January 7, 2020 - Community Education Directors
January 10, 2020 - Title III Paraprofessionals
January 20, 2020 - MELT @ LqPV High School
January 22, 2020 - Superintendents' Council
January 24, 2020 - Principals' Council
January 31, 2020 - Title III Teachers
MELT Information
Thank you to everyone who has already registered for MELT ~ we had close to 500 people registered in the first day! Registration closes on Thursday, December 19th at 4:00 p.m. If you have not registered, please do so today!
If you are hosting a student teacher this spring, please forward the registration information to them! They need to also register using the registration link!
If you have any questions regarding MELT 2020, please contact Katie Raymo at 320-269-9297 or kraymo@mrved.net.
Happy New Year
What do Teachers Really Do During the Holiday Break
I came across the article, "What do Teachers Really Do During the Holiday Break", from Teaching Channel. It simply asks the question, "What do you do on your holiday break?" It is evident that teachers need to take the time for themselves during the holiday break and not feel guilty about it.
Classroom Resource
Native Knowledge 360°
Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) provides educators and students with new perspectives on Native American history and cultures. Most Americans have only been exposed to part of the story, as told from a single perspective through the lenses of popular media and textbooks. NK360° provides educational materials and teacher training that incorporate Native narratives, more comprehensive histories, and accurate information to enlighten and inform teaching and learning about Native America. NK360° challenges common assumptions about Native peoples—their cultures, their roles in United States and world history, and their contributions to the arts, sciences, and literature. NK360° offers a view that includes not only the past but also the richness and vibrancy of Native peoples and cultures today.
Book Study
Lead Like a Pirate - Chapter 20-26 & Conclusion
The last section of the book is titled "Be a Better Captain". We will paraphrase the last 6 chapters of the book and offer a conclusion to wrap up our book study on Lead Like a Pirate by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf.
The last section of the book provides practical advice on how to be a better leader. My favorite quote from this section comes right at the beginning, "You never actually arrive at greatness; it's a moving target, a lifelong pursuit" (Burgess, 186). We want to be great, we want our teachers to be great, we want our school to be great, etc... But we also need to realize that if we see greatness as an end, once we achieve it, we'll never have anything else to shoot for. Greatness is a moving target, so we should always be trying to reach it!
You also need to surround yourself with supportive people. Often times as a leader, you are left on a pedestal all by yourself. It can be a lonely place. One of the best places you can surround yourself with support is Twitter. Believe it or not, Twitter is a great place to grow your own Professional Learning Network (PLN). Twitter can be a place where you can connect with some of the best people in your field. It gives you direct access to those people. It also gives you an avenue to grow professionally with articles and links. There are so many powerful things on Twitter, that if you are not on it, give it a try today!
Conclusion
After reading Teach Like a Pirate (TLAP), I initially thought Lead Like a Pirate (LLAP) was going to be much of the same. I liked TLAP, but wanted something different. Lead Like a Pirate offers some of the same concepts, but shines a whole new light on things. It is well worth the read, even if you haven't read TLAP. If you have read TLAP, you will enjoy LLAP. Any education leader should read this book.
December 6, 2019 - Title III Teachers' Meeting
December 11, 2019 - MRVED Board Meeting (6:00 p.m.)
December 12, 2019 - Teachers' Advisory Council Meeting
December 13, 2019 - Principals' Council Meeting
December 18, 2019 - Superintendents' Council Meeting
MELT 2020 Information
The MELT brochure will be sent out tomorrow, December 5th. The registration link will open on Tuesday, December 10th at 7:30 a.m. Your principal will forward you the email with the brochure and registration link. Principals, please keep your eyes out for this email and send it out as soon as possible. The registration link will also be available on our MRVED website under "Latest News" - www.mrved.com.
We typically have 400-500 teachers register on the first day! Please make sure you register early to try and ensure you are able to attend your top session choices. In each session description, it will be indicated if it meets a particular relicensure area.
If you will be hosting a student teacher this spring, please forward the registration information to them! They will need to register with the same registration link.
Professional Development
Impact Education Conference
The Impact Education Conference, formally TIES Conference, will be happening December 14-17 at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis. If you are not able to attend, follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #ImpactEDU19. Twitter is a great place to be able to follow along with all the happenings of the conference. Great resources are always shared, as well as takeaways from the keynotes. With over a week to go there is already a great collaborative conversation happening behind the scenes.
Share My Lesson
Many teachers use Teachers Pay Teachers to find excellent teaching resources. TPT is a great site and has some awesome things on it! Share My Lesson is a similar site, but offers materials for free. The TPT quality might be a little better, but SML has some great ideas that might spur your own creative thinking.
Book Study
Lead Like a Pirate - Chapters 18 & 19
Chapter 18 and 19 are all about having effective conversations and how powerful words can be. These two chapters resonated with me as I have read a number of articles and books on having effective conversations, namely Jim Knight's book title Better Conversations. The gist of the chapter is about how can we help people move forward through our words and conversations.
In Lead Like a Pirate, they talk about the nature & hierarchy of a school really make it difficult from the start to have effective conversations. This is because most of the professional conversations are centered around observations that are typically used for evaluation. Teachers and administrators have the "fix-it" attitude. The administrator wants to "fix" deficiencies in their teaching. One of my favorite lines comes on page 142, "...nobody wants to be fixed" (Burgess & Houf, 142). Nobody wants to be fixed, but people want to get better. There is a stark difference in those two statements. LLAP mentions that if we are going to help people get better, we have to have a good professional conversation or ANCHOR conversation as outlined in LLAP.
