MRVED Update - March 4, 2020

Upcoming Meetings

March 20, 2020 - Title III Paraprofessionals

March 25, 2020 - Superintendents' Council

March 27, 2020 - Principals' Council

April 3, 2020 - Title III Teachers

April 7, 2020 - Community Education Directors

April 9, 2020 - MRVED Common Inservice Day at Dawson-Boyd Schools

April 9, 2020 - MRVED Common Inservice Day

MRVED's spring Common Inservice Day is quickly approaching!  It will be held on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Dawson at the Dawson-Boyd school.  The morning keynote speaker is Carla Tantillo Philibert.  Please watch for the registration link to be sent out on Thursday, March 12, 2020.  The registration link will come from your principals.  Registration will close on Thursday, March 26, 2020.  If you have a student teacher this spring, please make sure you register your student teacher.

April 9, 2020 Schedule:

8:00 a.m. - 8:35 a.m.:  Registration and Breakfast (Compliments of the administrators)
8:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.:  Carla Tantillo Philibert (Self-Care Strategies)
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.:  Lunch (Catered by Trish Kruger Katering)
11:55 a.m. - 12:55 p.m.: Carla Tantillo Philibert (Group 1) and Tanya Yerigan (Group 2)
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.: Carla Tantillo Philibert (Group 2) and Tanya Yerigan (Group 1)

Staff will see both Carla Tantillo Philibert and Tanya Yerigan in the two afternoon breakout sessions on self-care strategies.

Registrants will receive an email one week prior to the inservice with detailed information for the day.  Everyone will also receive a personalized agenda/CEU at the registration table on the day of the inservice.

Professional Development

Public Comment on Draft #2 of the English Language Arts Standards

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is soliciting public opinion as part of the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in ELA Education Revision process. This is the second of three drafts. The results will be reviewed by the ELA Standards Review Committee and will be used for preparing the third draft, which will be presented to the Commissioner of Education in May, 2020.

Additional information regarding the standards process and the assumptions for the committee are posted on the MDE website under English Language Arts Standards. To complete this survey, refer to the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in ELA Education, Draft Two documents on the MDE ELA page at https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/ela/. This survey closes on March 6, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. CST.

Survey Link

Twitter for Educators

Twitter can be an awesome professional development tool for any professional.  There is a whole world of ideas out there just for you on Twitter.  Matt Miller does a great job of explaining Twitter and providing lists of people and hashtags to follow.  A Beginners Guide to Twitter for Educators by Matt Miller.

I participate in #smsutlap.  It gives me the ability to grow as a professional as well as spark conversation for upcoming teachers to consider.  Just by clicking on the #smsutlap link, it will take you to an archive of the chats.  If you are available during their class, stop in and just say hi!

Tyson Fury on Mental Health

I came across this the other day and thought it was worth sharing.  Even if you don't know the story of Tyson Fury, it's worth the watch.  The importance to of asking for help and doing what we can to stop the stigma behind asking for help.  If Tyson Fury, the best boxer in the world, can ask for help, anyone can!

Book Study - Sanctuaries - Self-Care

We will start the section on self-care in Dan Tricarico's book, Sanctuaries.  My thoughts and reflection on these chapters are, in no way, a replacement for buying the book and reading it.  I will admit that a book on self-care is not high up on my list of things to read.  It's simply out of my comfort zone.  However, it has been a very beneficial read.

The first chapter in this section hit home to me.  It is titled, "The Busy Choice".  Think of a conversation you have had with someone recently.  Did either of you talk about how busy you are?  There is a good chance that schedules and obligations were talked about.  We compete with one another to become the most busy person.  Stop and think about how ridiculous that sounds!  If I am more busy than you, what do I get?  You get more stress!  But we wear our busyness as a badge of honor.  However, if you examine your schedule, everything you have to get done, or places you have to get to, is all a choice...your choice.  I know many of you are saying, "no I don't have a choice".  But yes you do!  The majority of things on your calendar are a choice.  Your job, running kids to basketball practice, volunteering at the church, shopping, etc...  Seeing your schedule as a choice doesn't make it any easier to schedule things, but it is a mindset and can drastically change how you schedule things.

Tricarico then goes on to talk about making tiny shifts in your life.  I liken the idea to a diet.  When we start a diet, it is usually a drastic change in how and what we eat.  But if we make a tiny shift in our diet - say take out 1 piece of bread per day, it is more likely we will create the habit.  The problem with making a massive shift is that we hit a roadblock and go back to the way we did things.  With tiny shifts, roadblocks are easier to move, get around, or go through.

