MRVED Update - February 23, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

Friday, March 4, 2022 - Principals' Council 

Friday, March 11, 2022 - Title III Paraprofessionals

Friday, March 18, 2022 - Title III Teachers (Virtual)

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 - Superintendents' Council

April 14, 2022 Information

ESL Consultant Needed

The MRVED is looking for a part-time ESL consultant to help assist districts in creating a newcomer program. Must have an ESL license with at least 3 years of experience in the field. You can read a more detailed description on Edpost or contact Karen or I for more information.

Resources

The Advantages of Heterogeneous Student Groups in Math

I recently read an article from edutopia from Joseph Manfre that really made me think about teaching and learning in the classroom. The article talks about students who are fast processors of information, in this case math, are often times isolated from learning experiences. It really made me think about students who are fast & slow processors of information and then how do we effectively differentiate in our classrooms for those students. It's a quick read, and you won't be disappointed.

The Advantages of Heterogeneous Student Groups in Math by Joseph Manfre

Professional Learning

LETRS Training Offered Free from MDE

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is excited to announce a new initiative to offer LETRS professional learning to educators across the state.

The Minnesota LETRS® Science of Reading Professional Learning Courses will provide sustained and job-embedded professional learning about the science of reading, at no cost to educators. These impactful courses will be based on Lexia’s LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) literacy professional learning and are being offered to thousands of educators.

Who is eligible?
Funding is available for licensed Minnesota educators. Priority will be given to educators in the following roles:

• K-3 classroom teacher
• Administrator
• Elementary special education teacher with responsibility for reading instruction
• Elementary reading interventionist/reading specialist or literacy coach
• Literacy professor in MN Institute of Higher Education

Book Study

Row the Boat - Chapter 6

As we near our April 14th Common Inservice day with PJ Fleck, I'm getting more and more excited to hear him talk about Row The Boat. Chapter 6 is a short, but crucial chapter in the book. It provides the context and symbolism around RTB.

There are three key components to rowing the boat; the oar, the boat, and the compass. "The oar is the energy of your life - your mission and your purpose" (Fleck, 53). The oar (your energy) is the only thing that moves the boat. It is up to you if your oar is in the water or not. When the waters get rough, we need to row a little harder, but we need to keep rowing through the storm to get through it.

The second component is the boat. The boat represents sacrifice. The more you give the bigger your boat gets. During those rough seas, having a bigger boat helps you get through those times a little easier. 

The third component is the compass. The compass provides you with direction. If you want to be a doctor, point your compass in that direction, pack your boat, and keep rowing!

Differentiation in the Secondary Classroom (or all classrooms)

Differentiation
So often we hear that differentiation cannot be done in my classroom because:

• I see 150 kids per day.
• The range in my classroom is so great.
• It's too much work.
• I don't have a para in my room.

When planning, many teachers shoot for the middle and hope to bring as many students with them as possible.  Is this what is really best for kids?  Are we creating an environment that is conducive to learning for ALL students?

ASCD has a great article on Five Tips for Getting Started with Differentiation in a Secondary Classroom.  The article provides some good pointers and reminders about differentiation.

We also often forget that there are three ways in which to differentiate in our classrooms (Process, Content, and Product).  If we do differentiate in our classrooms, we often only differentiate in one way and forget about the other two.  For instance, if we differentiate the product, we give our students choices as to how they want to show their learning, and we do this with all our assignments and never get to differentiating the process or the content.

Edutopia has quick list of examples of ways in which to differentiate by process, content, and product in the article 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do by John McCarthy.

Levels of Understanding: Learning That Fits All - Edutopia

Levels of Understanding
Last week I came across this great article on differentiation and learning for all from Edutopia and had to share it.  The article offers some great tips and strategies on how to effectively differentiate in your classroom.  It is well worth your time to read the article.

Levels of Understanding: Learning That Fits All - Edutopia

Brandon's Brainwork - Motivation

Motivation
Motivation has been a topic of discussion lately.  How do we motivate kids to learn?  How do we motivate kids to do their work?  If there were a definite answer to these questions, we wouldn't have to ask these questions.

Dan Pink offers an interesting look into what motivates people with this TED Talk.  Intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation...what's more powerful?

Students learn and are motivated in a variety of ways.  Differentiation and individualization are two ways in which a teacher can not only reach more students, but also motivate them.  Differentiation and individualization is easier said than done, but with practice becomes much easier.

Scholastic has a quick read on differentiation, I suggest you take a moment to glance over it.  When you have finished the article, take a moment and think about the reflection questions below.

Reflection Questions
Have you ever asked your students what motivates them?  Intrinsically?  Extrinsically?
Have you had your students complete a learning style inventory?
Have you tried a variety of differentiation strategies?
Have you thought about what motivates you as a learner?