MRVED Update

MRVED MELT 2018 Call for Presentation Proposals

The MRVED Educators Learning Together (MELT) conference will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School on January 15, 2018. To help make this conference the best ever, we need your help. The MRVED is looking for enthusiastic people willing to present on something great happening in your classroom. This can be anything from Google Drive to differentiation techniques in your classroom. Technology or no technology proposals are welcome. Presenters will be paid a small stipend for your work. You may submit as many presentation proposals as you wish.

We are especially looking for any Pre-K teachers willing to present!


**By filling out this form you are not committing to presenting, just providing the MRVED with your name and topic.**
2018 Call for Presentation Proposals Link

October 18 Information

The October 18, 2017 day of professional development is set up slightly different this year.  It is being held at two different locations, the Kilowatt Center and Yellow Medicine East High School, both in Granite Falls.

Administrators have designated PLC leaders from their district who will attend an all day Solution Tree training at the Kilowatt Center in Granite Falls.  Your agenda is as follows:

7:15 - 7:55 a.m.     Coffee and rolls

8:00 a.m. - Noon    Solution Tree training

​12:00 - 12:30 p.m.  Catered lunch

12:30 - 3:00 p.m.    Solution Tree training continues

​Please note that your start and ending times are different then the teachers who are attending at the Yellow Medicine East high school.  You start earlier and end later.

***************

The remaining staff will be attending a day of professional development at Yellow Medicine East High School.  Your agenda is as follows:

8:00 - 8:35 a.m.  Coffee, juice, cinnamon rolls, yogurt in the YME gym

In the morning you will be split into 2 groups.  One group will attend Kayla Delzer's presentation first and then attend a breakout session.  The 2nd group will do the opposite.

8:40 - 10:20 a.m. Kayla Delzer presentation or breakout session

10:30 - Noon        Kayla Delzer presentation or breakout session

12:00 - 12:50 p.m. Lunch provided by YME Food Service

1:00 - 2:30 p.m.     District time - your district will be planning the afternoon portion of this day.

Only staff attending at Yellow Medicine East High School need to register.  Registration closes this Friday, October 6 at midnight.  Any questions on registration, contact Mary Brown at mbrown@mrved.net or 320-269-9297.

For those of you attending the PLC training, we are videotaping Kayla Delzer's presentation and will be posting it on a private youtube site.  Your district will receive information on how to access this presentation.

Tech Tip of the Week - PBS Learning Media

PBS Learning Media is THE destination for high-quality, trusted digital content and solutions that inspire students and transform learning. Developed in partnership with the WGBH Educational Foundation and supported by public media stations nationwide, PBS LearningMedia engages educators and learners at all levels with content from America’s #1 Educational Media Brand.

There are over 100,000 resources in this database for ALL grade levels.  From documents, to short video clips, to actual lesson plans and activities.  PBS Learning Media is a rich, FREE resource for any classroom!

Fire Prevention Week Resources

Fire Prevention Week is observed October 8-14 this year.  The theme is "Every Second Counts, Plan 2 Ways Out".  The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has some excellent resources to share with your classroom and with your community.  Even if you don't bring any of this into your classroom, it is good information for you and your family.

Innovator's Mindset

We continue our series on The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros.  This week we will talk about Chapter 2, which is titled, The Innovator's Mindset.

Couros starts by talking about one of the most impactful books I have ever read, Mindset by Carol Dweck.  Before I started the book, I anticipated, due to the title, Couros would bring Dweck's work into the conversation.  Dweck talked about the difference between a fixed and growth mindset.  With a growth mindset the learner believes that with hard work and practice you can learn anything.  Your intelligence is not "fixed", you are capable of learning anything.

Combine the definition of a growth mindset with that of what it means to be an innovator and you get someone that believes that they can learn anything and develop something that is new or better.  With this combination, you get the Innovator's Mindset.

Couros also talks about failure in this chapter.  He talks about failure being part of the innovation process, but cautions against focusing too much on failure.  Couros says, "Having the freedom to fail is important to innovation.  But even more important to the process are the traits of resiliency and grit."  This is so important!  Nobody will ever remember you for the 1,000 failures you have, they remember you for the 1 time you got it right.  The innovator still needs to persevere through the process and succeed.

Couros mentions many other things in this chapter, but I highly suggest you purchase the book and follow along.  Couros will be our keynote speaker for the common day this Spring!

