MRVED Update - January 22, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

January 22, 2020 - Superintendents' Council
January 24, 2020 - Principals' Council
January 31, 2020 - Title III Teachers
February 6, 2020 - Substitute Teacher Training
February 12, 2020 - MRVED Board

MELT Recap & Evaluation

MELT 2020 is now in the rearview mirror.  Once again, the conference was a huge success.  Over 650 teachers graced the hallways of Lac qui Parle Valley High School and attended over 100 sessions.  Many of the sessions were led by some of our own awesome teachers, counselors, principals, social workers, etc...  Our hope is that you were able to grow as an educator through your sessions.

If you have not done so already, please take the time to fill out the Evaluation for the day.  Our Teacher Advisory Committee uses the information from the evaluations to make decisions on future professional development opportunities.  We appreciate any and all feedback.

Thank you to all that participated and presented.  A special thank you to all of Lac qui Parle Valley for the hospitality and hard work in getting things ready for the day.  LqPV does an excellent job!

Public Review Period for MCA-IV Test Specifications for Science

As a result of the 2019 revisions to the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Science, the Science Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment-Series IV (Science MCA-IV) will begin assessing these standards in the spring of 2024. In collaboration with a committee of Minnesota educators, MDE has drafted the Science MCA-IV Test Specifications to assist with the development of the new assessments.

Members of the public are encouraged to review the proposed MCA-IV Draft Test Specifications for Science and provide feedback through the Science MCA-IV Test Specifications Feedback Survey. The survey will be open until February 17, 2020. Your feedback is important in creating the best assessment possible for all Minnesota students. A copy of the survey questions is available to review and discuss with colleagues before entering your individual or group survey responses.

Professional Development

The Today Show recently featured the story from Lucy Laney Elementary School in North Minneapolis.  I highly recommend watching both the Today Show clip as well as taking the time to watch the documentary Love Them First.  The documentary is grabbing national attention and shining a spotlight on SEL in our schools.

Today Show clip
Love Them First

Book Study

Sanctuaries - Introduction and Section 1 - Sanctuaries

As we begin our journey through the book Sanctuaries by Dan Tricarico, I highly suggest purchasing the book and following along.  The book is about self-care secrets for stressed-out teachers.  It provides strategies for teachers in taking care of themselves.  During this book study, I will highlight some of my favorite points in the chapters and by no means is a substitute for not reading the book.  I would love to hear your feedback and experiences as well.

Tricarico starts by telling us why self-care is so important.  As teachers, I think we are well aware of teacher burnout and why our burnout rate is so high.  Teaching is such a personable and stressful profession.  We all have stories about teachers, and good teachers at that, that have left the profession due to the stresses.  A great quote in the introduction is, "Your well-being and the success of your students, relies, in many ways, on your ability to thrive - not simply survive" (Tricarico, iii).

I'm going to summarize the first section of this book in 1 paragraph, please note there is SO much more in this reading.

We need to find and recognize our own "sanctuaries", that is a place of refuge and protection.  This can be a physical place or an emotional place.  Some people go for a run to find their sanctuary, and some people simply want to sit in front of a TV.  We need to know where our sanctuary is, so you can go to that place during a stressful time.  You also need to be intentional about your self-care.  He says, "If you want to treat yourself better..., you must do it on purpose and by choice" (Tricarico, 7).  Then you need to give yourself permission to take care of yourself.  If your sanctuary is running, and you have a plan to run and are intentional about it, you also need to tell yourself that it is OK to take the time to do it.  Tricarico says you also need to put this permission in writing and give yourself a permission slip to do it.  By doing this, you are more likely to actually do it!

Again, there is so much more in these chapters, my goal is to get you thinking about your own self-care.  Start a conversation at your school today.

1. Where is your sanctuary(ies)?

2. How can you be intentional about your self-care?

MRVED Update - November 20, 2019

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

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

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.