Have a Great Summer!

This is the last update of the 2014-2015 school year!  We hope you have had a great school year and have learned a thing or two from this blog.  Pam, Mary, Brandon, and Karen are around all summer and the candy dish is always full!  Stop in and say hello, grab a cup of coffee and a piece of candy.  Enjoy your summer and get rested for another great school year!











MRVED Meetings

May 27, 2015  Superintendents' Council

June 10, 2015  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
June 24, 2015   Superintendents' Council

Tech Tip - Blogs to Follow Over Summer

Blogs/Sites to Follow Over Summer
If you are looking to explore some technology over the summer, bookmark the following websites and/or blogs to learn more over the summer.  This list is definitely not all-inclusive!  This list is a smattering of some of the blogs and sites Brandon follows.  Not all are tech focused blogs, but many are.  Some of these blogs/sites can really challenge your thinking as an educator.  Choose one or two blogs to follow over the summer and see if you can make it part of your daily routine to check those one or two sites.  Once those have become habit, look for one or two more.

• Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
• Mind/Shift
• Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
• Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
• Dangerously Irrelevant by Scott Mcleod
• Principal of Change by George Couros

Summer Professional Development

MRVED 2015 SUMMER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The summer class brochure is out and ready for you to peruse.  Here is the link to the MRVED website where you will find the brochure describing the classes and a link to register.  We urge you to register early as only classes with 10 participants will be held.  All of the classes this summer are FREE for MRVED districts. Registration closes May 15, 2015.

MRVED 2015 Summer Classes

Summer Opportunities for Social Studies Teachers

Calendar Still Open for Summer? Here's Some Options
Want some professional development this summer? There are still some great programs taking applications.

Institute for Global Studies, University of Minnesota. Several summer institutes, on topics such as Holocaust Education and African Global Migration.

Great Decisions Teaching Training Institute, Foreign Policy Association. Great for teachers interested in teaching global affairs. Apply by May 15.

Paideia Institute, Augsburg College. Focus on the big picture of teaching and learning with Paideia Seminar instruction. Grants available to cover costs.

Minnesota Humanities Center. Spring and summer programs, exhibits and online experiences.

Horizon's Report Conclusion

I hope the series on the Horizon's Report has been beneficial to you.  It's a great publication with lots of great information about the future of not only technology use in education but education in general.  Some of the predictions may be ambitious, but without these ambitious predictions nothing would ever change.  I challenge you to read through the report this summer and open your mind to new possibilities.

If you have any suggestions for topics or a series for the update next year, please let Brandon know.  He's always looking to learn something new himself and share with others.