MRVED Business

Best Practice Meetings Resume & Weather Policy
Best practice meetings will resume next week with Phy Ed and Health on Tuesday and Social Studies on Thursday.  We look forward to seeing all your smiling faces.

As a reminder, please review the MRVED weather policy (posted below) in case of inclement weather.

MRVED Weather Policy

Since we are located in the Montevideo School District area, if Montevideo schools are open and on time, we will hold the meeting. If Montevideo has a late start, the meeting will be cancelled and rescheduled.

However, even if the meeting is still being held, if the weather is unsafe to travel in your area, stay home! We want you to be safe. If the meeting is on time and you cannot make it, please let us know (320-269-9297) so we don't worry about you. If you have any questions, feel free to call us at 320-269-9297.

MRVED will also submit meeting cancellations and/or updates on WCCO’s TV channel and website wcco.com (See School Closings under Quick Links). We will be listed under MRVED (just our initials.)

MRVED Meetings
February 4, 2014  Phy Ed & Health Combined
February 5, 2014  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
February 6, 2014  Social Studies
February 7, 2014  Title III Teachers
February 12, 2014  Principals' Council
February 20, 2014  Teachers' Advisory Council
February 26, 2014  Superintendents' Council

Tech Tip

Interactive Simulations for Math and Science

Thank you to Amanda Peterson from Renville County West for sending me this link.  This looks like a great resource for any grade level in math or science.

Description from PhET website:

PhET provides fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena for free. We believe that our research-based approach- incorporating findings from prior research and our own testing- enables students to make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the physical world.

To help students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders and radio buttons. In order to further encourage quantitative exploration, the simulations also offer measurement instruments including rulers, stop-watches, voltmeters and thermometers. As the user manipulates these interactive tools, responses are immediately animated thus effectively illustrating cause-and-effect relationships as well as multiple linked representations (motion of the objects, graphs, number readouts, etc.)

To ensure educational effectiveness and usability, all of the simulations are extensively tested and evaluated. These tests include student interviews in addition to actual utilization of the simulations in a variety of settings, including lectures, group work, homework and lab work. Our rating system indicates what level of testing has been completed on each simulation.

All PhET simulations are freely available from the PhET website and are easy to use and incorporate into the classroom. They are written in Java and Flash, and can be run using a standard web browser as long as Flash and Java are installed.

Brandon's Brainwork - Motivation

Motivation
Motivation has been a topic of discussion lately.  How do we motivate kids to learn?  How do we motivate kids to do their work?  If there were a definite answer to these questions, we wouldn't have to ask these questions.

Dan Pink offers an interesting look into what motivates people with this TED Talk.  Intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation...what's more powerful?

Students learn and are motivated in a variety of ways.  Differentiation and individualization are two ways in which a teacher can not only reach more students, but also motivate them.  Differentiation and individualization is easier said than done, but with practice becomes much easier.

Scholastic has a quick read on differentiation, I suggest you take a moment to glance over it.  When you have finished the article, take a moment and think about the reflection questions below.

Reflection Questions
Have you ever asked your students what motivates them?  Intrinsically?  Extrinsically?
Have you had your students complete a learning style inventory?
Have you tried a variety of differentiation strategies?
Have you thought about what motivates you as a learner?