MEA professional development offerings for ESPs
The MEA Conference and MEA Online professional development offerings include a lot of great content for education support professionals.
Two classes featured at the in-person MEA Conference from 1:15-2:15 p.m. are directly focused for ESP members.
When Can I Afford to Retire for ESPs
A workshop by Charlie Mylrea, an EFS Advisor who works with educators.
The answer to this question depends not only on how well you have planned financially, but also on what your plans are in retirement. While you are working, your income comes from your paycheck. In retirement, your income will come from three sources: your pension, Social Security and any savings you have accumulated in accounts such as 403(b)/457/IRAs and savings. You will learn about various investment plans and the differences between them so you can plan what will work best for you with your other sources of income in retirement.
Teachers and ESPs: Building a Collaborative Working Relationship
A workshop by Education Minnesota staff Melissa Del Rosario, a former teacher, and Londel French, a former ESP.
This training provides an overview of the history and evolution of our two unique professions and highlights strategic differences both inside and outside the classroom for our licensed and non-licensed educators. Participants will leave this session with tangible strategies that help us maximize our collective impact in schools while building an environment together that fosters better outcomes for our students.
Other sessions that might be of interest to ESPs include:
- Mandated Reporting and Student Maltreatment Program Overview
- Schools Are No Place for Hate: Empowering Educators to Respond to Bias Incidents in Their Community
- Advocacy & Political Leadership: Building Educator Power Together
- eLibrary MN and EbooksMN: Free Curriculum, Reading, Reference and Research Resources
- Measure the Squishy Stuff: How to Quantify Culture
- Proactive Playbook
- Relighting the Burnout Flame
- Finding Coherence in the Midst of Classroom Chaos
- Three Wellness Hacks Every Educator Needs
- Crossing Over Racial Barriers
- Classroom Management Strategies That Work!
In addition to the in-person conference, Education Minnesota offers multiple free, online professional development opportunities for ESPs on its platform MEA Online. The site also includes access to all of the National Education Association’s online trainings.
Trainings on MEA Online include specific support for ESP negotiators, such as:
- Certified Negotiator Program for Education Support Professionals, and
- ESP Costing Spreadsheet.
Trainings for of interest to all members include topics such as:
- Community Engagement: Building Relationships for the Schools and Communities Students Deserve
- Culturally Responsive Teaching Through a Racial Justice Lens
- Race Talk Messaging: What, Why and How
- Three Frames of Unionism
- Trauma I: Understanding Trauma and the Brain.
The NEA also offers multiple ESP professional growth opportunities including live and recorded webinars, microcredentials and more. To see all of their free offerings for ESPs, go to www.nea.org/professional-excellence/professional-learning/esps.