The last chapter is titled, "Your Mental Mix Tape".  We all remember making the mix tapes of our favorite songs we played over and over again.  We need to create our own "mental mix tape" of positive thoughts to play in our minds over and over again.  We need to tell ourselves that we are smart enough, pretty enough, etc...  We need to play that "mental mix tape" in our minds over and over again all day long.

MRVED Update - May 15, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

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

Registration: Cure Website

Event Flyer

Summer Reading List

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

Lead Beyond Your Title by Nili Bartley

Educated by Design by Michael Cohen (Not Trump's Lawyer, Michael Cohen)

The Revolution by Darren Ellwein & Derek McCoy

MRVED Update - May 1, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

May 22nd - Superintendents' Advisory Council

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.

Ages: 2019-20 4th-6th and 7th-9th Graders

Date: June 20 & 21

Time: 9:00-1:45

Cost: $50 (Includes Lunch and T-shirt)

Flyer Link

Registration Link

End of the Year Activities

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.

• Minds in Bloom - 37 Awesome End of the Year Activities
• Cult of Pedagogy - What to Do on Lame Duck School Days
• Edutopia - 8 Epic Ideas for Ending the School Year

Tech Tip of the Week - Khan Academy Kids

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.

MRVED Update - April 17, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

Upcoming Meetings

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.

MREA Article

Tech Tip of the Week - PDF Tools

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!

PDF Candy
Clever PDF

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.

MRVED Update - March 20, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

March 27th - Superintendents' Advisory Council
March 28th - Teachers' Advisory Council
April 12th - Title III Teachers


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. The day will consist of attending one session for the entire morning and the afternoon will be time with your district, determined by your administrator. The choices for the morning sessions are: Social Emotional Learning, Teach Like a Pirate, and Structured Unconference. Registration has been sent out and is also available on our website: www.mrved.com

New at this inservice day will be a catered lunch provided by Trish’s Catering. The menu will be pork roast, baby red potatoes, green beans, broccoli grape salad, bar and lemonade. The cost is $10.00 and is to be paid to your district. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY TO THE MRVED. The last day to cancel your lunch is March 29th by 4:00 P.M. After that date, you will be held responsible for the lunch cost.

Closer to the inservice date, you will receive an email with detailed information including the school's address, which to door to enter, and other information. Please read this carefully. When you arrive, your meal ticket and agenda will be in the commons area at the registration table.

Registration is now open and closes on March 29th at 4:00 P.M.

We look forward to seeing everyone on April 18th!

(Please Note: Districts not participating in the inservice due to a school make-up day: Minneota/Ivanhoe, Ortonville, YME)

MRVED - Did You Know

The MRVED schools are all members of a Flexible Learning Year (FLY).  The FLY allows schools the ability to start pre-Labor Day.  It also aligns 4 common inservice days for the 9 districts.  The first common day is during inservice.  The staggered start dates for the districts allows Brandon and Karen the ability to get into more districts prior to school starting.  Prior to the FLY, it was a race to schedule Brandon or Karen as all our districts had the same inservice dates.  The first date that all our districts have in common is the Wednesday prior to MEA break.  This date has been designated as our "Best Practice" day.  Typically we have a keynote speaker that deals with classroom practices and is completely teacher focused.  January is the annual MELT conference with around 100 breakout sessions.  The spring date corresponds with Easter break and is used as a follow up from the fall or a look ahead to next fall.

Early Care and Education Grant

The Southwest Initiative Foundation is seeking request for proposals for a $5,000 Early Care and Education Grant.  More information can be found at the following link:

https://swifoundation.org/how-to-apply/grants/early-care-education/

PreK-3rd Grade Alignment 

Enhancing the continuity and consistency of learning for children birth to grade 3 through trainings and professional development, resource development, strategy implementation, quality staff planning time or building community-wide approaches.

Social and Emotional Development 

Building resilient communities through the enhancement of existing or development of new trainings, prevention, education and programs that continue to have a far-reaching impact.

Early Care and Education 

Increasing access to and availability of high quality early care and education environments through (including, but not limited to) staff development, curriculum and/or assessment implementation, Parent Aware rating attainment, expansion of number of children in care, provider appreciation, community conversations, etc. 

