MRVED Update - January 31, 2018

MRVED Business

MELT Recap

MELT evaluations came back in and the reviews were quiet positive.  About 85% of people that participated in MELT gave it an overall rating of a 4 or 5.  This is awesome!  Many thanks to the people that presented and made the day what it was.

Senators and Representatives Meet with MRVED Superintendents

The MRVED Superintendents met with local Senators and Representatives on Wednesday, January 24.  The legislators that were in attendance were Senators Dahms & Lang and Representative Miller.  The group spent the time discussing future legislative issues.  It was a great opportunity for both the legislators and superintendents to discuss issues pertaining to education in a smaller, intimate environment.

MRVED Meetings:
February 2, 2018  Title III Teachers
February 7, 2018  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
February 22, 2018  TAC
February 23, 2018  Principals' Council
February 28, 2018  Superintendents' Council

Teacher Licensure Rulemaking Comment Period

The rulemaking for the new teacher licensure legislation is currently under review.  You can comment on the rulemaking until March 9, 2018.  It is strongly suggested you spend a couple minutes looking through the rulemaking document as it will have an impact on renewing your license.  Information on the hearings and comment period instructions can be found on the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings website.  If you have any questions on Teacher Licensure, feel free to contact any member of the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB).

Tech Tip of the Week - Google Story Speaker

Make interactive, talking stories without coding. Play your story instantly on Google Home.

Story Speaker lets anyone create talking, interactive stories with no coding required. Just write your story in a Google Doc, push a button, and every Google Home device linked to your account can play it. You don't need to know how to code. 

Basic and advanced templates get you writing quickly. There's a lot Story Speaker can do, including respond to what players say, give random responses, and remember what the player said. You can even export your story and so anyone with a Google Home can hear it. (Experimental!) This is not an official Google project. It's just a fun little experiment.

Will Letter Grades Survive?

A great article came across my Twitter feed this past week.  It really makes you think and question your own grading habits.  It is a very quick read and well worth your time.

Article Link

Innovator's Mindset - Powerful Learning First, Technology Second

Chapter 9 in Innovator's Mindset by George Couros is on the use/role of technology in our schools.  As the previous chapters, this one does not disappoint.  Couros writes some remarkable things that really make you think and question what you are currently doing.

Couros paints a picture at the beginning of the chapter that kids today have endless opportunities to learn, even before they enter school.  This statement is so true!  I think about my 5 year old, her favorite app is YouTube and she loves watching tutorial videos.  We have this information at our fingertips and yet, have not fully embraced the idea.

However, it takes more than just throwing devices into the classrooms.  There needs to be a shift in the mindset of teaching and learning.  We can't continue to do what we did prior to the devices being in the room.  Couros says that technology is not only a tool, but a "transformational" tool.  On top of it being a transformational tool, it should be a "personalized" transformation tool.  Think about the power of the device in the hands of our students.  With the tools we have we should be personalizing learning for our students in a way in which transforms the teaching and learning process.

Couros also talks about the importance of balance.  The balance between the learner and the technology.  Although we have all this power, we need to remember that the learner has something to learn in the process.  Sometimes we get fully wrapped up in learning the device and wanting to know the full potential of the device and we forget the learning process for the kids.

To end the chapter, Couros gives us four questions to guide our technology:

• What is best for kids?
• How does this improve learning?
• If we were to do ____________, what is the balance of risk vs. reward?
• Is this serving the few or the majority?

MRVED Update - January 17, 2018

MELT

Another year, another MELT!  We hope you enjoyed the day and learned lots.  A big THANK YOU to Lac qui Parle Valley High School for allowing the use of their building.  The whole LQPV staff does an excellent job at hosting and making sure the building is ready for 600+ adults and 100+ sessions.

Be sure to fill out the 2018 MELT Evaluation.  The evaluations are critical to planning future events.  All comments and ratings are compiled and reviewed by the Superintendents, Principals, and Teacher Advisory Council.  Please take a moment to provide your honest feedback about the day.

