Upcoming Meetings
December 7, 2015 District Assessment Coordinators (DAC)
December 8, 2015 World Languages
December 11, 2015 Social Studies
December 16, 2015 Superintendents' Council
December 16, 2015 MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
December 17, 2015 Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
December 18, 2015 Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start)
Best Practice Meeting Updates
Industrial Technology
The Industrial Technology best practice meeting was cancelled due to the weather. We will meet in the Spring.
English Language Arts
The English Language Arts teachers gathered at the MRVED for their best practice meeting yesterday, December 3rd. Like all the other best practice groups, the day started with an activity centered around grading practices. Great discussion was had amongst the groups. After the grading practices activity, they had the opportunity to meet as a district team and dissect data. Pizza Ranch was amazing as usual. In the afternoon the group networked and learned a little about integrating technology. Another great meeting!
MELT Registration
It is that time of the year again! Registration for the annual MELT conference will be coming to you on the morning of December 9th. This year there are over 120 sessions to choose from. Be sure to register early as sessions fill up. The deadline to register will be December 22nd. Registration is crucial to the process of the MELT, so please make a point to get it done right away. Last year we had over 200 people register on the first day! Let's top that number this year! Look for the registration on December 9th from your Principal!
Friday, December 4, 2015
Tech Tip of the Week - TIES Twitter Hashtag
TIES Conference Twitter Hashtag
The largest educational technology conference in the state will be happening December 12-15 in Minneapolis. This conference has the best lineup of educational technology sessions in the state. If you can't make it this year, don't feel left out. You can follow along with the Twitter hashtag #TIES15. People will be sharing resources from the breakout sessions and great insights from the keynote speakers. This is a great way to fill your tech toolbox without having to go to the conference. You can check out the conference lineup by visitng the TIES conference website.
Christmas Resources
Christmas Resources For the Classroom
With the holiday season upon us, here are a couple resources you can use for your classroom.
With the holiday season upon us, here are a couple resources you can use for your classroom.
Arts Integration
Arts Integration
I came across this great article on arts integration that is pertinent for all grade levels and content areas. Integrating the arts is something many teachers try to do, but often times feel as if they are not qualified. Here is a short list of things you can do to beef up the arts integration in your classroom.
Arts Integration or Arts and Crafts by Susan Barber at Edutopia
I came across this great article on arts integration that is pertinent for all grade levels and content areas. Integrating the arts is something many teachers try to do, but often times feel as if they are not qualified. Here is a short list of things you can do to beef up the arts integration in your classroom.
Arts Integration or Arts and Crafts by Susan Barber at Edutopia
SAMR Series Part 6 of 6 - Lesson Planning
Lesson Planning With Technology
Part 5 of this series talked about how to climb the SAMR ladder when integrating technology into your curriculum. The last part of the article mentioned always, always, start with your learning objective. We are going to dive deeper into starting with your learning objective when lesson planning with technology.
To begin, we will talk about Simon Sinek's TED talk on Starting With Why (Edited version). Sinek talks about what it is that makes businesses successful. He points to one thing; each business knows why they do what they do and they sell that to you (see the video for further explanation). He says, "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." This is a very powerful statement and got me thinking about technology. Kids aren't "buying" what you do, they are "buying" why you do it. The kids aren't interested so much in the technology, but why are you using the technology. To put this into perspective, let's look at the why diagram.
Part 5 of this series talked about how to climb the SAMR ladder when integrating technology into your curriculum. The last part of the article mentioned always, always, start with your learning objective. We are going to dive deeper into starting with your learning objective when lesson planning with technology.
To begin, we will talk about Simon Sinek's TED talk on Starting With Why (Edited version). Sinek talks about what it is that makes businesses successful. He points to one thing; each business knows why they do what they do and they sell that to you (see the video for further explanation). He says, "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." This is a very powerful statement and got me thinking about technology. Kids aren't "buying" what you do, they are "buying" why you do it. The kids aren't interested so much in the technology, but why are you using the technology. To put this into perspective, let's look at the why diagram.
When we are lesson planning, we should always start with the "why". This is the learning goal, target, objective, etc... Whatever your school calls it. Then we move to the "how". How do we meet the goal? What activities am I going to have my students do to meet the goal. The last step is the "what". What tools will I use to achieve the goal?
So often we see a flashy new website or tool that we think will work great in our classrooms. We figure out how to use it and what activities we can use it for in our class. We then take that tool and activities and try to crunch it into a learning goal regardless if it fits or not. If it doesn't fit, we get frustrated. This is where many teachers go back to, "the old way was easier". Well, it probably was because when you planned the "old way", you probably started with the goal in mind.
We need to lesson plan from the "why" up and not the "what" down.