Funding requests of up to $5,000 will be considered. We expect the project will be completed within 12 months of the grant award date, at which time a final report will be due. 

This is a competitive grant program. It is our expectation these funds will help our region address early care and education. Grants will be awarded in May 2019. 

Questions can be directed to Jodi Maertens at (320) 583-4775 or jodim@swifoundation.org. Applications Due by 5 p.m. on April 26, 2019.

Article - Test Prep Doesn't Have to be Overwhelming

Everyone is probably in some form of test prep mode right now as Minnesota gears up for the MCA tests. Edutopia published a great article by Heather Wolpert-Gawron titled Test Prep Doesn't Have to be Overwhelming.  In the article Wolpert-Gawron provides tips and reminders for teachers as they enter test prep season.  This article is a nice reminder for all of us as we prep our students for any test.

Tech Tip of the Week - MCA Released Items

The Minnesota Department of Education has a database of released items from the MCA test. These items are different than the item sampler many teachers are familiar with. The released items are questions directly from the MCA tests that have been retired out of testing. Educators may choose to use them to better understand how the MCA is aligned to the Minnesota K–12 Academic Standards and how the items are written to reflect the rigor and complexity of these standards. The released content, data table, and rationales can be used by educators to explore examples of questions that evaluate the knowledge and skills expected in the standards.

These questions would make a nice addition to any test prep you do in your course.  There is currently math questions and reading passage sets available.

Released Item Database from MDE

Ditch That Textbook - Section 3, Part 2

We will examine Chapters 27-29 this week.  Again, what follows is my thoughts on the chapters.  This, by no means, takes the place of reading the book.  Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller is a super-fast read and well worth the time!

Chapter 27 is about classroom management with devices.  This is a chapter that every teacher in a 1:1 environment should read.  One of my favorite lines in the whole book is in this chapter.  "We can't make students use their time wisely; that decision will always have to be their choice".  Miller compares it to a child sitting at a bus stop.  We can't make a kid get on the bus, we can only help them make a good decision.  Miller offers the following suggestions:

• Circulate frequently
• Ask questions
• Develop relationships
• Set mini-deadlines
• Keep it engaging

Chapter 28, Jump In and Try!  A teacher cannot be afraid to try new things in the classroom.  Think about how boring life and your classroom would be if you did the same thing every year!  Always have a purpose for what you are doing.  Miller says, "don't use technology for technology's sake".  I fully agree with this statement.  Don't just use the latest greatest website because it looks cool.  Think about how this technology enhances the activity or assignment.  Without a plan in place, we set ourselves us for failure from the start.  But, we cannot be afraid to use the tools.  My second favorite quote is in this chapter, "Inaction is crippling.  Action is empowering."

The last chapter is titled, Don't Use it All.  We all go to conferences or inservice trainings where we see tons of cool, new technology tools.  I present trainings titled 60 sites in 60 minutes or 30 tools in 60 minutes.  My hope when doing these trainings is not for you to walk away with 60 websites you can use in your classroom tomorrow.  My goal is for you to grab one, maybe two things you can bring back and implement into your classroom.  You can't do it all!  Don't try to use them all!  It goes back to the old saying, "It's better to be really good at one or two things, than mediocre at 10".  Take one or two things per year and become really good at it.  Don't get complacent and stagnant and not learn anything new.

MRVED Update - March 6, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

March 15th - Principals' Advisory Council
March 27th - Superintendents' Advisory Council
March 28th - Teachers' Advisory Council

April 18th - MRVED Common Day Inservice       *More information to follow soon!*


MRVED - Did You Know
The MRVED financially oversees the Minnesota River Valley Career and Technical Education Collaborative.  The MRVCTEC is a collaborative of Lakeview, RCW, YME, Montevideo, and MACCRAY.  They provide CTE courses for those schools, mostly for college credit.  Bruce Bergeson is the director of the collaborative.  If you have any questions or want further information please contact Bruce (bbergeson@mrved.net).

March Madness in the Classroom

When Dave Burgess was with us this past October, he talked about incorporating March Madness into your classroom.  Here is his blog post that explains the use of brackets.  Let's see your creative uses of brackets on Twitter using the hashtag #mrvedtlap.  March Madness would be a great topic to bring in this year especially as the Final Four is in Minneapolis this year.

