MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings
November 20, 2015  Principals' Council (11:30 a.m. start)
November 25, 2015  Superintendents' Council

December 1, 2015  Industrial Technology
December 3, 2015  English Language Arts
December 4, 2015  Title III Teachers
December 7, 2015  District Assessment Coordinators (DAC)
December 8, 2015  World Languages
December 11, 2015  Social Studies

MELT Networking Facilitators - Last Chance

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 interest.  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 3:00p.m. on Friday November 20.  If you have any questions or cannot access the form, please contact Brandon (braymo@mrved.net).


MELT NETWORKING FACILITATOR SIGN UP LINK



Best Practice Meeting Updates
Title I
The Title I teachers came to the MRVED on November 3rd.  The Title I teachers get a treat every year as Brandon and Karen both run the meeting.  In the morning the group spent some time with Karen discussing Mindset.  The conversations were awesome!  After Mindset, the group read and discussed an article on learning styles.  Lunch was amazing as usual.  In the afternoon the group networked and shared a wealth of resources.   Brandon then talked about how to search Google effectively and efficiently and the day was over.  A very productive day for all.

Phy Ed & Health
The Phy Ed and Health teachers gathered at the MRVED in early November for their annual best practice meeting.  The morning was centered around a great conversation on grading practices in the classroom.  It has been really neat to see how each content area approaches this topic.  The activity has expanded the thinking of many.  Then the group aligned their curriculum with the standards using a Google Doc.  In the afternoon, the group networked and finished the day with aligning the health standards.  It was a very productive day with some great conversation.

FACS
The MRVED meeting with the FACS teachers was combined with the Southwest West Central Service Cooperatives meeting this year.  The two meetings were scheduled so close together that it was in the best interest of the teachers to combine.  The teachers had the opportunity to hear from their state specialist as well as an introduction to the Frameworks for FACS Education.  In the afternoon we heard from Neal, who works at the U of M as a researcher in the field of food defense.  Yes, food defense!  Basically defending our food supply from any terrorist attacks, both foreign and domestic.  It was another awesome day with a great group of ladies!

Agriculture
Brandon and the Ag teachers ventured to Hutchinson on a beautiful Friday afternoon.  The morning was spent on the Ridgewater campus, touring and meeting with faculty in the manufacturing department.  In the afternoon, we toured MITGI on the Hutchinson Technology Campus.  After a short meeting with the President of MITGI as well as the HR and Safety Director, we had the opportunity to tour the building.  MITGI is a precision carbide cutting tool manufacturer.  Not only was the process amazing to watch, but the atmosphere at MITGI and the way the business is ran is awesome.  Overall it was a great day of learning about what higher ed is looking for as well as employers in the industry.

Tech Tip - GoNoodle

GoNoodle
If you are looking for a way to incorporate movement into your classroom, check out GoNoodle.  My 2nd grade daughter loves GoNoodle.  It has a variety of short, fun video clips to use in the classroom that will get your kids moving.  They have categories of clips from stretching, to kinesthetic movement, to calming techniques.  These can be used as a quick warm up or cool down after an activity.  Little kids love them and I would guess older kids might get a kick out of them from time to time.  Check it out today!

MRVED Business

Physical Education and Health Best Practice Meeting Update
The day started off with Brandon showing the group some of the latest and greatest apps and websites for the Health and/or PE classroom.  After that, the group looked at the SAMR model for technology integration and had time to digest a lot of new information.  An article was read and discussed on competition in the Phy Ed classroom.  It was a very interesting discussion among groups on a somewhat controversial topic in physical education.  The group then split into districts teams and aligned the standards K-12.  Lunch was great as usual.  In the afternoon the group networked and looked at the health standards and had another productive discussion.

MRVED Meetings

November 13, 2014  Social Workers
November 18, 2014  FACS - MTG CHANGED TO DECEMBER 16, 2014
November 20, 2014  Industrial Technology
November 21, 2014  Community Ed
November 26, 2014  Superintendents' Council

Fall Conference Dates

Fall Conferences
Art Educators of Minnesota - November 7 & 8 in Rochester
Minnesota Business Educators - November 6 & 7 in Bloomington
Minnesota Association of Health/PE - November 3 & 4 in Wayzata
Minnesota Council of Teachers of English - Fall Workshop October 27 in Brooklyn Park
Education Minnesota - October 16 & 17 in St. Paul

MRVED Business

Physical Education/Health Best Practice Meeting Update
This year we ended up combining the physical education and health teachers for their annual best practice meeting.  It turned out to be a great day.  The group started off the day with a 21st century skills activity and had great discussion around what it means to be a 21st century educator and student.  The group then did an activity on providing effective feedback to students and had another great discussion.  Brandon shared some technology before lunch.  After lunch the teachers had the opportunity to network and share resources.  The day ended looking at academic vocabulary.  Another great year with a great bunch of teachers.