MRVED Update

MRVED MELT 2018 Call for Presentation Proposals

The MRVED Educators Learning Together (MELT) conference will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School on January 15, 2018. To help make this conference the best ever, we need your help. The MRVED is looking for enthusiastic people willing to present on something great happening in your classroom. This can be anything from Google Drive to differentiation techniques in your classroom. Technology or no technology proposals are welcome. Presenters will be paid a small stipend for your work. You may submit as many presentation proposals as you wish.

We are especially looking for any Pre-K teachers willing to present!


**By filling out this form you are not committing to presenting, just providing the MRVED with your name and topic.**
2018 Call for Presentation Proposals Link

October 18 Common Day

Be looking for information on the October 18 Common Day held at Yellow Medicine East in the very near future.  Here is a brief synopsis of the day.

Training for PLC Leaders at the Kilowatt Community Center in Granite Falls.  This training will be from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and will be facilitate by Jack Baldermann, consultant with Solution Tree.

For people who are not PLC Leaders, Kayla Delzer will be a keynote speaker at Yellow Medicine East High School.  Kayla will be speaking to half the teachers in a 90 minute session, while the other half of the teachers are attending breakout sessions.  After 90 minutes the groups will flip-flop.  The afternoon will be spent in district teams, facilitated by your districts.

Be looking for more specific information in your email in the coming weeks.

Innovator's Mindset Series - Chapter 1

This week we will start the series over the book Innovator's Mindset by George Couros.  The series will feature some information from the chapters with my (Brandon's) own take on what it all means.  I highly suggest buying this book, it's a quick read and really makes you think.  Not to mention, George Couros will be our keynote speaker at the Spring common day.

Chapter 1 - What Innovation is and isn't
The chapter starts off with a very good example of Blockbuster going under because they were unwilling to give up an outdated business model (nobody rents movies from stores anymore...everything is streamed).  Basically, innovate or die!

We work in a world where the same holds true.  We need to either innovate our practices or education as we know it may die.  Think about what the Internet has done to the movie industry, it changed it ten-fold.  Think about what it should be doing to education!

Couros defines innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better (pg 19).  Couros puts emphasis on the "new & better" part, whereas, I also think that "thinking" should also be emphasized.  Couros says, "when we think differently about the things that we are used to seeing daily, we can create innovative learning opportunities" (pg 25).  True innovation is taking an idea, thinking deeply about it, and moving forward in hopes it creates a new and better experience for someone.  Often times, we forget about the "better" piece.  You may innovate a practice, but did it really make it better?  For example, a teacher believes they are innovative for scanning their worksheets and providing them to the students online.  This practice is #1 not innovative and #2 does not automatically make the experience better for the students.

Innovation is not simply doing something differently (see example above).  It's a way of thinking that keeps the interests of both the teacher and student in mind.  If it's not a solution that is better for both parties, it isn't innovative.

Questions to consider (pg 27)
1. What is an example of a practice that you consider to be innovative?  How is it new or better than what you did before?

Tech Tip

Google Classroom is gaining in popularity in our classrooms.  Not only for the ease of using Google Drive, but also organization & communication.  Google is constantly updating and changing things within their platform.  Use this website to see what was updated last month, and you can even look back to the updates over the summer.  If you are an avid user, you may not even know some of these features exist!

Google Classroom Updates

Article - How the Google Suite Can Enhance Open-Ended Math Exploration

This article was sent to me and offers some great talking/thinking points about visualization in the math classroom.  I think there are some great ideas in here for both elementary and high school as well as other content areas.  Give it a quick glance today!

How the Google Suite Can Enhance Open-Ended Math Exploration Article


MRVED Meetings
September 29, 2017 - Title III Paras
October 25, 2017 - Superintendents' Council
October 27, 2017 - Principals' Council
November 8, 2017 - Joint Principals' & TAC

#WeAreMRVED

Welcome Back

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school!  We hope that your summer was relaxing and rejuvenating.  2017-18 is going to be the best school year ever.  We can't wait to interact with the 650+ teachers of the MRVED in the coming school year.

This year is going to be an AWESOME year as a MRVED.  One of the highlights this year is that we have not one, but TWO top-notch big name speakers coming to speak to us.  This Fall Kayla Delzer will be in attendance at our first common in-service day.  If you have not seen or heard Kayla, she is phenomenal and you are in for a real treat.  You can check out her website HERE.  More information will be coming about the October common day soon, in the meantime, here is her TEDx talk from 2015.

Then, this Spring, George Couros will be keynoting our Spring common in-service day.  Couros is another rock star presenter that delivers a great message to all educators.  You can find more information about him HERE, or check out his TEDx talk from 2013.