There are three goals of an ANCHOR conversation
1. We want our crew to know we value them while engaging in conversation.
2. After the conversation we want our crew believing we added value.
3. We want our conversations to push practice forward.
A - Appreciation
N - Notice the Impact
C - Collaborative Conversations
H - Honor Voice and Choice
O - Offer Support
R - Reflection
For sake of wanting you to read the book and this chapter, I'm not going to dig into great detail of each part, but it is well worth the read.
Chapter 19 talks about the power of words and provides some suggestions on how to avoid some of the major pitfalls of leaders and their words. As a leader, you lose the ability to think out loud. The minute you start providing your input and ideas, it can stifle creativity and participation. The suggestion LLAP gives is to make sure leaders talk last and simply craft questions to lead others through their thinking. Think of a time when you were in a setting where the leader shared their idea first. What happened? Now think of a time where the leader provided their suggestion last. What happened? There are other suggestions in this chapter, but the one other aspect to talk about is to "remove judgement language from your feedback". Judgement language builds walls. This is where resistance comes in. "I wish you would...I didn't like...If only"...are all sentence stems that bring judgement into the conversation. Avoid these at all costs!
November 17, 2019 - Superintendents' Council Meeting
December 3, 2019 - Community Education Directors' Meeting
December 6, 2019 - Title III Teachers' Meeting
December 11, 2019 - MRVED Board Meeting (6:00 p.m.)
December 12, 2019 - Teacher Advisory Meeting
December 13, 2019 - Principals' Council Meeting
December 18, 2019 - Superintendents' Council Meeting
MELT Update: January 20, 2020
MELT 2020 is quickly approaching and the MRVED staff has been working hard to ensure everyone has a beneficial educational conference! There are approximately 30 sessions to choose from each hour. As always, there are numerous new sessions offered this year, as well as some favorite sessions from years past. Some groups will also have an opportunity to network.
Please note that there will be a 'Cultural Competency Training'. This is a new session and is a two hour session that will be offered once in the morning and once in the afternoon. This will fill up fast! Seating is limited and the session will be closed once it reaches maximum capacity.
Registration:
The MELT brochure will be sent to you on Thursday, December 5th. The registration link will open on Tuesday, December 10th at 7:30 a.m. Your principal will forward you the email with the brochure and registration link. Principals, please keep your eyes out for this email and send it out as soon as possible. The registration link will also be available on our MRVED website under "Latest News" - www.mrved.com.
Again, we CANNOT stress enough the importance of registering as early as possible. Once you register for your sessions, you WILL NOT be able to switch sessions. With over 650 registrants, it becomes difficult to make all of those changes correctly. Thank you for your understanding!
English Language Arts Standards Update:
1st Draft of New Minnesota ELA Standards
The First Draft of the English Language Arts (ELA) Standards represents the work of the ELA Standards review committee. This group of 32 individuals includes K-12 teachers, administrators, college faculty, representatives of educational organizations, and community members. The committee membership, timeline and assumptions that guide their work are found on the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) ELA webpage, [https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/ela/].
We encourage you to provide feedback and comments about this draft of the standards via the online feedback survey from November 11 – December 6. Town Hall Meetings are scheduled at several locations across the state. These meetings provide background about the standards revision process and provide an opportunity for input. The survey and the meeting schedule are posted at the above link.
The second draft of the standards will be published in February and the final draft will be available in May. The final draft will be available for planning purposes and the standards become law through the Minnesota rulemaking process. More information on the standards development process is at the MDE English Language Arts (ELA) webpage linked above.
Minnesota Statutes require that there be statements of standards and benchmarks. Anchor Standards are a summary description of student learning. The Kindergarten - Grade 12 benchmarks identify the learning that is to be accomplished by all students by the end of each grade.
Professional Development
SEL Movies
If you are looking for something inspiring to watch this holiday season, Love Them First by KARE11 and Paper Tigers are two excellent movies that will pull at your heart strings.
Love Them First
With unprecedented access over the course of a year, Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary follows the determination of a charismatic north Minneapolis school principal, Mauri Melander Friestleben, as she sets out to undo history. Not only does Minnesota have the largest achievement gap between black and white children in the United States, Friestleben faced another seemingly impossible obstacle, with Lucy Laney at the bottom of the state's list of underperforming schools for two decades. Under Friestleben's leadership, standardized test scores from most black students began rising for the first time, but when the school encounters a heartbreaking setback, Friestleben is forced to confront the true measure of student success at Lucy Laney. It's a story of inspiration, heartbreak, perseverance, and the power of love.
Paper Tigers follows a year in the life of an alternative high school that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students, becoming a promising model for how to break the cycles of poverty, violence, and disease that affect families.
Book Study
Lead Like a Pirate - Chapters 13-17
As we continue through Lead Like a Pirate, this is a reminder that my synopsis of the chapters in no way should take away from reading the book. This is simply my thoughts on each chapter in hopes of getting you to think and reflect on your own leadership style.
Chapter 13 is all about change. How do we change without capsizing our ship? This is a question all leaders ask themselves. How much & what type of change can my organization endure before the ship tips? George Couros says in the Innovator's Mindset that "Change is an opportunity to do something amazing". Any time we introduce something new, whether it be in the classroom or districtwide, we need to be deliberate about our steps and clear about our goals and expectations. If you don't have the trust of your crew, then you need to work that much harder to help them see the end. A crew that has trust in a captain, will blindly follow. But a crew that doesn't trust the captain, needs to see what the end looks like.