Tech Tip of the Week - Chrome Music Lab

This tool goes under the category of, "I'm not sure how to use this in the classroom, but someone might have an idea".  Chrome Music Lab is a neat website that allows users the opportunity to make music in a variety of fun ways.  You can drum a beat with a couple monkeys, play a piano, or draw music, among other things.  Like I mentioned, I have been trying to think of a way in which to use this in the classroom and have yet to have a great idea.  If you have an idea, let me know on Twitter with the hashtag #mrvedtlap.  In the meantime, you can check out my wicked bad beats.

Example

Ditch That Textbook - Section 3 - Ditch That Textbook

Sections 1 and 2 of Ditch That Textbook dealt primarily with theory and mindsets, whereas section 3 is the ideas for your classroom.  Miller did a great job in sections 1 & 2 laying the groundwork for the remainder of the book.  Many of the theories and mindsets need to be put into practice before these ideas take hold.  Without the prior mindsets in place, the ideas will fail.  Here we will examine chapters 23-26.  Again, this is simply my thoughts and reflection on the chapters.

Miller starts by talking about creating a home for your stuff.  As you start ditching your textbook, you replace that content with something digital.  You will need a home for your digital "stuff".  He suggests using a website to organize and save everything.  Think of your website as a digital file cabinet.  You can put your links, worksheets, printables, etc... here.  Make it as interactive as possible as well.  Use your site to post student work or pictures of your class in action.  Creating a USABLE website for your class is very important if you are going to ditch your textbook.  Without this space, you are going to be frustrated and lost.  Without it, you will come back year 2 and wonder, "what was that video I used to show topic A?".

Once you have your space, you will need content on there.  You will probably start by finding content on the web, but more than likely, you will start to see the benefits of creating your own content.  When you create your own content, you are in control of what the students are learning.  It makes meeting your learning targets so much easier.  Miller provides a wealth of examples in this chapter, of which I am not going to take the time to highlight here.  Don't be afraid to use student-created content as well.  One example from my own teaching, that proves the point of kids being able to grasp content from other kids, is my students made videos of the Epic of Gilgamesh.  I had a group create a phenomenal video.  In fact, it was so good, it was actually better than what I had been using.  So every year following, I used that video and then provided a challenge to the class to make one better.  Kids were extremely motivated to make a better video.  It was fun to see.

In the next chapter Miller talks about having kids write and create utilizing a blog or something similar.  Having kids create their own blog or website is a great way for kids to be able to showcase their work.  It also creates a global audience, versus an audience of one.  Have kids post their work, share their work via Twitter, etc... It creates a powerful learning experience for all.

MRVED Update - February 20, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

February 21 - Teachers' Advisory Council
February 22 - Principals' Advisory Council
February 27 - Superintendents' Advisory Council

MRVED Did You Know

Did you know there are 9 school districts that are members of the Minnesota River Valley Education District?  The 9 school districts are Ortonville, Lac qui Parle Valley, Dawson-Boyd, Montevideo, Benson, Yellow Medicine East, Lakeview, Minneota, and Renville County West.  The MRVED serves over 600 teachers and and 5,800 students.

Science Standards - 2nd Draft & Comment Period

The second draft of the 2019 Minnesota K-12 Science Education Standards is now available. The public is invited to provide feedback on the standards during its Public Review and Comment Period, February 14-28, 2019.  The standards can be found on the MDE Science page (link below the article) and the online feedback form link can be found below as well.  Let your voice be heard.  The standards committee reads all feedback and makes adjustments to the standards accordingly.

MDE Science Page

Online Feedback Form

Tech Tip of the Week - All Sides

In the political climate of today, showing kids both sides of stories is important.  All Sides allows you to examine news headlines from all sides.  It will even tell you if the article is left or right leaning, or centered.  All Sides can be used as a great teaching tool to show bias in the media, and teaching kids to think critically while they read.  If you are not going to use it with your kids, take a look yourself and see how headlines and stories are spun based upon political bias.

Ditch That Textbook - Ditch That Mindset (Part 3)

This week we will look at chapters 19-22.  Again, this book is such a quick read and full of awesome ideas!  Below is simply my thoughts from these chapters, so please get Ditch That Textbook and read the chapters.  I can, by no means, do the book justice in my short couple paragraphs of a synopsis.

