MRVED Update - February 28, 2018

MRVED Business

The next MRVED Common Day is March 29. It will be held at the Dawson-Boyd Schools with George Couros as the keynote speaker. Registration for the March 29 common day opened on February 26. Just a reminder this will close on March 9 @ 4pm. Here is the link again to register. Registration Link

Upcoming Meetings

March 16-Title III Paras
March 23-Principal's Council
March 28- Superintendent's Council
March 29- George Couros (Common Day)

April 11- MRVED Board (Note DATE change)
April 20-Title III Teachers

Minnesota State Standards Update

There are going to be many changes in state standards in the upcoming school years.  Make your voice heard and apply to be on committees or attend town hall meetings.  If you have any questions, please let Brandon know.

Arts - 1st Draft in comment period until March 1 - Link (Don't miss the opportunity to comment)
ELA - Next review in 2019-20 School Year - Link
Health/PE - New Standards in 2018 - Link
Math - Next review in 2021-22 School Year - Link
Science - Next review in 2018-19 School Year - Link
Social Studies - Next review in 2020-21 School Year - Link

In short - you should see new standards in:
Science - 2019
ELA - 2020
Social Studies - 2021
Math  - 2022

Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health Annual Conference

When: April 15-17
Where: Duluth, MN
Who: Anyone who works with children

The MACMH Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference features an awesome lineup of keynotes and breakout sessions.  It's one of those conferences that has a little bit of everything for everyone.  You can take advantage of early-bird pricing until March 8.

Conference Website

Tech Tip of the Week - Using Alexa in the Classroom

Over the past month I have had a couple teachers ask me for ideas on how to use an Amazon Echo (or Alexa) in the classroom.  My children each have an Echo Dot and they love it.  I enjoy sitting and listening to my 5 year old ask Alexa all sorts of questions.  We use ours so much that our 1 year old actually tries to tell Alexa what to do - from time to time the 1 year old will enunciate well enough that Alexa catches on.  Here are a couple things you can do with Alexa in your classroom and then a variety of links that will provide you with more ideas and/or skills to teach Alexa.

1. Set a timer
2. Random number generator
3. Roll dice
4. Flip a coin
4. Lookup a definition
5. Tell a joke
6. Ask for weather forecast
7. Set a reminder
8. Do math problems

Alexa Skills for the Classroom - Erin Ermis & Emma Kopitzke
Voice Commands for Alexa
Alexa: Your New Teacher Assistant - Dr. Bruce Ellis

The Innovator's Mindset - Embracing Open Culture

The chapter on embracing open culture is mostly about how to make meaningful connections.  One of my favorite quotes in this chapter is right at the beginning.  Couros says, "today, isolation is a choice educators make" (Couros 168).  This statement couldn't be more true.  Connectedness and collaboration should be the norm, not the exception.  With 24/7 access to experts on any topic, teaching in isolation should no longer happen.

I was reminded again the other day about the concept of 21st century skills and how many people still look at them and talk about them as if they are futuristic.  We just started the year 2018 - 18 years into the 21st century.  I think we can start talking about 21st century skills as if they are the skills our students need today.  The same goes for our teaching.  Are we still teaching as if we are in the 20th century?  Are we still in our silos?  Have we embraced the open culture of today?  Have we allowed our students to harness the open culture for learning?  Are we showing our students how to navigate the 21st century world of open culture?

Couros uses the examples of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc... to show how some schools have embraced this open culture.  Most teachers would agree, they learn best from other teachers.  There is a vast network of teachers on Twitter willing to share their content, teaching strategies, and ideas.  On Twitter, the information flows to you - you don't even have to search for it!  Couros talks in depth about how to make the learning in your classroom go viral.  He provides one example, and it phrases it in a question; "What if all teachers tweeted about one thing a day they did in their classrooms and took five minutes to read other teachers' tweets?" (Couros 177)  Think about that!  Think how powerful that could be.  Think about the ideas that could be generated.  That is an example of an open culture.

There is obviously much more to this chapter and I encourage anyone to read Innovator's Mindset before George Couros speaks with the MRVED on March 29th.

MRVED Update - February 14, 2018

MRVED Business

Reminder that March 29th is the next MRVED common day, which will be held in Dawson at the Dawson-Boyd Schools. George Couros will be presenting this year. The Principals will be getting an email this week with more details as well as what information we will need from them on Friday, February 23rd(Principal Meeting at MRVED).The registration link will be sent out to Principals on February 26th with the last day to register being March 9th at 4 p.m. Principals will be responsible for sending that email/registration link to all staff that will be required to attend.   The schedule for the day will look like this:

• 9-9:45- District Time-Staff Prep for George Couros
• 10-11:45- George Couros Keynote Speaker
• 11:45-12:30- Lunch
• 12:30-1:30- Elementary meet w/ George Couros
                      Secondary in District Time
• 1:30-2:30- Secondary meet w/ George Couros
                    Elementary in District Time

Upcoming Meetings

February 22- TAC
February 23- Principals
February 28- Superintendents

March 16- Title III Paras
March 23- Principals
March 28- Superintendents
March 29- George Couros- Common Day

Tech Tip of the Week - Seeing AI

Seeing AI is a free app that narrates the world around you. Designed for the blind and low vision community, this ongoing research project harnesses the power of AI to open up the visual world and describe nearby people, text and objects.

