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!

MRVED Update - February 9, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

Friday, February 11, 2022 - Title III Teachers

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - MRVED Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 - Superintendents' Council

Friday, March 4, 2022 - Principals' Advisory Council

Resources

Valentine Day Math Resources

Valentine's Day is approaching. If you are a teacher of math and looking for a way to incorporate the big day into your lessons, Sara VanDerWerf provides some excellent ideas from her blog. Sara was a presenter at MELT a couple years ago and is now the Math Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education. She is full of knowledge and ideas, not to mention an awesome person. If you have any math related questions, need ideas, or are wondering about the new math standards, don't hesitate to shoot her an email. (Sara.VanDerWerf@state.mn.us).

Teaching With the Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics are in full swing. This is a great opportunity to bring current events into your classroom. Pretty much all content areas can work the Olympics into their classrooms in some way. The students can really get connected to the Olympics as there is so much variety and it is covered widely on television. Here are some resources for teaching the Olympics.

We Are Teachers

The Teachers' Corner

Home School Olympic Resources

Professional Learning

Testing 1,2,3

The Minnesota Department of Education created a website specifically for MCA testing called Testing 1,2,3. This resource is very rich in all information related to the MCA's. I particularly like the "Assess" tab. It covers everything from how the tests are formulated to offering retired questions. It is really worth the time and effort to dig through this material to give you a better understanding of the MCA process. The Testing 1,2,3 website would be a great tool to bring into any PLC. There are also webinars to go along with most of the pages. Check it out today!

Book Study

Row the Boat - Chapter 4&5

I hope you are following along with the Row the Boat book study. By no means is my interpretation or writing about the chapters a replacement for buying the book and reading it. There are so many tidbits one can take away from reading the PJ Fleck book. If you don't have a copy, go get one today! It's a cheap read, not to mention very quick!

This week we will look at chapters 4 & 5. Chapter 4 talks about the Row The Boat philosophy and chapter 5 talks about the beginning & launching of Row the Boat at Western Michigan.

"Row the Boat" is a never-give-up mantra and an approach to life and work that anyone can adopt and implement. (Fleck, 29). Take note that this is "Row the Boat" not "Paddle the Boat". When you row, your back is to the front of the boat and you can't see what's coming. This represents your future. You don't know what's coming and you have to react to it as it happens. When you row the boat, you are in the present, and the only thing you can control is the oar in your hands. The past is represented by what is behind you. Since you a rowing, you can see your past. Learn from it and move on. Fleck does a much better job of outlining his philosophy in chapter 4, but for sake of conversation, we'll leave it short.

Chapter 5 goes into detail about the first 4 years Coach Fleck instilled Row The Boat at Western Michigan. He talks about the 4 different stages. I won't go into detail on the stages, but simply outline them here. He likens RTB to building a house. The first stage is digging the hole. The second stage is pouring the foundation. Stage 3 is putting up the framing, and the last stage was putting in the windows. Coach Fleck mentions how the first couple years his team barely won any games and how doubt crept into his mind. But he used his own RTB philosophy and kept rowing through the storm. By year 4 his team finish 13-1 and playing on a New Years' Day bowl game

MRVED Update - January 26, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

Thursday, February 3, 2022 - Teachers' Advisory Council

Friday, February 4, 2022 - Principals' Advisory Council (Postponed)

Friday, February 11, 2022 - Title III Teachers

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - MRVED Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 - Superintendents' Council

MELT Feedback & Reflection

MELT 2022 is in the books! The weather was great & it was fun to see everyone collaborating together in-person again. A huge shoutout to all our presenters and facilitators for sharing your talents and expertise with us. Without these willing people, MELT simply cannot happen. Once again, LqPV was a gracious and welcoming host. A special thank you to the janitorial staff for getting the parking lot and sidewalks cleaned after a dumping of snow the Friday prior.

Our Teacher Advisory Council(TAC) and Principal Advisory Council(PAC) will be reviewing the feedback from the evaluations and be making recommendations for future common inservice days. Thanks to all that participated. It was a great day of learning!

