Summer Update

June has flown by and four classes have been held at the MRVED thus far.  All four have been very well received!

The summer professional development started with Karina Berzins from the BCA talking about internet safety.  She once again handed out her Netsmartz binders with tons of great information!  It was also a great opportunity for people to ask questions of one of the experts on the front lines in internet crimes in Minnesota.  Be on the lookout for kids that are using the Snapchat and Vine apps on their phones or iPods.

The next day we had 2 wonderful ladies from Chippewa County Family Services in to talk about child abuse.  It was a very informative session, one any school could benefit from.  Again, it was nice to hear from the people that are on the front-lines living this every day.  We had the opportunity to hear what the latest trends are and what to be on the lookout for.

The following week, Miranda Schornack was with us to talk about language development in the classroom.  She was a very knowledgeable presenter and everyone walked away with at least one strategy they can use in their classroom this upcoming school year.  For those that were not in attendance, you missed out on a great opportunity.

Brandon also presented on using social networks to grow your professional network.  Twitter was the hot topic and the group spent a majority of the time learning how to use it as a professional development tool.  Other networks that were discussed, but not as in-depth were YouTube, Diigo, Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers.

The MRVED offices will be running on limited staff next week due to the 4th of July schedule, if you need anything you can reach all of us by email, or leave a message on our phones.

Summer Professional Development June 17-21

The MRVED Summer Professional Development starts next week with Karina Berzins here from the BCA to discuss internet safety.  The class begins at 2:00 on Tuesday June 18.  There is still room for a couple more people if interested.  Call Mary at the MRVED office at 320-269-9297 to register.

Also next week, Chippewa County Family Services will be in house at 9:00 to present on "Life in the Day of a Child Protection Worker".  There are still seats available for this training as well.  A couple interesting topics from some very reputable people in their fields.  Should be a great week of learning.

Summer Professional Development

June 18- 2:00 Internet Safety

June 19- 9:00 A Day in the Life of a Child Protection Worker

June 25- 9:00 Language Development in the Content Areas

June 26- 9:00 Using Social Networks to Grow Your Professional Learning Network

July 11- 9:00 15 Web Tools to Make Your Life Easier

July 17- 9:00 Google Drive in 3 Hours

July 18- 9:00 Drug Trends and Gang Activity in Southwest Minnesota

It looks to be a great summer with many great offerings.  There are still seats available for most of the courses.  Give Mary a call at the MRVED to register.  All courses are free to MRVED districts.

MRVED Business

Happy Summer

This is the last MRVED update of the year.  With the cold weather, the end of the school year really came upon us fast!  It has been another eventful year at the MRVED as we continue to assist your schools in many different ways.  If you are in need of any assistance with your curriculum, instruction, or teaching throughout the summer, feel free to contact us.  The MRVED staff is here for you all summer!  If you are ever in Montevideo during the summer, stop in and say hello.  Hope you have an enjoyable, safe, and relaxing summer.  See you next school year!

MRVED Email Change

The MRVED has changed email addresses, please update your email address book to reflect the change. 

Mary:  mbrown@mrved.net

Karen: kjacobson@mrved.net

Brandon: braymo@mrved.net

Pam: pbruns@mrved.net

Resources

Archived MRVED Updates

If you missed an update this year, they can all be found on the MRVED website, or by clicking here.  Please note that some of the information will be dated and some of the links may not work.  There are still many great resources and tech tips to dive into this summer.  If you have any questions about certain resources, please feel free to contact us.

http://mrved.com

MRVED YouTube Channel

The MRVED YouTube Channel also has all the updates archived as well as many other videos.  Look for the library of videos to expand over the summer.  Take a couple minutes to browse through the resources available to you.

http://www.youtube.com/mnrved

Learning Forward National Conference

http://learningforward.org

Don’t forget to register for the national Learning Forward Summer Conference to be held in Minneapolis.  It’s not every year that Minnesota gets to host a national conference, so take advantage of this great opportunity to hear from some of the greatest minds in education.

When: July 21-24

Where: Minneapolis Hilton

Minnesota Career Pathways Website

http://www.mncareerpathways.org/pathways/index.html

The Minnesota Career Pathways website was created to help Minnesota adult students create career and training plans that will prepare them for a fulfilling career. The website can prepare high school students, college students, and working adults to enter the workforce by providing them with both the academic and technical skills needed to be successful. We accomplish this by partnering with business and industry leaders, providing professional development to teachers and faculty, and connecting students to online career and college resources through our connections to local consortia.

Tech Tip of the Week

Domo Animate

Domo Animate- From the makers of GoAnimate comes Domo Animate.  It is a neat way to create or retell a story.  Domo Animate is free and very easy to use.  If you are looking for an interesting end of the year project, give it a try today!  Watch Brandon's review here.

Mary's Pick of the Week

Mybookdroid - This is not a book reader.  For those of you who still like reading an actual book, this android app keeps track of the books you have read or want to read.  You simply scan the bar code and poof it is entered into the app.  With summer coming, you will hopefully have more leisure time for reading and this would be a great way to keep track of your books.  You can download it from amazon or google very easily.  The iphone has a similar app (i.e. goodreads, ireaditnow).  I no longer have to keep a paper/pencil list of books in my purse.