Chapter 14 was a quick read. It talks about putting faces and stories to the data and/or change you are trying to implement. Think about a time when you were in a staff meeting and someone was throwing around data at you like crazy...25% of our kids are ELL, 30% are SPED, etc... In order for people to get emotionally tied to the data, we have to put faces and stories to these numbers. That is what will motivate people to change...stories and people, not numbers.
Chapter 15 is all about utilizing social media to tell your story. This is a topic I have had numerous conversations around. The number one thing I tell people, and it is reiterated in Lead Like a Pirate is, "If you aren't telling your own story, other people will". Control your story as a school, as a classroom, as an activity. Show and tell people what you are doing. Because if you don't, other people will and it might not be the story you want told. I think it goes without being said that any social media platform is a good place to tell your story.
Chapter 16 & 17 talk about doing what is best for kids and professional development. Bottom line, we must be doing things that are in the best interest of our clientele, the kids. I once heard a quote that made me really stop and think, "School was created for kids to get an education, not for adults to be employed". Whether it's bringing in the latest PBIS strategy or sitting through a professional development session on bloodborne pathogens, everything must be done with a "kids first" mentality.
November 13, 2019 - Community Education Directors
November 15, 2019 - Principals' Council & Teacher Advisory Council Joint Meeting
November 27, 2019 - Superintendents' Council
MELT Information
The annual MELT conference is fast approaching and the MRVED has been busy making arrangements for the big day! The MELT will be held on January 20, 2020 at the LqPV High School. Registration will open on December 10, 2019 and will close on December 19, 2019. Please remember to register early as sessions will fill up fast!! There are new sessions offered this year as well as some popular sessions from years past. Some groups will also have the opportunity to network.
We will be sending out the MELT brochure a couple days prior to sending out the open registration link. This allows people to set their schedule (and alternative sessions if your top sessions are full) and read through the descriptions prior to registering. This seems to work well.
The MELT brochure will be sent to you on Thursday, December 5th. The registration link will open on Tuesday, December 10th at 7:30 a.m. Your principal will forward you the email with the brochure and registration link. Principals, please keep your eyes out for this email and send it out as soon as possible. The registration link will also be available on our MRVED website under "Latest News" - www.mrved.com.
We CANNOT stress enough the importance of registering as early as possible. Some sessions fill quickly; therefore, the later you register, the greater the risk of not being able to get into those sessions. Once you register for your sessions, you will not be able to switch sessions. With over 650 registrants, it becomes difficult making all of those changes correctly. Thank you for your understanding.
MELT Networking Facilitators Sign-Up
The MRVED is looking for facilitators of networking groups As a facilitator you are not expected to be the expert in the room, but rather move the discussion along. The goal of a networking group is to share resources and ideas with people who have the same interests. They are meant to include a "give & take". Bring something to share and take something away that someone else shared. The only networking groups that will be offered are those that have a willing facilitator. If a networking group does not have a facilitator, it will not be held! If you would like to sign up, please click the link below and add your name to the list next to the group you would like to facilitate. The networking sign up will close at 3:00 PM on November 21. If you have any questions or cannot access the form, please contact Brandon (braymo@mrved.net)
The Minnesota Department of Education will provide webinars and workshops on the new Science Standards to help districts, schools, teachers, administrators, informal educators and other science education providers prepare to implement the new science standards. This message and any updates are at: http://bit.ly/ScienceWorkshops2019. For questions contact John.C.Olson@state.mn.us 651-582-8673.
Webinars: Introducing the 2019 Minnesota Science Standards
This one-hour webinar will include the foundational ideas that informed the standards, the structure of the standards, and a suggested timeline for implementation. Upon registration the connection information will be sent via email.
Workshops: Preparing to Implement the New Science Standards
The 2019 K-12 Minnesota Science Standards envision new approaches to teaching and learning science. Learn about the pedagogy associated with the new standards, the timeline for implementation, and ways to prepare to teach the standards. This workshop is targeted for K-12 teachers of science and other science educators. John Olson, Science Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Education, will facilitate this workshop.
The tentative agenda is:
Foundational ideas that informed the new standards
Example of instruction
Development and organization of MN standards
Analyzing a benchmark and selecting phenomena for instruction
Implementation timeline for the new standards
Resources
There is no fee for the workshop, however no food is provided. So bring beverages, snacks and lunch if needed. Bring a laptop or tablet to access the slides, standards, and resources.
There is a facility limit to the number of people that can attend, so registration is first come/first served. Registration closes three business days before the event or when full. Persons registered by one week in advance will receive directions to the facility and the agenda. Registration Form, For questions contact John.C.Olson@state.mn.us 651-582-8673
Chapters 10 & 11 talk primarily about people. Shelley Burgess, similarly to Dave Burgess, talks about putting the importance in the people, not the programs. As ultimately, it is the people that need to work with the programs and carry though with the programs. The programs, curriculum, etc... are only successful because of the people. There is a great quote from chapter 10 that says, "programs don't teach kids; teachers do, and teachers are capable of making magic happen for kids" (Burgess, 94).
Chapter 11 talks about getting the right people on the ship. This is crucial in anything you do with a team. Burgess talks at length about filling openings with the right people and using good interview questions to see which candidates rise to the top. If we take this out of the school setting, we can see the importance of putting the right people on the ship with you in any team task. It's not only important for them to be on the ship, but they must also know where they are headed. This can be accomplished by setting a clear mission/vision and being very explicit in your goals.