Resources

Don't Forget About Google Drawings

I was helping a teacher last week brainstorm ideas about activities for an upcoming lesson. We were looking for a type of digital whiteboard. While there are many options out there, we really didn't find one we liked. Then it hit me...Google Drawings! We often times forget about this long lost app from Google. You can do some awesome things with Drawings. Shake Up Learning has a great article on 20 Ways to Use Google Drawings. She has some really neat ideas on how to use Google Drawings in your classroom.

Teaching With the Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics start next week. This is a great opportunity to bring current events into your classroom. Pretty much all content areas can work the Olympics into their classrooms in some way. The students can really get connected to the Olympics as there is so much variety and it is covered widely on television. Here are some resources for teaching the Olympics.

We Are Teachers

The Teachers' Corner

Home School Olympic Resources

Professional Learning

FETC Conference

The Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) is currently being held in Orlando, Florida. If you, like me, weren't one of the lucky ones to get out of negative temperatures to enjoy this great conference, you can still follow along on Twitter. Follow the hashtag #FETC for all the great behind the scenes chatter and resource sharing. FETC is a great conference and one of my favorites to follow along with on Twitter. The cool thing about Twitter, is you can scroll back through previous tweets to see everything that was talked about in days prior.

Book Study

Row the Boat

If you haven't purchased the book Row the Boat by P.J. Fleck and Jon Gordon, you still have time. This week we will get through chapter 3. Please know that my analysis and thoughts about the chapters is by no means a replacement for buying the book and reading it. When you read it for yourself, you always can grab a few nuggets for yourself.

Chapter 2 is Jon Gordon talking about how the book is set up, basically a Q & A with P.J. Fleck. His first question for Coach Fleck was how he came up with Row the Boat.

Most times, if you look hard enough, you can see some sort of silver-lining through tragedy and adversity. Row the Boat was built out of the tragic loss of Coach Fleck's first son minutes after birth. Through the grieving process he needed something to help him through the process. He liked water, he like boats, he was an elementary teacher at heart and Row, Row, Row, Your Boat came to mind. Row the Boat.

The interesting part about Row the Boat, was that his first head coaching job was in Western Michigan. Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo, Michigan and their nickname is the Broncos, nothing to do with boats or water. It takes a really big leap of faith to put out a slogan that would need a lot of PR to get people to understand. The line that struck me from this chapter was, "I learned that if you are going to brand and make public something so personal, you had better be confident enough and ready for the critics to attack it and not take it personally" (Fleck, 26).

This quote made me think about projects we are part of in our own lives. Sometimes we get really caught up in our projects, so much so that we fully understand them, but sometimes forget that others are not as invested as you and may criticize what you are doing. 

As a school district, we know what we are doing. We know our mission and vision statement? But does the community? Does the community care? If not, how do we make them care? If you were to stop a member of your community, or even a parent in your district, and asked them what the mission statement is of your school, could they tell you?

MRVED Update - January 12, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

Wednesday, January 19, 2022- Superintendents' Council

Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 - Teachers' Advisory Council

Friday, February 4, 2022 - Principals' Advisory Council 

Friday, February 11, 2022 - Title III Teachers

MELT Information

MELT 2022 is fast approaching!  If you have not registered yet, please contact Katie (kraymo@mrved.net) at the MRVED office to do so immediately.

MELT (MRVED Educators Learning Together)  will be held at Lac qui Parle Valley High School.  The conference has over 600 individuals registered with around 100 sessions throughout the day.

Please look over these important points regarding the conference:

• You will enter through "Door #5" (follow the walkway to the left of the eagle statue).  

• Please make sure you stop at the registration table in the commons area to pick up your registration packet (personalized agenda with session selections, room numbers, clock hours, and lunch ticket, if applicable).  It will be in the alcove (by the pop machines) to the right of the doors as you enter. 

