MRVED Update - January 26, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

Thursday, February 3, 2022 - Teachers' Advisory Council

Friday, February 4, 2022 - Principals' Advisory Council (Postponed)

Friday, February 11, 2022 - Title III Teachers

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - MRVED Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 - Superintendents' Council

MELT Feedback & Reflection

MELT 2022 is in the books! The weather was great & it was fun to see everyone collaborating together in-person again. A huge shoutout to all our presenters and facilitators for sharing your talents and expertise with us. Without these willing people, MELT simply cannot happen. Once again, LqPV was a gracious and welcoming host. A special thank you to the janitorial staff for getting the parking lot and sidewalks cleaned after a dumping of snow the Friday prior.

Our Teacher Advisory Council(TAC) and Principal Advisory Council(PAC) will be reviewing the feedback from the evaluations and be making recommendations for future common inservice days. Thanks to all that participated. It was a great day of learning!

Resources

Don't Forget About Google Drawings

I was helping a teacher last week brainstorm ideas about activities for an upcoming lesson. We were looking for a type of digital whiteboard. While there are many options out there, we really didn't find one we liked. Then it hit me...Google Drawings! We often times forget about this long lost app from Google. You can do some awesome things with Drawings. Shake Up Learning has a great article on 20 Ways to Use Google Drawings. She has some really neat ideas on how to use Google Drawings in your classroom.

Teaching With the Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics start next week. This is a great opportunity to bring current events into your classroom. Pretty much all content areas can work the Olympics into their classrooms in some way. The students can really get connected to the Olympics as there is so much variety and it is covered widely on television. Here are some resources for teaching the Olympics.

We Are Teachers

The Teachers' Corner

Home School Olympic Resources

Professional Learning

FETC Conference

The Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) is currently being held in Orlando, Florida. If you, like me, weren't one of the lucky ones to get out of negative temperatures to enjoy this great conference, you can still follow along on Twitter. Follow the hashtag #FETC for all the great behind the scenes chatter and resource sharing. FETC is a great conference and one of my favorites to follow along with on Twitter. The cool thing about Twitter, is you can scroll back through previous tweets to see everything that was talked about in days prior.

Book Study

Row the Boat

If you haven't purchased the book Row the Boat by P.J. Fleck and Jon Gordon, you still have time. This week we will get through chapter 3. Please know that my analysis and thoughts about the chapters is by no means a replacement for buying the book and reading it. When you read it for yourself, you always can grab a few nuggets for yourself.

Chapter 2 is Jon Gordon talking about how the book is set up, basically a Q & A with P.J. Fleck. His first question for Coach Fleck was how he came up with Row the Boat.

Most times, if you look hard enough, you can see some sort of silver-lining through tragedy and adversity. Row the Boat was built out of the tragic loss of Coach Fleck's first son minutes after birth. Through the grieving process he needed something to help him through the process. He liked water, he like boats, he was an elementary teacher at heart and Row, Row, Row, Your Boat came to mind. Row the Boat.

The interesting part about Row the Boat, was that his first head coaching job was in Western Michigan. Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo, Michigan and their nickname is the Broncos, nothing to do with boats or water. It takes a really big leap of faith to put out a slogan that would need a lot of PR to get people to understand. The line that struck me from this chapter was, "I learned that if you are going to brand and make public something so personal, you had better be confident enough and ready for the critics to attack it and not take it personally" (Fleck, 26).

This quote made me think about projects we are part of in our own lives. Sometimes we get really caught up in our projects, so much so that we fully understand them, but sometimes forget that others are not as invested as you and may criticize what you are doing. 

As a school district, we know what we are doing. We know our mission and vision statement? But does the community? Does the community care? If not, how do we make them care? If you were to stop a member of your community, or even a parent in your district, and asked them what the mission statement is of your school, could they tell you?

MRVED Update - January 12, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

Wednesday, January 19, 2022- Superintendents' Council

Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 - Teachers' Advisory Council

Friday, February 4, 2022 - Principals' Advisory Council 

Friday, February 11, 2022 - Title III Teachers

MELT Information

MELT 2022 is fast approaching!  If you have not registered yet, please contact Katie (kraymo@mrved.net) at the MRVED office to do so immediately.

MELT (MRVED Educators Learning Together)  will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School.  The conference has over 600 individuals registered with around 100 sessions throughout the day.

Please look over these important points regarding the conference:

• You will enter through "Door #5" (follow the walkway to the left of the eagle statue).  