Chapter 12 was one of the most impactful chapters for me. It's all about managing time. The title of the chapter is "If it's important...make time for it". A common excuse/reason I hear, and have said myself is, "I don't have time for that". What is really being said is, "I don't think that is important, therefore I am not going to designate time for it". Because if something was truly important, and there was value in it, time would be made for it. It seems as though our schedules are all jam-packed with professional and personal obligations. If we were to examine our time more wisely, or learn to creatively schedule, there really is time in your schedule somewhere. I was watching an episode of Shark Tank recently and Robert Herjavec was talking about time management and was asked the question, "Why do you only sleep 3-4 hours a night", his answer was simple "because everything I do is important and I want to get it all in every day". He is finding time for the things that are important in his life.
October 23, 2019 - Superintendents' Council
October 25, 2019 - Principals' Council
November 12, 2019 - Community Education Directors
November 15, 2019 - Principals' Council & TAC
November 27, 2019 - Superintendents' Council
October 16, 2019 Recap & Evaluation
Thank you to everyone who attended the MRVED October 16th Inservice. A link to the evaluation was sent out on Monday. Please take the time to complete the short evaluation. The MRVED staff, Teachers' Advisory Council, and administration review the responses and consider this information for upcoming MRVED professional development opportunities. The link to the evaluation is below:
The MRVED Educators Learning Together (MELT) conference will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School on January 20, 2020. To help make this conference the best ever, we need your help. The MRVED is looking for enthusiastic people willing to present on something great happening in your classroom. This can be anything from Google Drive to differentiation techniques in your classroom. Show us how you Teach Like a Pirate or incorporate Social Emotional Learning into your classroom! Technology or no technology proposals are welcome. Presenters will be paid a small stipend for your work. You may submit as many presentation proposals as you wish. Deadline to submit a proposal is midnight October 30.
**We are actively seeking any Pre-K people that would like to present, as well as Social Emotional Learning topics!**
**By filling out this form you are not committing to presenting, just providing the MRVED with your name and topic.**
The MRVED is looking for facilitators of networking groups As a facilitator you are not expected to be the expert in the room, but rather move the discussion along. The goal of a networking group is to share resources and ideas with people who have the same interests. They are meant to include a "give & take". Bring something to share and take something away that someone else shared. The only networking groups that will be offered are those that have a willing facilitator. If a networking group does not have a facilitator, it will not be held! If you would like to sign up, please click the link below and add your name to the list next to the group you would like to facilitate. The networking sign-up will close at 3:00 PM on November 21. If you have any questions or cannot access the form, please contact Brandon (braymo@mrved.net)
The Minnesota Rural Educators Association (MREA) will be having their annual conference this coming November. This is a great conference to attend because you get excellent keynote speakers with great breakout sessions from other rural districts in Minnesota. The attendance at this conference is relatively small, so you can easily interact with the presenters and keynote speakers.
Section II starts with getting your pirate ship pointed in the right direction and everyone on board rowing in the same pattern through a mission and vision. Chapters 8 & 9 talk about building and empowering teams.
Burgess & Houf talk about the importance of a mission and vision within your school. They also talk extensively about clearly communicating that mission and vision. If the leader is not clear as to why certain initiatives or programs are being done in any business, the people that have to carry out that mission and vision will have no direction. Clearly communicating is very important! Leaders or anyone in the organization should not let any opportunity pass where a connection to the mission or vision can be made. Never imply or assume people know!
Chapter 8 starts with a great quote from Alex Elle, "When we learn how to work together versus against each other, things might start getting better" (Burgess, Houf, 81). This quote is so true! So often, in any business or school, we all play the "blame game". The sentence we use usually begins with, "If only...". If only the teachers, if only the admin, if only the students, if only the parents would do... This sentence stem places blame on someone else for the problem. Blaming is a culture. As I tell my baseball players, "Control the controllables". There is one thing in every equation that you can control: yourself! Instead of blaming, ask yourself "How can I make this better or fix the problem?" It's easy to see the blame culture. When you look at a colleague in your district do you first see things that frustrates you about that person? Do you see what you don't like? Do you think about the traits that drive you crazy? Or do you first see positive traits? Do you see the ways in which that person makes an impact? If you see the negative first, you need to look deep into yourself and decide if you are going to continue to play the blame game?
Chapter 9 talks about empowering teams and how can we allow the teams within our buildings to make decisions. One easy tip that Burgess talks about is allowing others in the group to talk first. Only at the end should the leader interject. One thing that stood out to me is as a leader, we shouldn't have preconceived ideas on how the group will decide on certain topics. If we do have those preconceived ideas, we may then use our power and authority to steer the group to what you wanted as an individual and not necessarily what the group wanted. Leaders need to be OK with the decision of the group even if it wasn't how you would have solved the problem.
October 16, 2019 - MRVED Common Inservice Day at Dawson-Boyd Schools
October 23, 2019 - Superintendents' Council
October 25, 2019 - Principals' Council
November 12, 2019 - Community Education Directors
November 15, 2019 - Principals' Council & TAC
October 16, 2019 Information:
Thank you to everyone who registered for the October 16th MRVED Common Inservice Day!
The schedule for the day is as followed:
8:00 a.m. - 8:35 a.m. - Coffee, juice, & muffins in the Dawson-Boyd Commons Area
(Compliments of your administrators)
8:40 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Morning Session
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch in the Dawson-Boyd Commons Area
12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. - District Time (Location determined by your administration)
Notes:
1. Enter through door #4 (located on 9th street - this is a ONE WAY STREET)
2. Once you arrive, be sure to stop by the registration table near the commons area to pick up your registration packet (agenda with room numbers, clock hours, and lunch ticket, if applicable). Your agenda is your CLOCK HOUR CERTIFICATE.
