use of the tools and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow makers.
Who Should Attend | Anyone with an interest and a bit of experience in AT-making
Lunch will be provided.

Register on Eventbrite

Learn more about transformED

LETRS Training @ AIU 2024-2025 AIU Cohorts
2024-11-21 09:00 - 15:30
*Completion of Volume 1 and 2 course meets PA Structured Literacy Chapter 49 requirements.
Developed by renowned literacy experts Dr. Louisa Moats and Dr. Carol Tolman, LETRS® is a flexible literacy professional development solution for preK–12 educators. LETRS earned the International Dyslexia Association’s Accreditation and provides teachers with the skills they need to master the fundamentals of reading instruction—phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and language.
LETRS empowers teachers to understand the what, why, and how of scientifically based reading instruction
Time & location for all sessions:
9am-3:30pm
Allegheny Intermediate Unit; 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA 15120
Dates:
October 10, 2024 – Unit 1 The Challenge of Learning to Read (Sullivan)
November 21, 2024 – Unit 2 The Speech Sounds of English (Sullivan)
January 16, 2025- Unit 3 Teaching Beginning Phonics, Word Recognition, and Spelling (McGuffey) March 20, 2025 – Unit 4 Advanced Decoding, Spelling, and Word Recognition (Sullivan)
Time Commitment:
Independent Reading: 33 hours
Online LETRS Platform: 15 hours
Synchronous and In-Person PD: 22 hours
Total of 70 Act 48 Hours Available
Registration:
1. Register on Frontline
2. Complete Google Form to select payment option: https://forms.gle/B3SRX4HLPHQ6UZnp9
Registration Deadline: October 3, 2024
Materials Cost: $400 per participant includes Volume 1 manual and one year of online access; invoicing will be processed at first session.

AT Making - Solder, Switches & Stuffing
2024-11-21 08:30 - 15:30 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Free transformED Educator Workshop
Discover AT-making skills for creating accessible technology solutions by learning soldering and other useful techniques.
Are you looking for projects that your school’s STEAM program or club can use to develop and hone basic making skills? Are you curious about additional, real-life applications for the tools and skills your students are learning? Are you wondering how you can hack toys to make them more accessible to children with physical disabilities?
This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to assistive technology (AT) making skills to create usable access products. Participants will learn basic soldering to join wire segments and assemble mono and stereo components for use in a variety of assistive technology applications. Those skills – along with some 3D-printed parts – will be applied to create a mechanical switch that could be used by an individual with physical disabilities. Each participant will also make a battery interrupter and switch-adapt a stuffed, electronic toy that can be used with the scratch-built switch.
Skill Level: Beginner (no previous knowledge expected or needed)
What to Bring | All materials will be provided for this workshop. Participants are encouraged to bring a reusable shopping bag to carry completed projects home at the end of the day.
Who Should Attend | STEAM teachers and other educators who would like to learn valuable “making” skills in ways that can increase accessibility for others
Lunch will be provided.
Register on Eventbrite

Learn more about transformED

Supporting Student Attendance A Multi-Tiered Approach
2024-11-21 08:30 - 15:00
Reducing chronic absenteeism is a growing challenge for schools. This session will give an overview of the root causes of absenteeism and how to address those causes through a multi-tiered approach. Topics in this session will include the following: how to analyze attendance data, identifying barriers to regular attendance, evidence-based interventions, and supporting students who are chronically absent. By the end of the session, participants will have some strategies that can be implemented schoolwide, with small groups, and with individual students.

Using the VB-MAPP Assessment & Instructional Programming to Build Language
2024-11-21 08:30 - 15:00
The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) is one option to consider for assessment and program guidance when supporting elementary age students with autism and other individuals who demonstrate language delays. The VB-MAPP is a criterion-referenced assessment, curriculum guide and skills tracking system. It combines principles of ABA and Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior to provide a behaviorally based language assessment program for all children with language delays.
Participants will learn how to administer the assessment, interpret results, and design instructional programming.
Follow up support in the district is available to teams to ensure effective practices are in place and address individual student programming needs.

Special Education Liaisons-New Directors Meeting
2024-11-20 13:30 - 15:30 | https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NzgwZTJkYjMtMjUzMy00ZWI1LWFlODktMDhkZWIyZTk1NzEx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%222588d1e3-7ead-4e50-b518-c7ad84eca17b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%222128c0e9-b5e4-4a49-994a-5c684abd91b5%22%7d
The New Directors Meetings are a follow up to the morning’s Special Education Liaison Meeting to provide more detailed information and address topics that may be unfamiliar to liaisons new in their role.
Special Education Liaisons-New Directors Meeting are Hybrid.
In-person meeting will be held at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in the Montessori Room.
Link to Online Meeting can be found below.