Matt Miller starts chapter 19 by talking about Daniel Pink's research on motivation.  You can see Pink's TED talk on Motivation on the TED website.  I have watched this TED talk numerous times and find something to take away from it every time.  Students need to feel as if they have a choice while learning.  This could be choice in the activities or even how they learn the new material.  Students must also see a purpose in why they need to learn something or do an activity.  If the purpose is simply to get the activity completed, that may not be enough motivation for many of your students.  Show them the purpose, talk about the purpose.  If you can't give them a good reason as to why you are doing something, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it.

Chapter 20 moves into embracing new technology.  Miller gives us a great quote in this chapter, he says, "Technology must be an inalienable right to students" (Miller, 112).  I love this quote and it really made me think.  Miller gives the example of a new technology that comes out in the medical field that can save lives or make surgery recovery quicker...we would INSIST our doctors learn the new technology.  I don't think we would give them a choice if they want to implement the latest device into their practice.  Yet, we do this as teachers.  Our students are INSISTING we use the latest technology to make their learning more relevant.

This idea of insisting we (teachers) learn new technology flows right into the premise of chapter 21.  YOU are your own best PD.  Miller talks about not waiting until the next staff PD day to learn or see how the new technology works.  Dig in and try to figure it out yourself.  YOU have the greatest minds at your fingertips with Twitter, the best tutorial videos imaginable on YouTube.  Not to mention, you probably have a classroom of 20+ "experts" in front of you every day!  YOU have full control over your own PD. YOU.  YOU.  YOU!

I get a little fired up over this topic.  Miller reaffirms many of the same thoughts I have about education, PD, and technology.  We are living in a day and age where we have access to SO much information, almost too much information.  There should be no reason in the world why we can't learn something new to be the best we can.  After all, our kids deserve your very best EVERY DAY!

MRVED Update - January 23, 2019

MRVED Business

January 23, 2019  Superintendents' Council

January 25, 2019  Principals' Council - CANCELLED

February 1, 2019    Title III Teachers

February 13, 2019  MRVED Board (6 p.m.)

February 21, 2019  TAC

February 22, 2019  Principals' Council

February 27, 2019  Superintendents' Council

MELT Recap
Once again we couldn't fully escape the cold and snow, but overall it was a great day of learning.  Around 650 educators participated in the day and great collaboration occurred all day.  The MRVED would like to once again thank Lac qui Parle Valley for being such a great host.  The custodial staff does a fabulous job in preparing the building for 650 people and the kitchen staff prepares a wonderful meal for everyone.  Dave works hard to make sure all the technology is up and running not only throughout the day, but spends a couple hours the weekend prior getting everything ready.  Thank you to the administration and staff for allowing all the educators in your building.  It's not easy coming back into your classroom at the end of the day to see it torn apart.  The MELT committee thanks everyone and even those not mentioned.

MELT Evaluation
The MRVED hopes that all your MELT experience was a great one.  There were some awesome sessions presented throughout the whole day.  Please take a moment to fill out the MELT 2019 Evaluation.  Any and all feedback is appreciated.  The MRVED Teacher Advisory Committee (TAC) looks over the evaluations and makes adjustments to the day based upon the feedback.  The MRVED Principals and Superintendents also look over the evaluations.

MELT Evaluation

Rethinking Time in Schools

This past week I read a Tweet that asked the question, "What if our schools rethought the idea of time and scheduling?  What would it look like in your school?"  This really made me think and I started researching alternative scheduling in schools.  I came across this article on Reimagining the School Day by Meg Benner and Lisette Partelow from the Center for American Progress.  The article provides examples from elementary, to middle school, to high school.  I also stumbled upon this interesting resource as well. unlockingtime.org.  I think school schedules would be a neat PLC topic to investigate.  How do schedules impact student learning?

Testing 1,2,3 From MDE

Testing 1,2,3 is created by the Minnesota Department of Education as a resource to help district better utilize the data they are given.  The quote from the website is this:

"Test data is an effective tool for informing instruction. This website is designed to help teachers harness that data by providing helpful ways to understand, interpret and ultimately use test data in the classroom."

A quick browse through the website will give you a better idea of what it is all about.  This site has been in the works for the past couple years and brings many different aspects of MDE's website into one spot.  Bookmark it today!

Tech Tip of the Week - Tilt Brush by Google

In the "this is unbelievable" category, the Tilt Brush by Google is AWESOME!  The Tilt Brush allows you to paint in 3D.  The Tilt Brush itself is not too expensive, but the 3D goggles can get to be a bit expensive.  Check to see if your school has a pair of 3D goggles and then you will want to check out and purchase a Tilt Brush.  Imagine putting this in the hands of our kids and the things they can create!