• Please note that we will be spreading out the registration tables throughout the Commons Area.  Alphabetical signs will be posted.  Please respect the personal space of others when picking up your registration packet and during lunch.  

• Breakfast will be available when you arrive.  

• The first session will start promptly at 8:40 a.m.

• You are NOT able to switch sessions the day of the conference as the sessions become overcrowded and there may not be enough seating availability. 

• Please dress in layers; some rooms may be warm, while others may be cool.

• If you are not eating the school lunch, please bring a bag lunch.  

• This year, to help with social distancing, participants will be able to eat lunch in the classrooms.  Please be respectful to LqPV and make sure there is no food dropped on the floor and all garbage is placed in the garbage can.

• There will be rooms available for nursing moms; please see Pam Weber in the high school principal's office for availability.

• Please be aware that there is poor cell phone reception inside of LqPV school.  

• There will be press at the conference taking photographs or video.  Presenters may be taking photographs or videos as well.  Please let Katie, Brandon, Karen, Pam, or the presenter in your session know if you do not want your picture/video taken.

• Face coverings/masks are strongly encouraged, but are not required at this time.  If you feel unwell or have any COVID symptoms, please stay home.  Please note that we will not be providing masks.

• We ask for your patience and understanding in the case that a presenter(s) becomes ill at the last minute.

If the weather is inclement, any cancellation or delay relating to MELT will be posted by 6:00 a.m. on the WCCO website under "Quicklinks/School Closings".  We will be listed under MRVED (just the initials).  This will also be posted on WCCO's TV channel (CBS) and our MRVED website (www.mrved.com) under "Latest News".

All registrants should have received an email with detailed information regarding the conference.

We are looking forward to a great MELT!

#WeAreMRVED

Resources

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

I used to love watching this TV show and can remember playing this game on the computer in school. It's a great way to have kids explore the world, learning some geography and history, all while having fun. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego utilizes Google Earth to play the game. You and your students will enjoy tracking her down and exploring the world. Check it out today.

https://blog.tcea.org/catch-carmen-sandiego-using-google-earth/

Professional Learning

The Truth About Being the "Stupidest" in the Room

I watched this 2 minute video by Simon Sinek, not necessarily because I was looking to learn something, but because the title was interesting. When I watched it, I was both entertained and perplexed. It really made me reflect on my own interactions as well as make me think about how students feel in the classroom. Questions I asked after watching this short video.

When I don't understand something, am I really the only person who doesn't understand? Probably not?

How do we create a culture where asking questions is accepted?

Is the environment I create in my workshops conducive to allowing people to feel safe to ask questions?

"Better to be an idiot for a minute than an idiot for a lifetime"

Book Study

Row the Boat - Introduction & Chapter 1

Row the Boat by P.J. Fleck and Jon Gordon was selected as the book this winter/spring because P.J. Fleck will be our keynote speaker during our April 14 MRVED common inservice. We are excited to host coach Fleck in Benson's new Performing Arts Center.

Row the Boat is a book about coach Fleck and how to lead, build a team, and improve culture. It is a quick 2 to 3 hour read and well worth the time. This book is not about football or football strategy. It uses the life of coach Fleck, which happens to be through football, and show how to build a winning culture.

Chapter 1 is completely about Coach Fleck and how he came into being a coach. If you are familiar with P.J. Fleck, he's not a big guy. He's not your typical NFL player, especially wide receiver. Fleck talks about growing up having to be tough with a never-give-up attitude. He talks about how he was able to impress coaches in NFL training camp, which gave him his opportunity in the NFL. Fleck also mentions the adversity of being injured and how an injury lead to him getting the opportunity to coach. He also lays the ground work for some of the influential people in his life.

P.J. Fleck has an elementary teaching degree and has the energy of 3 kindergarten teachers! When you read Row the Boat, you can really hear his voice come through. The whole Row the Boat culture is build upon reacting to adversity. Rowing the boat through high seas and calm days. Building a culture where we all are working toward the same goals and ambitions. Even if you don't like football, there is so much to learn from this quick read. Join me this Spring as we Row the Boat together. We will look at Chapters 2 & 3 next week.