Get Hyped About Hydroponics
2024-11-20 08:30 - 15:30 | Fluxspace, 401 Greentree Road, Pittsburgh, PA, 15220, United States
Free transformED Educator Workshop
Discover hydroponics for schools, including resources and related lessons (and enjoy a hydroponically grown salad bar for lunch)
Interested in learning about hydroponics and how it can fit in your school? This workshop will lead you through how hydroponics works, various types of systems, and STEELS-aligned lessons and projects that engage and excite students. Learn how to utilize the engineering design process with students to solve problems involving environmental literacy and sustainability and come ready to enjoy our own hydroponically grown salad bar for lunch!
**This workshop will take place at the Fluxspace Experience Center where participants will have an opportunity to interact with a Flex Farm hydroponics system.
Background | The mission of Fluxspace is to help educators, schools, and organizations experience the future of learning environments and understand the innovative programs, products, experiences, and mindsets that should take place in them.
Who Should Attend | Educators interested in learning about hydroponics
Lunch will be provided (featuring a salad bar with hydroponically-grown lettuce that we will harvest together!)
**Special Location | Fluxspace Experience Center, 401 Greentree Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15220

Register on Eventbrite

Learn more about transformED

Structured Literacy Training for Autistic & Life Skills Support Educators
2024-11-20 08:30 - 15:00
Sessions will lead participants through an exploration of:

how reading skills develop
the component skills of reading including phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency
the skills of vocabulary, inference-making, and content knowledge
effective instructional practices and evidence-based intervention approaches

Educators will leave prepared to administer and interpret assessments and implement effective classroom instruction including how to accommodate and modify content for students with complex communication needs.
This training series meets PA Act 49 Structured Literacy requirements.

Evidence-based intervention practices on structured literacy
Explicit and systematic instruction in phonological and phonemic awareness
A) Alphabetic principle, decoding and encoding; B) Fluency and vocabulary
Reading comprehension and building content knowledge

Special Education Liaison Meeting
2024-11-20 08:30 - 12:00 | https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZTUxMzZhNmItYmQ4My00NWQyLWE2NjQtNDFmYTc3YjA0YmIy%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%222588d1e3-7ead-4e50-b518-c7ad84eca17b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2297c0692d-3fcc-413f-88e2-fb2c33b67df0%22%7d
Special Education Liaison Meetings are Hybrid.
In-person meeting will be held at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in the Sullivan Room.
Link to Online Meeting can be found below.

Thinking Through the Pencil - ELA Grades 4-8*
2024-11-19 09:00 - 15:00
*This session is part of multi-day series that requires participants to attend all sessions to receive credit.
Learn more

STEM Educator and Innovator Role-Alike
2024-11-19 08:30 - 15:30 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit Central Office, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Join our free role-alike group for STEM/STEAM teachers to share ideas and build skills.
This role-alike group is designed for STEM/STEAM teachers and coordinators to build skills and gain new ideas. Hear how others are integrating everything from maker education to coding and beyond. This group will meet multiple times during the school year. You are welcome to join us for one, some, or all sessions.
Background | What is a role-alike? Role-alike events bring together educators from around the region holding a similar position or role.
What to Bring | A laptop or tablet, if possible
Who Should Attend | Both experienced STEAM educators and those newer to STEAM education are encouraged to attend.
Lunch will be provided.
Register on Eventbrite

Learn more about transformED

Grades K-2 Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Visual Models
2024-11-19 08:30 - 15:00 | Allegheny Intermediate Unit, East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
Learn about why it is important and how to help students visualize math through concrete and pictorial representations at your grade level.

Grades K-2: Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Visual Models
“I didn’t learn math with all these visual models my book now has.”
“My administrator wants me to use all these manipulatives stored in our closets.”
“My kids just aren’t retaining what I’ve taught them.”
If this is how you feel about teaching math, then the AIU MSC has you covered.
Join us at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to learn about why it is important and how to help students visualize math through concrete and pictorial representations specific to your grade level. We will host two-day training sessions to engage you in mathematical tasks utilizing physical and virtual manipulatives, then transitioning to diagrams for each of the critical concepts in your grade level.
In the Grades K-2 cohort – We will focus on counting, place value, addition, subtraction, and measurement through use of base ten blocks, number line models, and number path models.
Price: Free for AIU school districts. Non-AIU school districts:$300
Audience: Grades K-2 mathematics teachers and leaders (including interventionists)
When: November 19, 2024 and January 29, 2025
Where: In-person at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit
Act 48 hours will be awarded pending approval by PDE for those who attend all sessions and complete related assignments.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and grow! See you there at East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA, USA.

MTSS Networking for Administrators & Core Teams
2024-11-18 13:00 - 14:00
Please join us for monthly virtual networking opportunities designed to create a robust Professional Learning Community (PLC) around the topic of MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports).
Meetings in the 2024-2025 school year will be offered in two strands:

The morning session for Administrators leading efforts to scale implementation of MTSS at their district or building
the afternoon session intended for MTSS Core Team members working at the school level Administrators are free to join either or both sessions.

The focus for Networking is on fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, and providing mutual support to enhance the implementation and management of MTSS frameworks, ensuring comprehensive academic support for all students.