Ditch That Textbook - Part 2 (Chapter 8-13) Ditch That Mindset

Last time we looked at the first part on "Why Go Digital" in the book Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.  If you still have not gotten the book, I highly, highly, suggest it!  There are SO many great ideas in this book, it really can help you transform your teaching.

We will now look at chapters 8-13 in the section titled "Ditch That Mindset".  Miller talks about a variety of things in these chapters so I'll do my best to summarize my learning.

Miller talks about making learning personal for kids.  Find a way to connect the content to something relevant in their world.  There are many parallels we can make in almost every content area.  Think about events in their worlds such as, birthday parties, prom, homecoming, jump rope for heart, etc...  Anytime you can personalize learning and connect real-life to content, kids tend to retain that information better.  It also makes learning interesting for kids.

Chapter 9 talks about making learning fun. Miller mentions the works of Dave Burgess, which the MRVED had the awesome opportunity to see this past fall.  Basically, do what you can to involve your kids in the learning and make it fun for them.  Think how boring life would be if school wasn't fun!

Miller continues to talk about building relationships with kids.  He mentions that some days you do need to be a kids friend because you are all he/she has.  Building positive relationships with kids really does make everything else in the book so much easier.  If kids respect and trust you, they will take risks with you.  They will help you when you fail.  They will encourage you, much like you encourage them.

The last part to these chapters talks about integrating the technology.  Chapters 12 & 13 go hand-in-hand with what I have been talking about the past five years.  Choose task over tool and utilize the SAMR model.  I compare the task over tool portion to the "Golden Why" by Simon Sinek with the learning objective in the middle as the "why" the tasks in the second ring as the "how" and the tools on the outside as the "what".  Lesson plan from the inside out...What is my learning goal?  Then, what task do I need to do to accomplish that goal?  Lastly, what tool will I use to accomplish both.

MRVED Update - December 5, 2018

MRVED Business

MELT Registration

MELT registration opened on December 5.  The deadline to register is 4 pm on December 19th.  Reminder to register EARLY as sessions do fill up.

IF YOU WILL BE HOSTING A STUDENT TEACHER THIS SPRING PLEASE FORWARD REGISTRATION INFORMATION TO THEM PLEASE.

MELT 2019 Brochure

MELT 2019 REGISTRATION LINK 

Upcoming Meetings

December 13, 2018 TAC

December 14, 2018 Principals’ Council

December 19, 2018 Superintendents’ Council

January 11, 2019 Title III Paras
January 21, 2019 MELT
January 23, 2019 Superintendents
January 25, 2019 Principals

The Future of College Entrance Exams

U.S. News and World Report recently published a story on the future of college entrance exams.  The story talks about how some colleges are no longer requiring the ACT or SAT exam for entrance.  It's a trend we have been hearing about for the past couple years that seems to be taking hold.  There is concerns over whether the tests measure college readiness and are not equitable for all students.  This really is a great article for anyone in education to read, especially if you have children of your own going off to college in the next couple years.

#TIES18

Don't forget to follow the #TIES18 hashtag on Twitter to follow along with the great conversation at the annual TIES technology conference in the cities.  This hashtag is a great place to find session resources, ideas, interesting tidbits, etc...  I know I'll be following along!  Even though the event is over, you can still search the hashtag and see what people shared during the conference.

Tech Tip of the Week - GeoGuessr

This tech tool is for anyone with a love of Geography, or simply likes a good challenge.  GeoGuessr can be a single player or multiplayer game.  The point of the game is to be able to guess where you are on the Earth.  You get placed somewhere on the globe in Google Street View and have to utilize the images to make an educated guess as to where you are.  The closer you guess to the actual place, the more points you get.  This is a great addition to any geography class, or simply an activity to do with your class if you need to pass some time.

Ditch That Textbook

Earlier this year, I highlighted a book and blog titled, Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.  Starting after Christmas break, we will begin examining different sections of Ditch That Textbook, much like we did with Teach Like a Pirate.  I highly suggest purchasing this book and following along.  It's an awesome playbook to go back to time and time again for your classroom.  Ditch That Textbook is not a book you will read once and put away, you'll find yourself going back to it for ideas.

Order the book today.