MRVED Update - December 15, 2021

MRVED Business

MELT Registration

MELT Registration opened on Monday. Over 3/4 of MRVED teachers have already registered! We have already had to close sessions, so if you haven't registered yet, be sure to do it now! Registration closes December 22nd at 4:00.

MELT Brochure

MELT Registration Link

Resources

Bias Based Bullying Resources

The University of Minnesota conducted a study on bias-based bullying, using both the Minnesota Student Survey and qualitative interviews and focus groups of Minnesota students, parents, and school staff. The study was seeking to understand both the scope of BBB in Minnesota's schools and the related individual and structural protective factors. They have produced a number of factsheets for school administrators and for teachers and staff. Please share this information with your school colleagues. For more information on bullying prevention and intervention, see the Minnesota Department Of Education’s Ensuring Safe and Supportive Schools resources.

Book Study

The Power of Positive Leadership - Chapter 11&12 & Wrap-Up

First off, thank you for reading along with my reflections of The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon. My hope is that you have learned as much, if not more than I have while reading this book.

Chapter 11 talks about positive leaders having grit. If you are familiar with Angela Duckworth's research on grit, you will fully understand this chapter. If not, and you need a refresher, here is a short TED talk she did about grit. Bottom line is, positive leaders find a way to get it done, no matter what! They battle through adversity, critics, failure, and self-doubt.

I'm not going to expound on some of these quotes from the chapter, but just leave them here for you to ponder.

"If you don't love it, you'll never be great at it." (Gordon, 172)

"Fear is draining, but love is sustaining." (Gordon, 172)

"It (failure) doesn't define you; it refines you." (Gordon, 173)

"Don't let praise go to your head and don't let critics into your head." (Gordon, 176)

One part of this chapter that really hit home for me, was the part Gordon talks about not letting the results get in your way. Even if the numbers, wins, etc... don't show it, he says "keep doing things the right way...Trust the process." (Gordon, 175) Again, this is something I preach to my baseball teams. I coach JV baseball, and I fully believe that my job is to get my players ready to play varsity baseball. This may mean playing players in positions they aren't comfortable with. Stealing a player that might get thrown out. We are putting them in multiple different situations to see how they react. We may lose some games because of it, but I preach to my players, "trust the process". We need to do things the right way and good will come to us.

Chapter 12 is the finale to the book. It basically sums up all the other chapters with stories of positive leaders. You can read it on your own :-)

Conclusion

I hope this book was life-changing for some of you. Jon Gordon provides so many useful strategies to help make you a positive leader. Throughout the book, I was blown away by the mind-blowing quotes that made me stop and reflect on my own leadership qualities. My hope is that by reading this book I can become better at everything I do. From being a coach, teacher, teammate, father, and husband. This book will stick with me for a really long time! If I ever feel like I am becoming an energy vampire, I'm pulling this book out and reviewing my highlights in it. If you didn't buy this book, I HIGHLY recommend getting it and reading it over winter break. Better yet, buy 2 books, keep one for yourself and give one to a friend! If you liked this book study, you are going to LOVE the next one.

Row the Boat - Preview

Since I enjoyed reading Jon Gordon's book The Power of Positive Leadership so much, I decided to dive into another of his books that he co-wrote with PJ Fleck, Row the Boat. Much like The Power of Positive Leadership, this will be my 2nd journey through this book. Row the Boat is such a quick and easy read, however, my plan is to take my time through it and do a lot of reflection. PJ Fleck will also be our keynote speaker in April! I hope you can join me on the journey as we start the next book study on January 12th, 2022. Let's Row the Boat together!!