3. Dress in layers. Some of the rooms could be warm or cool depending on the number of people in the session.
4. If you are not eating the catered meal, we suggest you bring a bag lunch. If you are planning to eat off campus, please remember the next session begins promptly at 12:30 p.m.
5. An electronic evaluation will be sent via email on Monday, October 21st. Please complete it as soon as possible. The feedback from the evaluation is used in planning future MRVED events.
*Please look for an email regarding additional details of the day coming soon!
If you have any questions regarding the October 16th MRVED Common Inservice Day, please contact Katie Raymo at 320-269-9297 or kraymo@mrved. net.
We are looking forward to a great fall inservice!
MELT 2020 Call for Presentations
The MRVED Educators Learning Together (MELT) conference will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School on January 20, 2020. To help make this conference the best ever, we need your help. The MRVED is looking for enthusiastic people willing to present on something great happening in your classroom. This can be anything from Google Drive to differentiation techniques in your classroom. Show us how you Teach Like a Pirate or incorporate Social Emotional Learning into your classroom! Technology or no technology proposals are welcome. Presenters will be paid a small stipend for your work. You may submit as many presentation proposals as you wish.
**We are actively seeking any Pre-K people that would like to present, as well as Social Emotional Learning topics!**
**By filling out this form you are not committing to presenting, just providing the MRVED with your name and topic.**
The TIES conference which is held every December is now called the Impact Education Conference as the TIES corporation no longer exists. It's the same conference, just a different name.
Date: December 14-17, 2019
Location: Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Lead Like a PIRATE - Rapport, Ask & Analyze, Transformation, Enthusiasm
As I mentioned in the introduction to Lead Like a Pirate, this book will be beneficial to anyone in any leadership role, not just school administration. What follows is simply my thoughts on the chapters, that will hopefully spur some thoughts of your own and maybe challenge your thinking and/or practices. My little synopsis is by no means a substitute for reading the book!
Rapport
This chapter talks about the importance of making connections and building relationships with the people you lead. The chapter provides a variety of strategies to make connections with people. However, the one thing that stuck with me was the word "trust". If people don't trust you, there is no way you can build relationships. The authors provide a great example about the supply closet being locked in a school. I'm sure there is a reason why it is locked, but the underlying tone is that we don't trust you to go into the supply closet. Without trust, people will never get behind any ideas you have or anything you say. Everything you say or do will be questioned. A leader needs to develop the trust of their people before anything else can happen!
Ask & Analyze
"Good questions inform; great questions transform (Burgess & Houf, 48)." This quote says it all. An example of this would be to think about how you ask the following question: "What are your goals for this year?" One way to do this would be to ask, "What is something you have always wanted to do in your class, but haven't tried yet? How can I help make that happen?" Think about what different type of responses you would get for each type of question. Now apply this thinking to any of the questions you ask. How can we elevate our questioning?
Transformation
To be an effective leader, sometimes you need to truly transform your tasks. I use the analogy of a toy Transformer. The toy looks like a vehicle at the beginning, but by the time it fully transforms it looks like a robot. Our tasks need to do the same. They need to look nothing like what they looked like at the beginning. True transformation is not tweaking one thing and calling it good. It's changing the status quo.
Enthusiasm
The "E" in PIRATE stands for Enthusiasm. Bottom line; if you aren't excited as a leader, the people that follow you aren't going to be excited as well. Being a leader is hard work, and some days are not as fun as others, but the day is what you make it. Your attitude is contagious with the group. As Dave Burgess said, "Fake it until you make it if you have to".
September 25, 2019 - Superintendents' Council
September 17, 2019 - Title III Teachers
October 16, 2019 - MRVED Common Inservice (Dawson-Boyd Schools)
October 16, 2019 Information
Registration for the October 16th MRVED Common Inservice was sent out last week to your local superintendents and principals. You should have received an email from them with the registration link and information regarding the inservice day. The registration link is below or it can also be found on our website: www.mrved.net under "Latest News".
It will be held in Dawson at the Dawson-Boyd Schools. Willow Sweeney Flaherty will be the keynote speaker. The afternoon will be district time focused on Social-Emotional Learning implementation. Some districts will be staying at the Dawson-Boyd Schools, some will be returning to your home district, as directed by your principal.
Registration needs to be completed by Friday, September 27th at 4:00 p.m.! An email will be sent out one week prior to the inservice with details outlining the day. An agenda will also be handed out when you arrive to the inservice, along with your name tag and lunch ticket, if applicable. We will need to know which DISTRICT and PRINCIPAL you primarily report to. If you are unsure, please check with a principal.
Trish's Katering will be catering the lunch for the inservice. The menu will be a chicken breast (mixed with stuffing, carrots, & gravy), baby red potatoes, green beans, mixed greens strawberry salad, bar, and lemonade. The cost is $10.00 and is to paid to your district. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY TO THE MRVED. The last day to cancel your lunch is Friday, September 27th at 4:00 p.m. After that date, you will be held responsible for the lunch cost.
