MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

September 19  Title III Teachers
September 24  Superintendents' Council
September 25  Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
September 26  Community Ed (9-11 a.m.)
September 26  Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start)
September 30  Agriculture

NOTE:  FACS meeting originally scheduled for November 18 has been rescheduled to December 16.

Communication Briefings

Don't embarrass yourself with poorly written emails and texts

In the day of autocorrect mishaps and the overuse of Reply All, it's important to consider your electronic messages and their recipients carefully. Consider these items before sending a message:

Emails

• Write, then edit. Did you carefully review the content to make sure your points are clear? 
• Check professionalism. Is your email as professional as a paper memo you would write? 
• Use Cc's appropriately. Is your email addressed to the proper people, and do the Cc'ed people need to be included? 
• Assess your confidence. Is your email written well enough that you would let anyone read it? 

Texts

• Know your recipient. Is your relationship casual enough for texting? 
• Check for clarity. Is your message short and clear? 
• Beware of autocorrect. Have you ensured that autocorrect didn't inappropriately change your words? 
• Consider the topic. Is your subject matter light enough for a text? 

— Adapted from "Strong Guidelines for Electronic Communication to Reduce Risk," Patrick Tamburrino,www.bizjournals.com.

Repair Kit for Grading Series - Fix 1

The first 15 weeks of the MRVED update is going to feature a series on the book A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades by Ken O'Connor.  This is an excellent and quick read for any teacher.  O'Connor really makes one think about what you are grading and how you are grading your students.  The best part of the whole book is he offers practical ideas that can be implemented into the classroom tomorrow.  These posts will only be an overview of the fix.  I highly suggest this book, and it would make for a great PLC book study.

The book is broken into chapters:

• Chapter 1: Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement (Fixes 1-6)
• Chapter 2: Fixes for Low-Quality or Poorly Organized Evidence (Fixes 7-10)
• Chapter 3: Fixes for Inappropriate Grade Calculation (Fixes 11-12)
• Chapter 4: Fixes to Support Learning (Fixes 13-15)

Before diving into the fixes, we must first come to agreement on the purpose of a grade.  As defined by Ken O'Connor as to the purpose of grades, he states "I Believe that primary purpose to be communication about achievement, with achievement being defined as a performance measured against accepted published standards and learning outcomes." (O'Connor, 7)

Fix 1: Don't include student behavior in grades; include only achievement

This fix is the first one for a reason.  It is one of the biggest problems with grades today.  If a grade is used to communicate what a student knows and is able to do based upon a certain standard or benchmark, then the grade should accurately reflect that.  Adding or subtracting points based upon behavior severely distorts the grade, thus not showing exactly what the student knows and is able to do.

Behavior can go both ways; a teacher could have a student that knows everything, but misbehaves in class, therefore reflecting in a lower grade.  Or, a teacher could have a student that might not know everything, but tries hard, thus reflecting in a higher grade.

O'Connor is clear in that he is not saying that certain behaviors are not important to learning.  Many students who exhibit desirable behavior will achieve and many students who do not exhibit the desirable behaviors do not achieve.  But the grade for achievement should not reflect these behaviors.

In a truly standards-based environment, this fix is easy, (the student either knows it, partially knows it, or does not know it at all).  The easiest way to fix this is to have a separate grade for behavior.  I encourage you to try this quick grading fix for a quarter.

MCIS Workshop Offered at the MRVED

MCIS Workshop



When: October 15, 2014

Time: 8:00-3:30

Location: Minnesota Valley Area Learning Center

Cost: Free

Lunch: On Your Own

What: Minnesota Career Information System website training.
The Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS) is an Internet-based system that combines a wealth of career, educational and labor market information into one comprehensive, easy-to-use exploration tool. With MCIS, students and clients can:

• Learn about over 520 occupations
• Develop a personal portfolio
• Research colleges, universities, and career schools
• Find scholarships and financial aid
• Improve job search skills and create a resume

Registration Link

Questions can be directed to:

Deb Parkos
Phone: 651/582-8321 or 800/599-6247
debbie.parkos@state.mn.us

Carl Perkins Program Approval Deadline

Carl Perkins Program Approval Deadline
For those who receive Carl Perkins funds, the program approval deadline is December 1, 2014.  If you need help with your application or have any questions please let Brandon at MRVED (braymo@mrved.net) or Gail (gail.polejewski@swsc.org) at SW/WC Service Cooperative know.

Program approval forms can be found on the Minnesota Department of Education website.  Other Carl Perkins information can be found on the SW/WC Service Cooperative website.

Tech Tip - Kahoot

Kahoot

If you are looking for a way to do fun review in your classroom, pull in a set of devices and play Kahoot with your kids.  Kahoot is a great tool for all ages.  It is a game-based way to assess. Teachers can either create their own questions, or select a quiz from the many quizzes already created in the public gallery.  Kahoot requires no student signup, so playing a game in your class takes very little time.  Give it a try during the first couple weeks of school.

Kahoot Tutorial Video