Optimized for use with VoiceOver, the app enables you to recognize:
• Short Text - Speaks text as soon as it appears in front of the camera.
• Documents - Provides audio guidance to capture a printed page, and recognizes the text, along with its original formatting.
• Products - Scans barcodes, using audio beeps to guide you; hear the name, and package information when available. (works with iPhone 6 and later)
• People - Saves people’s faces so you can recognize them, and get an estimate of their age, gender, and emotions.
• Scenes (early preview) - Hear an overall description of the scene captured.
• Currency - Recognizes currency notes. (Requires iOS 11)
• Color - Identifies color.
• Handwriting - Reads handwritten text like in greeting cards
• Light - Generates an audible tone corresponding to the brightness in the surroundings.
• Images in other apps - Just tap “Share” and “Recognize with Seeing AI” to describe images from Mail, Photos, Twitter, and more.

You HAVE to try this app!  It is AMAZING!

 

What Are Your Teaching Fundamentals?

If you are searching for a good PLC activity and discussion, ask each member of your group to list their own fundamentals of teaching.  What do you need to be successful as a teacher?  I think it would lead to some interesting conversations about what each of you believe to be your core values when it comes to educating students.  This idea comes from Suzanne Farrell Smith who wrote an excellent article for Edutopia.  You can read it HERE.  If you do this activity in your PLC, Brandon would love to see your notes from the discussion.

New Health and Physical Education Standards

Minnesota has adopted new Health and Physical Education Standards and were released on January 30 of this year.  The standards and supporting documents can be found on the Minnesota Department of Education Website.

The standards are to be fully implemented in all school districts by the 2021-22 school year. Full implementation of the 2018 Minnesota Academic Standards in Physical Education is defined as:

• By the 2021-22 school year, instruction in physical education in grades K-8 must include all the 2018 Minnesota physical education standards and grade-level benchmarks.
• Instruction at the high school level must include all the 2018 Minnesota physical education standards and grade-level benchmarks for grades 9-12 beginning with the 2021-22 freshman (9th grade) class.
• All school districts are required to develop assessments to ensure students are meeting the benchmarks.

The recommended transition timeline for the physical education standards/grade-level benchmarks is identified in the following phases:

• Development Stage; February 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018
• Transition Phase 1, District Planning; January 1, 2019 - June 30, 2019
• Transition Phase 2, District Alignment/Optional Phase-in 1; July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020
• Transition Phase 3, District Alignment/Optional Phase-in 2; July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021
• Full Implementation; 2021-22 school year

More details regarding the transition timeline can be found on the Recommended Transition Timeline.

The Minnesota Department of Education will be developing sample assessments during the Developmental Phase of the Transition (February 1 - December 31, 2018) and will be releasing them during the transition phase 1 (January 1 - July 30, 2019). Districts may either utilize these model assessments, or develop their own, to measure student progress on meeting each benchmark.

Time allocations and credit requirements for physical education are determined at the local school district level. During the transition phases, school districts are encouraged to ensure enough time is allotted for student learning to meet all the grade-level benchmarks.

Innovator's Mindset - Less is More

Less is more.  We have all heard this phrase, but have we ever thought about it in the context of schools?  Couros spends a large portion of this chapter discussing this concept as it pertains to staff development.  Although less is more in staff development is important, this chapter really made me think about what we are teaching our kids.

Couros says, "educational organizations need to focus more on depth than breadth.  Quality should always override quantity." (Couros 154)  This quote made me think about how much content we throw at our kids on a daily basis.  Are they (students) really ever able to grasp onto anything and dig deep?  Think about it...6 or 7 hours of a constant barrage of new information!  Have you ever been to a full day workshop and been blasted with new information for that amount of time?  Think about how you feel when you are done with the day, or let alone by lunch!  Do this five days a week!  Couros also uses the phrase, when referring to staff development, "...knowledgeable in all but masters of none" (Couros 155).  This phrase can apply to our kids as well.

A phrase I hear often from teachers is, "If I had time to explore, I could be/do ______".  I think we could throw a lot of words into that blank, but one to focus on would be "more creative".  Couros talks about the link between allowing more time on a task to creativity.  The more time you have to work on a task, the more creative you can be.  This is difficult to do in our structure of school today, so we need to think differently about this issue.  We need to become innovative in how we schedule and use our time.  If time has a positive correlation to creativity, and we are striving to make a "creative generation", then our schedules are counter intuitive to our cause.  Sure we can do things like Genius Hour, Hour of Code, etc..., but what do all those "initiatives" have in common...they are a one-shot deal, not to mention they use the term "hour".  Creativity knows no time frame, but yet we try to put a time frame around it...why?

One might argue, and Couros touches on this in the chapter, that if we focus on creativity, we will lose the basics - reading, writing, math.  Couros argues just the opposite.  Creativity should boost these skills.  Couros quotes Yong Zhao from the ISTE 2012 conference, Zhao states, "Reading and writing should be the floor, not the ceiling".  This is so true when thinking about creativity and innovation.  Just because we add in "Genius Hour" or a makerspace, does not mean we need to lose our reading, writing, and math or physical education for that matter.  How can WE think creatively to incorporate the basics into our lessons that will allow our kids to be creative?  WE need to innovate how we do things not only in our classrooms, but also education as a whole.