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MACUL Newsletter
August 2026
Empowering educators through connection, innovation
and technology to transform learning.
macul.org
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Hello!
As you head back into the classroom, keep in mind that the technology you bring isn’t just about gadgets and gizmos—it’s about unlocking treasure chests and lighting the fuse on your students’ curiosity. Your creativity turns those tangled digital webs into thrilling, meaningful learning escapades every single day. Here’s to a new school year packed with groundbreaking inventions, flawless tech launches, and mind-blowing growth for both you and your eager learners!
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5 Lessons for Teachers from Ted Lasso
- Subject Matter Expertise Isn’t Everything, Or Static
- Curiosity is Key
- Don’t Be Afraid to Incorporate Ideas From Others
- Positivity Isn’t a Miracle Cure
- Winning Isn’t Everything
Taken from this article from our friends at Tech & Learning
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Hey there, MACUL members! It seems like some of you are juggling more email addresses than a circus performer with flaming torches—two, three, or even four accounts! We get it, you love us so much you can’t pick just one email to shower with our newsletters. But let’s face it, your inbox is starting to look like a hoarder’s paradise.
To save you from drowning in a sea of duplicate MACUL messages, we’ve got a magical button below. Click it, and we’ll help you tidy up your digital life by waving goodbye to those extra accounts. Your inbox will thank you, and you’ll finally have room for those important emails about cat videos and free pizza coupons.
FYI: You received this newsletter at:
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MACUL EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES | | Consolidated Application for MACUL Conference | | |
While conference registration is not yet open for the annual MACUL Conference in Detroit, it's never too early to request to attend next year's amazing conference! We would encourage you to seek approval to attend our next conference now. Please use the attached "justification letter" to edit and submit through your district's proper channels to get your trip to MACUL approved for March. The justification letter lays out how the conference will help your practice and how it will benefit your district. We've even included language and a cost calculator for your central office staff to write it into a grant! Act now and get your spot reserved for the 2027 must-attend MACUL Conference!
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The 2026 Student Technology Showcase (STS) at The Capitol will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2026 in the beautiful Heritage Hall at the Michigan State Capitol Building to allow lawmakers, business leaders and other citizens to see first-hand how technology is used in classrooms across Michigan. | | MACUL Spark is an online professional development program designed to provide Michigan educators with flexible, high-quality learning opportunities to spark their fire for the 2026-2027 school year of teaching. This asynchronous series offers a variety of one-hour courses aligned to educator needs, emerging instructional practices, and technology integration strategies. | | |
The 2027 MACUL Conference “CALL FOR SPEAKERS” is OPEN!
Proposal deadline is October 6, 2026
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MACUL LEARNING AREA UPDATES | |
The Technology in Education team is excited to announce the return of a 2025 favorite! We will be visiting Michigan Central Station for a workshop. Plan on joining us during the first day of the 2027 MACUL Conference on March 17, 2027! Our last visit was packed with information about the amazing things going on in the station, education offerings for students, and exciting introductions to Tech Startups at NewLab.
Are you considering submitting a proposal to present at the MACUL Conference in 2027? We are here to help! Grow Your Voice is a program designed to support you as you write your proposal and design your session. Visit bit.ly/growyourvoice27 to sign up for more information and we will be in touch!
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As we look toward the 2026-2027 school year, the Tech For All Learning Area is prioritizing the creation of Accessible Educational Materials (AEM). Designing with accessibility from day one removes barriers and creates an environment where every student has meaningful access.
As you update your curriculum and digital materials for the fall, keep these quick tips in mind:
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Use Built-in Headers: Screen readers rely on proper header formatting (Heading 1, Heading 2). Avoid simply bolding text to fake a title.
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Run Accessibility Checkers: Make it a habit to use the built-in checkers in your LMS, Google, or Microsoft tools before publishing to catch missing alt-text.
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Audit Contrast and Captions: Ensure all videos have accurate closed captions and your slide decks use high-contrast colors.
We are currently planning upcoming sessions focused on AEM.
Let’s make this our most accessible school year yet!
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Michigan education leaders are invited to Data Systems in Action, a four-part virtual learning series examining how leaders organize data systems, routines, roles, and follow-through to drive improvement. Each one-hour session will feature two Michigan education leaders demonstrating a system or process they actively use. The focus is not on sophisticated technology or product promotion, but on the leadership practices that help information lead to decisions and action. Sessions will be held October 15, December 10, January 14 , and February 11 from 4:00–5:00 p.m. Eastern. Register for this free event using the link below.
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Tech for Tomorrow is excited about everything that's ahead! Our team is currently preparing a special Fall session focused on the Essential Practices for Literacy and Mathematics, packed with practical strategies educators can take back to their classrooms.
We're also hard at work developing an exciting lineup of conference workshops. In addition, we're thrilled to offer two unique field trip workshop experiences—one at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the other at the Detroit Institute of Arts. These immersive sessions will provide hands-on learning, fresh ideas, and inspiring ways to connect classroom instruction with real-world experiences.
These are two conference opportunities you won't want to miss!
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edWebinars for August
Common Sense in cooperation with edWeb.net has several webinars scheduled for August.
| | Before the Devices Turn On: Building Healthy Habits | | Your students already know how to use technology. What they need is judgment, empathy, and self-regulation to navigate it safely. The secret to a focused, respectful classroom culture isn’t just teaching tech skills; it’s building core behavioral dispositions and healthy habits before we connect through our devices. | | |
Over the years, the open culture community has produced a remarkable amount of practical knowledge: guides, toolkits, case studies, policy templates, and more. What’s been missing isn’t expertise but rather a single place that points to all of it. The Open Heritage Companion started as an effort to close that gap, bringing the community’s scattered knowledge into one navigable guide.
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REMC 30-minute webinars offer practical skills to help you meet compliance guidelines
Starting in August, REMC is hosting unique trainings focused on making websites and digital files accessible following the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines! The ADA Webinars are designed for secretaries and administrative assistants, yet helpful and available to anyone. They teach practical strategies to ensure accessibility, as meeting ADA compliance is becoming a requirement for all schools within the next two years. These sessions are FREE, interactive and timely to guarantee you can translate topics immediately to your sites and documents.
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