MRVED Business

LAST DAY:
MELT Networking Facilitators

Today (Friday, November 22) is the LAST DAY to signup to be a facilitator of a networking group at the MELT in January!  The signup sheet will close at 3:30 p.m. today! As a facilitator you are not expected to be the expert in the room, but rather move the discussion along.  The goal of a networking group is to share resources and ideas with people who have the same interest.  They are meant to include a give & take.  Bring something to share and take something away that someone else shared.

The only networking groups that will be offered are those that have a willing facilitator.  If a networking group does not have a facilitator, they will not be held.  If you would like to sign up, please click the link below and add your name to the list next to the group you would like to facilitate.  If you have any questions, please contact Brandon.

Networking Facilitator Signup

So Far the only groups that will have a networking session will be:

• Kindergarten (Math Emphasis)
• 3rd Grade
• HS/JH Science
• HS/JH Social Studies
• Industrial Technology
• Agriculture
• Art
• ECFE/ECSE
• Counselors
• ESL
• New Teachers
• Principals
• Band
• Choral
• World Language
• FACS

MRVED UPCOMING MEETINGS

November 26, 2013 - Superintendents' Council

December 3, 2013 - Language Arts

December 4, 2013 - MRVED Board (7:00 p.m.)

December 5, 2013 - Health

December 6, 2013 - World Languages

December 9, 2013 - District Assessment Coordinators (DACs)

TIES 2013 Technology Conference

Don't miss out on the 2013 TIES Education Technology Conference, December 14-17.  The featured speakers this year are Marc Prensky and Dr. Mizuko Ito.  If you are a fan of educational technology, this is the conference for you!  There are 100's of breakout sessions to choose from throughout the day, and time to connect with some of the greatest minds in educational technology from around the state and world.  This year the MRVED is lucky to have a couple presenters in our midst.  Brandon will be presenting 50 Tools for 21st Century Skills on Monday morning at 8:00 AM and Krista Isaacs and Melissa Wilber from Lakeview will be presenting the Best Free Websites for the Upper Elementary Classroom at the same time.

Tech Tip of the Week

Are you looking for a neat way to grab the attention of your students?  Are your students looking for a different project idea?  Look no further!  Newsjack.in is an awesome website that allows you to take any website and edit the contents.  See this EXAMPLE.  Newsjack.in is so easy to use, elementary students would have a blast using it!

12 Touchstones of Good Teaching

Reminder: This series of posts comes from the book The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching by Bryan Goodwin & Elizabeth Ross Hubbell.

10. Help students develop deep knowledge

What it looks like: "Teachers introduce new knowledge by helping students connect it to prior knowledge.  They help students make meaningful patterns, assembling disparate bits of information into coherent patterns.  They consider what students will think about with each assignment and aim to focus thinking on deep knowledge"

Why it is important:  "The goal of learning is deep knowledge- the ability to connect ideas, see patterns, and apply learning in novel situations- which in turn, is key to memory.  Effective teaching strategies do not always work; they must be applied with intentionality according to the knowledge teachers are helping students develop."

(Goodwin & Hubbell, pg. 198)