• Please make sure you stop at the registration table in the commons area to pick up your registration packet (personalized agenda with session selections, room numbers, clock hours, and lunch ticket, if applicable).  It will be in the alcove (by the pop machines) to the right of the doors as you enter. 

• Please note that we will be spreading out the registration tables throughout the Commons Area.  Alphabetical signs will be posted.  Please respect the personal space of others when picking up your registration packet and during lunch.  

• Breakfast will be available when you arrive.  

• The first session will start promptly at 8:40 a.m.

• You are NOT able to switch sessions the day of the conference as the sessions become overcrowded and there may not be enough seating availability. 

• Please dress in layers; some rooms may be warm, while others may be cool.

• If you are not eating the school lunch, please bring a bag lunch.  

• This year, to help with social distancing, participants will be able to eat lunch in the classrooms.  Please be respectful to LqPV and make sure there is no food dropped on the floor and all garbage is placed in the garbage can.

• There will be rooms available for nursing moms; please see Pam Weber in the high school principal's office for availability.

• Please be aware that there is poor cell phone reception inside of LqPV school.  

• There will be press at the conference taking photographs or video.  Presenters may be taking photographs or videos as well.  Please let Katie, Brandon, Karen, Pam, or the presenter in your session know if you do not want your picture/video taken.

• Face coverings/masks are strongly encouraged, but are not required at this time.  If you feel unwell or have any COVID symptoms, please stay home.  Please note that we will not be providing masks.

• We ask for your patience and understanding in the case that a presenter(s) becomes ill at the last minute.

If the weather is inclement, any cancellation or delay relating to MELT will be posted by 6:00 a.m. on the WCCO website under "Quicklinks/School Closings".  We will be listed under MRVED (just the initials).  This will also be posted on WCCO's TV channel (CBS) and our MRVED website (www.mrved.com) under "Latest News".

All registrants should have received an email with detailed information regarding the conference.

We are looking forward to a great MELT!

#WeAreMRVED

Resources

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

I used to love watching this TV show and can remember playing this game on the computer in school. It's a great way to have kids explore the world, learning some geography and history, all while having fun. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego utilizes Google Earth to play the game. You and your students will enjoy tracking her down and exploring the world. Check it out today.

https://blog.tcea.org/catch-carmen-sandiego-using-google-earth/

Professional Learning

The Truth About Being the "Stupidest" in the Room

I watched this 2 minute video by Simon Sinek, not necessarily because I was looking to learn something, but because the title was interesting. When I watched it, I was both entertained and perplexed. It really made me reflect on my own interactions as well as make me think about how students feel in the classroom. Questions I asked after watching this short video.

When I don't understand something, am I really the only person who doesn't understand? Probably not?

How do we create a culture where asking questions is accepted?

Is the environment I create in my workshops conducive to allowing people to feel safe to ask questions?

"Better to be an idiot for a minute than an idiot for a lifetime"

Book Study

Row the Boat - Introduction & Chapter 1

Row the Boat by P.J. Fleck and Jon Gordon was selected as the book this winter/spring because P.J. Fleck will be our keynote speaker during our April 14 MRVED common inservice. We are excited to host coach Fleck in Benson's new Performing Arts Center.

Row the Boat is a book about coach Fleck and how to lead, build a team, and improve culture. It is a quick 2 to 3 hour read and well worth the time. This book is not about football or football strategy. It uses the life of coach Fleck, which happens to be through football, and show how to build a winning culture.

Chapter 1 is completely about Coach Fleck and how he came into being a coach. If you are familiar with P.J. Fleck, he's not a big guy. He's not your typical NFL player, especially wide receiver. Fleck talks about growing up having to be tough with a never-give-up attitude. He talks about how he was able to impress coaches in NFL training camp, which gave him his opportunity in the NFL. Fleck also mentions the adversity of being injured and how an injury lead to him getting the opportunity to coach. He also lays the ground work for some of the influential people in his life.

P.J. Fleck has an elementary teaching degree and has the energy of 3 kindergarten teachers! When you read Row the Boat, you can really hear his voice come through. The whole Row the Boat culture is build upon reacting to adversity. Rowing the boat through high seas and calm days. Building a culture where we all are working toward the same goals and ambitions. Even if you don't like football, there is so much to learn from this quick read. Join me this Spring as we Row the Boat together. We will look at Chapters 2 & 3 next week.