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Friday, January 8, 2016

MRVED Business

MRVED Business

MELT Information
MELT 2016 is almost upon us.  There are over 570 people registered in over 100 sessions!  It is set to be a great day.  Mary will be sending more information to all registrants next week.  Please look through this email carefully as it contains information as to where to enter, what time to be there, and other important information about the day.  We look forward to seeing you all on Monday, January 18 at Lac qui Parle Valley High School.

MRVED Meetings
January 15, 2016  Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start time)
January 18, 2016  MELT (LQPV High School)
January 27, 2016  Superintendents' Council

February 3, 2016  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
February 5, 2016  Title III teachers
February 17, 2016  Community Ed
February 19, 2016  Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start time)
February 22, 2016   Science Best Practices
February 23, 2016  Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
February 24, 2016  Superintendents' Council



Preparing to Attend a Conference

Education world has a nice quick read about how to prepare to attend a conference.  Now the MELT is not held in a far-away tropical place, but the concepts in this article can apply to your experience at the MELT. Give it a quick rundown today!

Preparing to Attend a Conference

Tech Tip of the Week - Quiver 3D

Quiver (Formally ColAR Mix App)
Quiver which was formally called ColAR Mix has a great education package for teachers.  Quiver Education not only allows pictures to come to life, but they also become "clickable".  The App is $7.99.

From the website:
Coloring pages have never been so much fun! The Quiver Education App combines physical coloring from “back in the day” with state of the art augmented reality technology to bring students an extraordinarily magical and educational experience.

You can find our free pages in the app and on our website (http://www.QuiverVision.com/Education). Save and print the pages directly from the Quiver Education App or from a computer to start enjoying the fun. By using our unmatchable expertise in augmented reality, the Quiver Education App enables students to unleash their inner creativity while learning about a range of subjects.

Every colored page comes to life in its uniquely colored way, giving the artist an immediate and special sense of ownership and pride! Not only is the app incredibly fun, but it is also a great tool for developing skills and knowledge on various topics. Try it out yourself and we are sure you will agree.





Minnesota Partnership for Collaborative Curriculum

Minnesota Partnership for Collaborative Curriculum

From the MPCC website.

A grassroots initiative among Minnesota school districts to create comprehensive open education resources (OER) through the Minnesota Partnership for Collaborative Curriculum is underway. Over 200 districts have committed to fund the inaugural phase of the initiative by contributing approximately one dollar per ADM. The goal of the inaugural phase is to create course work in a digital format in the four core subject areas for grades 3-12. In the continuing phases, materials will be developed for other grade levels and subject areas.

The benefits to all districts include:

  • Access to high quality curriculum aligned to standards and available at minimal cost.
  • Local control over the curriculum to edit, remove, add, or customize elements of the content.
  • Improving capacity for personalized learning.
  • Training opportunities for teachers to develop digital content and become skilled in delivering personalized learning through digital content.
  • Involvement of outside organizations that are offering to provide content and support (Humanities Center, DNR, U of M LT Lab, local authors);
  • Enhanced multi-media, interdisciplinary units, and data collection tools;
  • Support for advancing the curriculum adoption process to digital content;
  • Teacher networks connecting all those who are using the materials.

This initiative is an extension of collaborative efforts by the Minnesota Learning Commons, and the MDE OER Commons initiative. Minnesota Department of Education staff have been involved in updates about the project.

Further details can be found in the Continuing Organizational Plan, which contains details on the organization and outcomes, along with an Agreement Request Form to indicate an interest in joining. Additionally, the website at http://mncollaborativecurriculum.org includes examples of projects already launched and the process for sponsoring projects.

As of January 2016, thirty courses are in the process of being completed or piloted. The creation of the remaining courses in the inaugural phase will be developed by writers from partner districts this year. Teacher training continues for writing digital curriculum and for preparing and supporting teachers using digital resources in the classroom.

Communications to districts throughout the state will continue to ensure all districts are aware of the opportunity to join.

For more information or to join the partnership contact:

Jon Voss, Director of Teaching & Learning, jwvoss@district287.org

Jessica Wiley, Program Manager, jesswiley@comcast.net