MRVED Update - December 1, 2021

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

December 8, 2021 - MRVED Board Meeting

December 16, 2021 - Teachers' Advisory Meeting

December 17, 2021 - Principals' Council Meeting

December 22, 2021 - Superintendents' Council Meeting

MELT Registration Information

Be looking for MELT Registration from your principal next week. MELT Registration will open at 7:30 AM on Monday, December 13th. With over 650 teachers in the MRVED and limited classroom space, sessions will fill quickly. Once sessions are full, they are taken off the registration. So if something you want to take is not listed, it is likely full. There is no wait list, so please do not contact the MRVED asking to get into closed sessions. Two years ago, we had over 400 teachers register by 10:00 AM on the first day!

IMPORTANT: MELT Registration information will come from your principal the week prior to registration. Please READ through the descriptions carefully. The session information is sent to you prior to registration so you can read through the information and choose sessions that are pertinent to you.

Resource

Wordwall

Someone had asked for some ELL resources and I came across this neat website called Wordwall. With Wordwall you can create fun interactive games for your students to play. There is also a database of user-created games for you to search through. The games in the community range from letter sounds to identifying states. Some of these games would be fun on an interactive board. There is a free and paid version. Check it out today!

Professional Learning

5 Ways to Practice Thanksgiving Every Day

With Thanksgiving a week behind us, we shouldn't just be "thankful" on a Thursday in November, we should find ways to be thankful every day. I remembered something that Jon Gordon said that made me think, he said that "research shows that grateful people are heathier people". Not only physically healthier, but mentally healthier as well. Here is a blog post written by Jon Gordon about 5 Ways to Practice Thanksgiving Every Day. Give it a read today, and put one or two of the practices into your routine tonight!

Book Study

The Power of Positive Leadership - Chapters 9 & 10

Chapters 9 & 10 talk about pursuing excellence and leading with a purpose. Again, both chapters are jam-packed with quotes I could list for days! However, here is my reflection on the two chapters.

To sum up chapter 9 one could say that positive leaders are never content, they continually strive to get better every day. They pursue excellence, and not just as a catchphrase. They live it, breathe it, practice it. Positive leaders need to model the pursuit of excellence to show those that follow them the path of excellence. Gordon talks about the "one percent rule". "The rule says to give one percent more time, energy, effort, focus, and care today than you gave yesterday." (Gordon 146) This quote resonated with me as this past spring my mantra to my baseball team was, "be better than we were yesterday". It reaffirmed my message to my team.

In the pursuit of excellence, leaders must love their teams, but also hold them accountable through what Gordon calls "love tough". Gordon says, "you have to love your people, but you have to make sure you hold your team accountable to the plan, the process, the principles, and the values of the culture" (Gordon, 140). Notice he doesn't say you need to hold them accountable to the results, he says "of the culture". Holding people accountable to the plan, process, principles, and values is key to creating an awesome, high-functioning team. If  you have communicated well with people, there should be no excuse for violating the culture, thus holding people accountable becomes a little more easy. Jon uses the phrase "love tough" to show that you must first love your people before you can be tough on them. "If your team knows you love them, they will allow you to challenge and push them." (Gordon, 143)

In chapter 10, Gordon talks about leading with a purpose. The biggest takeaway for me was when he talks about people burning out. He says, "we don't get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forgot why we do it." (Gordon, 152) We need to always center ourselves around, what Simon Sinek, calls our "why". Why do we do what we do? When times get tough and stressful, stop and remember why you are a teacher, paraprofessional, cook, janitor, in the first place. Everyone has a "why", we just need to stop and reflect on it.

He also gives the example of a purpose-driven goals. Gordon was working with an NFL team and had the players write goals on a piece of paper. He then had them rip up the goals. Players and coaches were upset at him for doing this. Then he asked, how many of you had goals to win the Superbowl? Throw for x amount of yards? Have x amount of tackles? Win x amount of games? And all the hands went up. Every team/player in the NFL has those goals. Why not write down why you play football in the first place and then share with others?

Think About:

1. What is your why? Write it down.

2. Gordon talks about his one word strategy on page 159. What is your one word for the year? What is your life word?

3. What legacy will you leave?