A special thank you goes to Mary Brown.  Mary has helped plan umpteen MELT's over her career and does a flawless job at it.  Mary puts more time and effort into this day than anyone knows and realizes.  She makes the day go!  With that being said, this was Mary's last MELT!  Mary will be retiring in April of this year.  If you see her, please tell her "Thank You" for all the hard work she has put into making this day a success for so many years.  Thank you Mary - From the MELT Committee :-)

4th Annual New Teacher Support Summit - Minnesota ASCD

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2018
Time: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location: TIES Conference Center
Who: Principals, Superintendents, Mentors, Instructional Coaches

What:
Join Dr. Tina Boogren, Marzano Research Associate and author of Support Beginning Teachers, for the 4th Annual New Teacher Support Summit.

Give new teachers the time and professional guidance they need to become expert teachers.  Investigate key research and examine the four types of support - physical, emotional, instructional and institutional - that are crucial during a teacher's first year in the classroom.  Explore the unique needs of new teachers of color.  Discover essential strategies for K-12 mentors, coaches and school leaders to develop an effective mentoring program school wide.

Learning Outcomes:

• Gain an understanding of how to establish a solid foundation for mentoring relationships.
• Acquire specific strategies to provide essential physical, emotional, instructional, and institutional support for beginning teachers.
• Frame essential instructional support strategies within a common language of instruction, including how to engage in goal-setting, focused practice, focused feedback, observations, and discussions of teaching in order to immediately and continually improve instructional practice for the beginning teacher.

Register Here

Innovator's Mindset - Strengths-Based Leadership

Chapter 8 in Innovator's Mindset by George Couros is on strength-based leadership.  Although much of the chapter focuses on leadership at the administrative level, there are still many takeaways for teachers.

He starts the chapter off with the example of how we currently deal with a student who struggles in school, in this example math.  The typical response to a student that struggles in math is to give them more math work or recommend an extra math class.  Which often times does not lead to improvements in math, but rather a hatred of math.  Couros uses the "what if's" from the previous chapter.  What if we did school from a strength-based model?  What if we allowed kids to explore their passions and strengths instead of focus on weaknesses?  Couros does not advocate ignoring the weaknesses, but rather claims it can actually encourage students to improve at their weaknesses.

What if we did the same thing with teachers?  What if teachers were allowed to teach in the grade level and content areas they were most passionate and strong at?  Many teachers would say they are teaching in the grade level and content area they are passionate about, but there is probably that one grade level or content area the teacher doesn't particularly like.  Couros asks the question of his staff, "What is your dream job?"  He uses the example of having a 4th grade teacher say they would really love to teach kindergarten, and he had a kindergarten teacher say they would love to teach older kids.  He made the swap and both excelled and loved what they were doing.  Imagine doing that in your school?  Think of the opportunities we could create for kids?

Couros ends the chapter with this quote, "By focusing on strengths first and building from there, as opposed to working from a deficit model that focuses only on where we need improvements, we create an environment where people feel they have a purpose in their classrooms and for the entire school."

Winter Olympics Teaching Resources

The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea start on February 9th.  The Olympics provide many teachable moments from history of the games, counting medals, geography of the host city, geography of countries, history as to why certain countries do better than others, art projects, etc...  The list could go on and on!  The Teachers Corner has provided a great list of resources to help teach the Winter Olympics in your classroom.  Check it out today!

Tech Tip of the Week - Insert Learning

Insert Learning is a newer tool on the edtech block that has the potential to make some big waves in the near future.  Insert Learning allows you to "insert" sticky notes, questions, discussions, highlighting, etc... on any website.  You, the teacher, can then assign that website to your students.  So if you have an online article you want your students to read, but have a few questions to go with it.  Use Insert Learning to add those aspects to the website and assign it to your students.  It really is pretty intuitive.  Give it a try today, you won't be disappointed.