The schedule for the day is as followed:
8:00 - 8:35 a.m. - Registration (Agenda, Name Tag, Lunch Ticket)
8:00 - 8:35 a.m. - Coffee, juice, and muffins, compliments of your administrators
8:40 - 11:30 a.m. - SEL Kickoff by Willow Sweeney Flaherty
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch by Trish Kruger
12:30 - 2:30 p.m. - District time focused on SEL implementation
New Science Standards Workshop
On November 20th, 2019, Lakeview Schools will be presenting a "New Science Standards Workshop". It will be facilitated by Jay Meiners and Joan Foley. The goal for the day is to give science teachers an opportunity to establish plans for how the implementation of the new standards will look in the classrooms and districts. If you are interested in attending, please email Courtney Frie, Curriculum Director, at courtneyfrie@lakeview2167.comby October 1st.
The MRVED Educators Learning Together (MELT) conference will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School on January 20, 2020. To help make this conference the best ever, we need your help. The MRVED is looking for enthusiastic people willing to present on something great happening in your classroom. This can be anything from Google Drive to differentiation techniques in your classroom. Show us how you Teach Like a Pirate or incorporate Social Emotional Learning into your classroom! Technology or no technology proposals are welcome. Presenters will be paid a small stipend for your work. You may submit as many presentation proposals as you wish.
**We are actively seeking any Pre-K people that would like to present, as well as Social Emotional Learning topics!**
**By filling out this form you are not committing to presenting, just providing the MRVED with your name and topic.**
If you enjoyed the Dave Burgess and/or George Couros keynotes from the past couple years, then DBC Pirate Con is for you. It will be held June 12-14, 2020 in San Diego, California. The lineup for this conference is AMAZING! You will have the opportunity to hear from the likes of Dave Burgess, Matt Miller, Adam Welcome, Jimmy Casas, etc...
The best part the conference is only $379! Looking at the value of speakers at this conference, you are getting a great deal at $379. You can find out more about the conference by visiting the conference webpage.
Book Study
Lead Like a Pirate - Introduction, Passion, & Immersion
We all heard Dave Burgess speak last year on Teach Like a Pirate. He talked about the acronym of PIRATE and what that means for teaching. Using the analogy of a pirate ship, the pirates are the hard working people that run the ship on a day to day basis, but all ships need a captain - a person to steer the ship and make decisions about course and destination. Lead Like a Pirate is about how our leaders can use the PIRATE principles to steer the ship. Don't assume this book is only for principals, it's applicable for anyone in a leadership role.
Passion
This week, we are going to talk about the P and I in the PIRATE acronym: Passion and Immersion. Shelley Burgess starts the Passion chapter with a quote by Simon Sinek, "Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion" (Burgess, 3). I think this quote is so true! As educators and leaders, we need to reframe our thinking about what we consider "work". Dave Burgess asked educators the same three questions, but in different terms:
1. Specific to leadership, what are you most passionate about? (Content Passion)
2. Within the profession of education, but not specific to leadership, what are you passionate about? (Professional Passion)
3. Outside of your profession, what are you passionate about? (Personal Passion)
Immersion
The "I" in PIRATE stands for Immersion. Immerse yourself in whatever you are doing. This section talks about how to do that, but more importantly talks about how to free up time in order to fully immerse yourself in whatever it is that you are leading. Burgess uses another acronym here; LEAD:
Leverage Systems Elevate the Impact Activate a Team Delete, Delete, Delete
Leverage Systems - Find what tasks take up most of your time. Are there systems that can be improved upon, or new systems that can be created to alleviate the time it takes for the task.
Elevate the Impact - Think about low impact tasks that do take up your time. Can we make these tasks more impactful? For example; lunch duty - instead of simple supervision, can you use this time to strengthen relationships with kids? Deal with misbehavior from earlier in the day? Elevate it's impact.
Activate a Team - Recognize the tasks that can be accomplished by a team and activate a team.
Delete, Delete, Delete - Sometimes you just have to lighten your load. What are you doing to yourself to suck precious time away from the impactful tasks?
Next time we will cover the rest of the PIRATE acronym (RATE).
September 11, 2019 - MRVED Board (6:00 p.m.)
September 11, 2019 - Community Ed Directors
September 13, 2019 - Principals' Council
September 17, 2019 - TAC
September 20, 2019 - Title III Paras
September 25, 2019 - Superintendents' Council
September 27, 2019 - Title III Teachers
Important Dates 2019-20 School Year
October 16, 2019 - Common Inservice Day
January 20, 2020 - MELT Conference at LQPV
April 9, 2020 - Common Inservice Day
October 16, 2019 Common Inservice Day
Registration will be sent out next week! Please watch your email for the registration link😀
The morning will be a presentation by Willow Sweeney Flaherty on
Social Emotional Learning. The afternoon will be district time focused on Social Emotional Learning implementation.
Welcome Back
Some of you have been back for a month already, while some of you are into your 2nd week. Welcome back to the 2019-2020 school year. Each year brings new excitement as new children fill your classroom. The MRVED wishes that each of you has your best year ever!
What is the MRVED?
For those of you that are new or for those of you have need a recap. The Minnesota River Valley Education District (MRVED) is a consortium of nine school districts in Southwest/Western Minnesota. The districts include Benson, Dawson-Boyd, Lac qui Parle Valley, Lakeview, Minneota, Montevideo, Ortonville, Renville County West, and Yellow Medicine East. Our goal is to help our member districts achieve their goals. To do this, the MRVED offers a wide variety of services to their member districts, including, but not limited to; professional development, grant writing, strategic planning, online learning, etc... If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.
