Weekly Update – October 2, 2023

AFT Michigan Day of Action in Support of UAW Workers: Thursday, October 5

On Thursday, October 5, AFT members around the country will be standing in solidarity with our UAW siblings. Here in Michigan, we have the opportunity and responsibility to represent. Please join us on a picket line wearing your union gear, take pictures, post on social media and tag us. Picket lines are up around the clock, so you can stop by before or after work or even as a family activity!

Selected locations (close to most AFT Michigan members):

Wayne	Ford Assembly	38303 Michigan Ave	Wayne	48184
Washtenaw	Ypsilanti Processing	2625 Tyler Road	Ypsilanti	48198
Macomb	Center Line Warehouse	26311 Lawrence	Center Line	48015
Ingham	Lansing Delta Assembly	8175 Millett Hwy	Lansing	48917

Looking for a picket line closer to you? Check https://uaw.org/standwithus/ for the current list of locations!

Community Coalition-Building In North Carolina

I was honored to attend the HEAL Together convening this past weekend in Raleigh, NC along with Jason Posey, Detroit Federation of Teachers Executive Vice President and a handful of community allies from the Michigan Education Justice Coalition. HEAL Together is a coalition to protect public school students and the schools they attend.  We heard presenters and engaged in conversations around social and racial justice and how it intersects with education justice.  There were around 22 different states represented and 7 AFT affiliates. Moving forward,  we hope to develop deeper  relationships with HEAL Together partners and engage in coordinated actions together to promote justice.

Loan Payments Resume: Debt Clinics Can Help

Student loan borrowers are dreading the resumption of their loan payments after a three-year hiatus that began during the pandemic. Interest on student loans started accruing again Sept. 1; loan payments resume Oct. 1. To help ease the transition, the Department of Education has made some changes, including much more generous parameters for income-driven repayment. The AFT is here to help you sort through it all and find the best pathway to debt relief, with weekly student debt clinics, resources at cancelmystudentdebt.org, and access to Summer, an online resource that helps AFT members navigate student loan repayment for free. Sign up for a clinic here.

Register for AFT Health Care Issues Conference

Registration is now open for the AFT Nurses and Health Professionals 2023 conference, which is tailored to members who work in healthcare. The conference will be held concurrently with the AFT Public Employees Professional Issues Conference at the Baltimore Hilton in Baltimore Nov. 16-18. Register now and start planning! The housing deadline is Oct. 17 and registration closes Nov. 9. We’re excited to get together with you and share ideas, learn from one another and grow as activists.

Professional Development

AFT Professional Learning New 2023-24 Webinar Series

Register now for AFT Professional Learning’s new 2023-24 webinar series, TEACH-ify: A Great Teaching Strategy Playlist!

Starting in October 2023 and continuing through May 2024, educators are invited to join national trainers from the AFT’s Professional Learning program to talk about great teaching strategies for supporting our students in grades K-12. Sessions will be held from 7 – 8 p.m. Eastern time, with live support until 8:30 p.m. to answer participants’ questions.

Teaching Strategy Playlist of Topics:

• Oct. 12: Engaging Families as Educational Partners | Register
  Students do better in school when their families are engaged as partners in learning. In this session, we will share strategies to build your professional repertoire of strategies for addressing family engagement and communicating effectively with families to improve student achievement.
• Jan. 11: Project-Based Learning | Register
  Project-based learning takes on a constructivist approach in which we do not just look just for the right answer or for what students can regurgitate, but rather for what they can generate, demonstrate and exhibit. In this session, we will examine creating student-centered learning environments where the dynamics of learning foster curiosity, exploration, inquiry and the retention of information.
• March 14: Student Engagement | Register
  Research shows that engaging your students in the classroom is an area greatly in need of improvement. In this session, discover structures and resources that foster student engagement and support learning.
• May 9: Using Questions to Teach and Learn | Register
  Student responses to questions help teachers assess how well students understand content. Responses also reveal students’ critical and metacognitive thinking patterns. In this session, we will explore how to examine the surface and deep structure of questions as well as the process of formulating meaningful questions.

This in-service will focus on the process of developing measurable and well-defined learning objectives that authenticate valid assessments.

Click here to register. 

Contribute to the AFT Michigan PAC Today

AFT Michigan fights for our members, students and communities all year round and we need your help. Can you donate $1 a week to aid us in this fight? Please visit the AFT Michigan website to contribute and make a big difference in protecting public education and building a better Michigan future! 

In solidarity,

Terrence Martin

President