Social Studies Best Practice Meeting
Brandon's favorite group (because he is a social studies teacher) came to the MRVED on Thursday for their best practice meeting.  The day started once again with a 21st century skills activity.  Brandon then had the opportunity to model some technology and have a discussion about the impacts of AR technology on education.  The group broke for lunch and had a great time sharing stories and catching up over the dinner table.  After the lunch the teachers came back and had the opportunity to hear from a couple ladies from PBS as to what PBS can offer for their classrooms.  The last thing the teachers did was network and they were on their way home.  It's always nice for Brandon to catch up with his former colleagues and the teachers thoroughly enjoyed the day.

MRVED Meetings:
February 12, 2014  Principals' Council
February 20, 2014  Teachers' Advisory Council
February 26, 2014  Superintendents' Council
March 4, 2014        Agriculture
March 6, 2014        Industrial Technology

MRVED Business

Best Practice Meetings Resume & Weather Policy
Best practice meetings will resume next week with Phy Ed and Health on Tuesday and Social Studies on Thursday.  We look forward to seeing all your smiling faces.

As a reminder, please review the MRVED weather policy (posted below) in case of inclement weather.

MRVED Weather Policy

Since we are located in the Montevideo School District area, if Montevideo schools are open and on time, we will hold the meeting. If Montevideo has a late start, the meeting will be cancelled and rescheduled.

However, even if the meeting is still being held, if the weather is unsafe to travel in your area, stay home! We want you to be safe. If the meeting is on time and you cannot make it, please let us know (320-269-9297) so we don't worry about you. If you have any questions, feel free to call us at 320-269-9297.

MRVED will also submit meeting cancellations and/or updates on WCCO’s TV channel and website wcco.com (See School Closings under Quick Links). We will be listed under MRVED (just our initials.)

MRVED Meetings
February 4, 2014  Phy Ed & Health Combined
February 5, 2014  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
February 6, 2014  Social Studies
February 7, 2014  Title III Teachers
February 12, 2014  Principals' Council
February 20, 2014  Teachers' Advisory Council
February 26, 2014  Superintendents' Council

MRVED Business

Happy New Year
The MRVED staff wishes you all a very happy new year!  We hope your year is filled with happiness and success!

Health Best Practice Meeting Rescheduled

The Health best practice meeting that was cancelled due to bad weather on December 5th will be rescheduled for February 4th.  This is the same day as the Physical Education best practice meeting as we will combine both groups this year.  If you have any questions, please let us know.  You will receive an agenda for the meeting approximately a week before.

MRVED Meetings:
January 20, 2014  MELT
January 15, 2014  Community Ed Meeting
January 22, 2014  Superintendents' Council
February 4, 2014  Phy Ed and Health Best Practices Combined
February 5, 2014  MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
February 6, 2014  Social Studies
February 7, 2014  Title III Teachers

MRVED Business

Meeting Updates
English Language Arts Best Practice Meeting
The English Language Arts Best Practice Meeting was held on Tuesday, December 3rd.  A large group of teachers gathered at the MRVED on a cold, wet/snowy day.  The morning started off learning what 21st century skills are and how they relate to the classroom.  After a great discussion on the 21st century skills, the group then broke into smaller groups and tackled creating a K-12 MRVED Academic Vocabulary List.  This was a great activity for teachers to do, and revealed some awesome discussion about teaching vocabulary in the classroom.  Lunch was great as usual.  The afternoon was a little more laid back and the teachers had the opportunity to share their own resources and ideas with each other.  Brandon showed some augmented reality technology at the end and the group parted ways for another year.  Again, overall a great bunch of teachers and an awesome day!


Health Best Practice Meeting
The Health best practice meeting was postponed due to the weather.  Look for a makeup date to be sent out soon.

MRVED Meetings
December 9, 2013  District Assessment Coordinators (DACs)
December 11, 2013  Principals' Council
December 12, 2013 Teachers' Advisory Council (TAC)
December 13, 2013  Title III Teachers
December 18, 2013  Superintendents' Council