Summer Recap
The MRVED staff was busy all summer between summer school at the ALC, planning for the upcoming school day, providing a workshop for substitutes, among other regular duties. One of the highlights of the summer was being able to train 10 people interested in becoming a substitute teacher. Substitute teachers can be so difficult to find, so in an effort to increase the pool, we decided to start offering these trainings. The MRVED will continue to offer substitute teacher training a couple times a year. If you know of someone with a 4-year degree and is currently looking for some part-time work, subbing is perfect for them!
The MRVED also debuted a new website. It is a work in progress, but things are up and running. In the near future, there will be directions on how to sign-up for announcements via text message from the MRVED.
MRVED 30th Anniversary
The MRVED celebrated 30 years of existence this past summer. The core of the organization has stayed the same with collaboration playing a large role in the efforts of the MRVED. However, faces, goals, initiatives, have all changed over the course of the years and will continue to evolve over the next 30 years.
Lead Like a Pirate
Each year we examine a few books in the update. Typically a chapter or two is covered every two weeks, so it is very easy to follow along. Brandon provides his thoughts on the chapter along with a quick synopsis of what was written. Brandon's writing is by no means a substitute for reading the book. This Fall, Brandon will be taking a look at the book, Lead Like a Pirate by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf. If the title sounds familiar, it should! Last year, we had the opportunity to hear from Shelley's husband, Dave on his book Teach Like a Pirate.
Even if you are not an administrator, this is a great book for any leader. You could be your PLC leader, lead negotiator, head baseball coach, etc... This book is going to offer simple bits of advice on how to lead a team of people. In the next update, we will examine the first two chapters on Passion and Immersion.
May 22, 2019 - Superintendents' Advisory Council
May 28, 2019 - Title III Meeting
June 12, 2019 - MRVED Board Meeting
June 26, 2019 - Superintendents' Advisory Council
Important Dates 2019-20 School Year
August 14, 2019 - Paraprofessional Conference in Benson
October 16, 2019 - Common Inservice Day
January 20, 2020 - MELT Conference at LQPV
April 9, 2020 - Common Inservice Day
Summer Vacation
This is the last update of the 2018-19 school year. We hope you gained something from reading the update this past school year. We look forward to seeing you all again next year. Take some time for yourself this summer, get recharged and ready to rock the 2019-20 school year! The MRVED staff is around all summer, so please stop by and say hello! The candy dish is always full. Enjoy your summer.
2019 Tallgrass BioBlitz
The BioBlitz is an amazing day where the curious pair up with local experts to learn about and identify as many native species as possible in a specific area in a given amount of time. It's a day of bugs and plants, exciting finds and shared experiences.
When: June 22, 8 am to 6 pm
Where: Big Stone Lake State Park
Cost: Suggested contribution $25 for an individual $50 for a family
For the past few years I have been putting together a summer reading list for educators. I have had many people tell me they enjoy and use the list, so here is your Summer 2019 reading list.
Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller (If you didn't read along with me this winter)
Powerful Teaching by Wendy Schoolmeester, Rhonda Bonnstetter, Mary Risacher, Sonya Vierstraete
June 12th - MRVED Board Meeting
June 26th - Superintendents' Advisory Council
August 14th - Paraprofessional Conference *Registration information will be sent out soon.
April 18th MRVED Common Inservice Day
The MRVED staff would like to thank everyone who participated in our April 18, 2019, MRVED Common Inservice Day. From the evaluations, it appears that the presenters were beneficial to our districts. We appreciate your feedback in the evaluations as they are reviewed by our MRVED staff, administrators, and the Teacher Advisory Council.
Social Emotional Learning Handouts
A couple of people requested the handouts that were provided at the Social Emotional Learning training with Chad Harlander. If you would like the handouts, please contact Karen or Brandon at the MRVED and they will be sure to get you what you need.
MRVED - Did You Know
The MRVED offers online learning to our 9 member school districts. Each district offers at least one course to be taught online that anyone from our other schools can take. All our courses are elective credits and have helped fill needs in some districts, while providing additional options for others. Enrollment each semester runs between 60-80 students typically. You can find additional information about our online learning program at the MRVED website.
Vision/Goals:
Provide additional course offerings to students without a loss in revenue for member districts.
Create opportunities for students to experience learning in an online learning environment.
Provide professional development for educators in the areas of online learning, personalized learning, and integration of technology to increase student learning.
Promote and support educators in using online tools to individualize, differentiate, and personalize student learning.
Chad Greenway's "Day to REACH" Football Camp
Please join All Pro Chad Greenway of the Minnesota Vikings and the Hutchinson REACH
Program for a team building experience. Campers will build their football knowledge along with key motivational elements needed to succeed in all aspects of life.
As the end of the year approaches and MCA tests have concluded, teachers seem to be looking for engaging activities for their classrooms. Here are a couple places to find some great activities.
If you have kids ages 2-6 or you work with kids in that age range, check out Khan Academy Kids. Khan Academy Kids is an app designed to help kids learn in a personalized and fun way. It offers a robust curriculum with a holistic approach to learning. Take a look today!
Ditch That Textbook - Conclusion
We have spent most of 2019 examining the book, Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller. If you are a teacher of any age kid, I highly suggest buying this book.
Ditch That Textbook really is not fully about ditching the textbook, but rather more about how you can create effective and engaging lessons for all students. One could still utilize the textbook as a supplement and I would argue could still be a tool in the classroom, just like your devices or a ruler. The great thing about this book is that is might question some of your own philosophies of teaching, but that's OK. This world would be pretty boring if we all agreed with one another. Learn from it...grow from it.