MRVED MEETING SCHEDULE

January 24, 2018         Superintendent's Council
January 26, 2018         Principal's Council
January 29, 2018         Technology Coordinator Networking Meeting

February 2, 2018         Title III Teachers
February 7, 2018         MRVED Board (7 pm)
February 22, 2018       TAC

MRVED Update - January 3, 2018

MELT Update

MELT registration closed before Christmas break.  This year we will have 600 teachers attending.  You will be receiving an email a couple days prior to MELT from Gloria Stotesbery with important information regarding everything you need to know about the day.  Please look for and READ that email.  Presenters will be receiving an email from Brandon in the next day or two regarding rooms, number of participants, etc...

The Biggest Education Stories of 2017 and 2018

NPR ran a story over Christmas break highlighting some of the biggest education stories of 2017 and what that means for 2018.  It's a quick read and will get you in the "know" on education issues at the national level.

Biggest Education Stories of 2017 and 2018 from NPR

In Minnesota one of the biggest changes will be teacher licensure.  You can read about what changes were made effective January 1 on the MDE website.

Resource for Cyber Bullying

In our world today it is important to talk to kids about the effects of cyber bullying.  Many of the lessons on this topic are cute, funny, childish, etc...  Many do not tug at your heartstrings.  This Was Louise's Phone will definitely show the harshness of cyber bullying today.  In full disclosure, there is bad language throughout the website.  What the site does is take you through the phone of a teenager that was cyber bullied and eventually killed herself.  This is a very powerful website to show how nasty cyber bullying can be.

Tech Tip - PDFCandy

Have you ever ran into an issue with a PDF file and wished it was in a different format?  Perhaps you wanted to take a file and turn it into a PDF, but didn't know how.  PDFCandy solves all your problems!  It is a super easy way to work with PDF's.  Give it a try today, it's pretty intuitive.

The Innovator's Mindset - Creating a Shared Vision

The next chapter in The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros is all about creating a vision statement for your organization.  The vision statement shouldn't just be a flashy catch phrase that looks good on your letterhead.  It needs to be something that all people in the organization believe and strive for.  Couros starts the chapter off with this quote from Wilferd Peterson, "Big thinking precedes great achievement".  That thinking needs to be laid out prior to any execution for people to have success.

Depending on a variety of different things, your current vision statement might need to be changed or tweaked.  If your vision statement was created in the 1990's, think how much the world has changed in 25 years!  The vision for your students today should be a little different than it was 25 years ago.  It's a good idea to revisit your vision statement every so often to ensure it still encompasses what today's students need.

Couros also talks about 8 characteristics of learning environments that inspire innovative thinking.

Students should have voice.  With technology today, we can help students amplify their voice through social media, YouTube, local newspapers, etc...

Students should choice.  Choice in what and how a student learns.  "Providing choice allows students to build on strength and interests to make learning relevant and fulfilling (Couros, 112)."

There should be time for reflection.  Much like a teacher goes from one class to the next without reflection, students do the same thing.  They jump from math to reading to science without ever having time to reflect on their own learning.

There should be opportunities for innovation.  This could be anything from "Genius Hour" to "Innovation Week" to embed daily into your classroom.  Bottom line, students need time to explore their passions.

Students are critical thinkers.  This one is probably easier said than done.  We should be teaching kids to respectfully ask questions and challenge ideas.  This helps everyone have a deeper understanding of the material and ideas and fosters innovation.

Students are problem solvers/finders.  Students should have the opportunity to not only solve problems, but also find problems that exist.  This goes hand-in-hand with being a critical thinker.

There should be self-assessment.  "Teaching students how to assess themselves rather than just do it for them, provides them another opportunity for reflection (Couros, 114)."  Teaching kids to self assess does not happen over night.

The learning should be connected.  How do we connect our content areas?  How do we connect with people/experts from around the world.  We, as teachers, need to reach outside of the box to make connections and show kids real world learning.

MRVED MEETING SCHEDULE

January 9, 2018           Title III ParaProfessionals
January 15, 2018        MELT
January 24, 2018         Superintendent's Council
January 26, 2018         Principal's Council
January 29, 2018         Technology Coordinator Networking Meeting