We also can't forget that MELT 2018 is going to be the best yet!  Featuring some of our very own rock star teachers sharing and showing inspiring things happening in their classrooms.

We can't wait for all the great opportunities we have before us this year.

#weareMRVED

#WeAreMRVED

For those of you on Twitter, we are encouraging the use of the hashtag #WeAreMRVED to promote great things happening in your school or classroom.  If your classroom or school uses Twitter give us a follow and we will follow you back.

@MNRVED

Arts Standards Review Process

Are you interested in helping to review and revise Minnesota’s K-12 arts standards? Consider joining the Arts Standards Review Committee! Before applying to the committee, please read the Assumptions for Guiding the Standards Committee’s Work and the Standards Review Timeline documents posted below. Serving on the committee requires an intense time commitment of at least one two-day and nine full-day committee meetings from October 2017 through May 2018. The initial two-day meeting is scheduled for October 30-31, 2017, at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), and is required of all committee members. Applications will be accepted August 22-September 19, 2017. Committee members will be announced on the MDE website on September 29, 2017.

MDE and the Perpich Center for Arts Education will cover mileage costs for all committee members as well as meal and lodging costs for those travelling from great distances. MDE and the Perpich Center for Arts Education also will cover the cost of substitutes for all teachers selected for the committee. For more information about the standards review process, contact Alina Campana (763-279-4183).
Minnesota Department of Education Website

Tech Tip - SeeSaw

If you have been looking for a way to use the tablets in your classroom?  Look no further than SeeSaw.  SeeSaw is an AWESOME App that allows students to capture their work and then easily submit to the teacher.  SeeSaw is great for K-12, but probably geared more toward the Elementary level.  If you think signing in to the app will be an issue for the kids, it's not.  You can setup your class list and student log in is a breeze.  Students can also scan a QR code or create their own accounts, depending on age.  The app works if students have their own device, or if you have a classroom set.  It does not matter your age group or how your devices are distributed, this app works in ALL environments!  Teachers who have used this app, absolutely love it!  It's free, give it a try right away this 1st quarter.

Innovator's Mindset

For the past couple years we have highlighted a couple books in the MRVED Update.  Last year we looked at What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker.  This year we will examine The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros.  Couros will be the keynote speaker for our common in-service date in March 2018.

I highly recommend purchasing the book The Innovator's Mindset and following along as we examine a chapter for each MRVED Update this year.  This book is amazing and could possibly change the way you approach your classroom on a day to day basis.  Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.

Last Update of The Year

This is the last update of the 2016-2017 school year.  We hope you gained something from reading the updates this past school year.  We strive to create and pass along content that is relevant to our nine member school districts.  If you ever have a topic or something you think other teachers would enjoy reading or attending, please let Brandon know and he will gladly place it in the update.

Have an enjoyable and restful break.  As every year, the MRVED offices will be open all summer, so stop by, grab a piece of candy (or a cup of coffee) and say hello.  We always enjoy summer visitors and hearing about all your adventures during the break.  If you need anything over break, do not hesitate to let us know. Get rejuvenated and some rest for another school year. Thank you all for another great year and we will see you in September.

MRVED Meetings
May 15, 2017  Principals' and Teachers' Advisory Council combined meeting (8:30 a.m. start)
May 24, 2017  Superintendents' Council

June 21, 2017  MRVED Board (7:00 p.m.)
June 28, 2017  Superintendents' Council

MRVED Summer Professional Development

MRVED Summer Professional Development
The MRVED will be offering a couple professional development opportunities over the summer.  See the brochure for more information.

June 20 - Google, Google, and More Google - Brandon Raymo
June 29 - Suicide Prevention - Brian Skogen
July 17 - Vocab Everyday - Laura Byard
July 19 - How to Become a Substitute Teacher - Karen Jacobson & Brandon Raymo

Brochure

Registration Link

MDE Resources

MDE Resources
Holly Brunson, Outreach and Training Specialist from MDE spent the day at the MRVED last week.  She showed the many different data centers MDE has available to users and how to use them.  She also shared a couple resources that should be shared.

MCA Released Items - MCA test questions that have been retired from the test bank.  Currently only math available.

MCA Advisory Panel - Serve on a committee for creating quality test questions for the various content areas.  Great opportunity to see how the MCA tests are created.

Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS) - Variety of data points from PreK-Post Secondary.

Achievement Level Descriptors - Describe what Exceeds, Meets, Partial, and Does Not Meet looks like.