This year's 2011 John Muir Academy returned to Verona, Wisconsin and was a wonderful experience! We enjoyed working with all of our participants and can't thank our amazing presenters enough for their incredible talents.

The Academy is currently intended to take place at the end of July 2012. We hope to see everyone again next summer for the 2012 Academy!

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY!!FREE Tuition for Teachers who join the
ide@s Research Scholars program!

The John Muir Academy (JMA) and the ide@s Portal Website have partnered to offer free registration for up to 35 participants this year. As an ide@s Research Scholar, you will submit two units of instruction in your area of expertise as your culminating work at JMA. As teachers you're already writing lessons plans, so why not get paid for the work? Not to mention you are already doing the work for graduate credits. HURRY and take advantage of this offer TODAY!! ONLY 35 TEACHERS will be accepted!!

Teachers who want to become ide@s Research Scholars need to fill out the ide@s application located below and take one of the designated ide@s courses offered at JMA. These course instructors will guide you through the necessary steps for the creating instructional units using the Understanding by Design model. Participants can choose the topics for the units so they are useful in your content area and the grade level you teach. We will provide guidance for you and JMA instructors so that you have the format and tools to create your units. Once your application as an ide@s Research Scholar is accepted, you will need to pay the $375 registration cost to John Muir Academy as well as turn in the JMA registration form. Once you have attended the full week at JMA, and have submitted your curriculum unit(s), you will be reimbursed $375 by ide@s no later than September 1, 2011. Once you have tested your unit in the classroom and made any needed modifications, you will be paid an additional $100.00.

Ide@s staff will be on site all week at the Academy to assist you with guidelines for these units. We will use the Understanding by Design model by McTighe and Wiggens as the structure for instructional units.

How do I qualify?
To become an ide@s Research Scholar, check the box on the JMA registration form stating your preference and choose 1 of the designated courses. We will send you a short application that asks your area of teacher certification, years of teaching experience, and level of familiarity in curriculum writing. You can also download it below. Knowledge of the Understanding by Design model, or Backwards Design Model is helpful, but not necessary. You will be contacted within two weeks with a response.

What is ide@s?
Selected PK-16 educators from Wisconsin work in teams to identify, evaluate, catalog, and align standards-based educational resources that are already on the Internet such as lesson plans and reference materials. Wisconsin teachers also create original educational units for ide@s that are shared across the state and beyond. A recent addition to ide@s is imageide@s, which provides high quality photographs and images that are in the public domain. These resources are all available at the ide@s search engine. You don't have to look through dozens of online listings to find the resources you need. The ide@s search engine allows you to tell it specifically what you need then it searches the database for you. You can read teacher reviews of the resources and see exactly which state standards they address. Ide@s saves you time while focusing instruction and technology on Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards. You know you're getting a quality resource that other Wisconsin educators have recommended.
For more information go to: www.ideas.wisconsin.edu
If you'd like to apply, click on the link to download the course application:
ide@s Application