Ditch That Textbook is a well-written book that is PACKED with great ideas and practical advice. It's written so people can understand it. It's not packed with research and/or numbers, but Miller uses his space wisely to give you ideas. The chapters are short and the reading is fast. One could read this book easily in a couple sittings. It would also make for a good book study. If you ever get a chance to see Matt Miller, take the opportunity.
If you have any book suggestions for next year, please send them to Brandon (braymo@mrved.net). He's currently looking for a book to highlight in the update next year.
April 18th - MRVED Common Inservice Day
April 24th - Superintendents' Advisory Council
April 24th - MRVED Board Meeting
April 18th Common Inservice Day
The spring MRVED Common Inservice Day will be held on April 18, 2019, at the Dawson-Boyd Schools. You will be welcomed with coffee, juice, and muffins to begin your day, compliments of your administration. For those individuals who are participating, you should have received an email with detailed information regarding the day. Once you arrive, please come to the registration table near the commons area to pick up your registration packet. This packet includes room numbers, clock, hours, and lunch ticket, if applicable. Please enter through Door #4.
We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!
(Please Note:Districts not participating in the inservice due to a school make-up day: Minneota/Ivanhoe, Ortonville, YME)
MRVED - Did You Know - Strategic Plan
The MRVED went through the strategic planning process a couple years ago. Below you will find the mission and goals of the MRVED.
MISSION:
The mission of the Minnesota River Valley Education District is to effectively and efficiently assist member districts in meeting the goals they have set for themselves, their students, and their staff.
Goal One: Educational Success
Implement a level of services that will lead to the educational success of MRVED’s various stakeholders.
Belief:
We are committed to the development and implementation of high quality programs that enhance the educational success of the students and staff members of the MRVED school districts.
Strategies:
1. Provide a broad spectrum of professional development activities that enable all staff members to grow in their professional craft.
2. Work with member districts in the development of mentorship programs to develop the professional and leadership capacity of staff members within the MRVED school districts.
3. Provide ongoing technology training to meet the varied needs of the member districts to keep staff and students engaged in learning.
4. Through partnerships, provide high quality broadband connectivity to the MRVED districts.
Goal Two: Collaboration
Provide leadership for our member districts to connect the educational needs of each diverse school by focusing on staff and student success.
Belief:
We believe that by working collectively as a MRVED district, we can efficiently increase opportunities and cultivate a culture of professional relationships.
Strategies:
1. Provide opportunities for each district to collaborate and share resources to meet the needs of our students and staff to promote their success.
2. Increase resources to benefit member districts.
3. Continuously gather information from stakeholders to provide direction in identifying a common vision and identifying unmet needs.
4. Recognize and facilitate collaboration between districts.
Goal Three: Engagement
Engage all member districts to increase awareness, connectedness, and enhance communication in an effort to foster a cohesive partnership for educators.
Belief:
We believe investment by member districts is essential to MRVED’s success.
Strategies:
1. Communicate in an effective and consistent manner with and amongst internal and external stakeholders.
2. Utilize multiple approaches to encourage connectedness across districts and facilitate collaboration.
3. Establish clear leadership roles and responsibilities to enhance participation and expectation of member districts.
4. Inform and advocate use of the multiple MRVED resources/services.
Student Mental Health
MREA did a nice write-up of the joint house hearing on student mental health and the shortage of mental health workers in our schools. The statistics are staggering in this area and it is well worth the read to become educated about this huge issue facing our schools.
50 percent of student mental issues begin before age 14.
20 percent of students age 14-18 will live with a mental health issue.
1 in 5 students had a symptom of depression in the last two weeks.
Suicide is now the second leading cause of death in people aged 10-34.
Check out the article and the corresponding files and slides that go with it.
If you are like me, you beg, borrow, and steal from the internet. Sometime you come across files that are in PDF format and you want to do something else with them. There are two great online tools to help you work with your PDF. Check them out today!
Ditch That Textbook - Section 4 Ditch That Curriculum
Chapters 34 to the end of the book are interesting chapters to read. They really give the reader the map to ditch your textbook. Miller uses the analogy of being a pilot and taking your kids on a journey.
Chapter 34 is about establishing your philosophy. Miller says, "The motivation to ditch that textbook isn't only - or even mostly - driven by a desire to go paperless...it's about purpose. What do you want to do with the powerful platform you've been given? (Miller, 198)" Having a clear understanding of who you are and what you want your students to be is the first step to ditching that textbook. Miller says to use the following questions to help determine your purpose:
What kind of teacher are you?
What do you want to be known for?
What do you want your students to be known for?
What do you want your students to be able to do at the end of the year?
What skills do they need to develop for success?
What discussion do they need to have to cultivate new ideas?
The next chapter Miller writes about establishing your mission statement. He talks about creating a one word mission statement that guides everything you do in your room. Miller says, "What is your mission? What one word encapsulates what you want to accomplish this year? (Miller, 203)" For example, his word was "create" one year. He wanted to create more and he wanted his students to create more. Everything he did was centered around this one word. Think about, for next year, what one word do you want for your mission statement?
He ends the book by talking about planning and learning from failures. Utilize some form of curriculum map to guide your process of ditching your textbook. Backwards plan with the end in mind. When your plan blows up in your face, learn from it, grow from it. It can be really easy to drop what you are doing and go back to your textbook. Don't! Fight through it and fail forward. Failure is bound to happen, expect it and react accordingly. Miller says your students will forgive and forget.
Native Knowledge 360°
The last section of the book is titled "Be a Better Captain". We will paraphrase the last 6 chapters of the book and offer a conclusion to wrap up our book study on Lead Like a Pirate by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf.
