MRVED Update - September 30

Upcoming Meetings

October 14, 2020 - MRVED Virtual Common Inservice

October 23, 2020 - Principals' Council

October 28, 2020 - Superintendents' Council

MRVED News

October 14 Common Day Information

Carla Tantillo Philibert will be our featured speaker on October 14, 2020. Carla will be speaking on the topic of SEL and be providing strategies to use in the classroom. She spoke to our paraprofessionals in August and received excellent reviews. You will find her personality contagious. Carla will speak to the whole MRVED in the morning for 90 minutes and then she has offered to provide small group time with each of our districts.

Due to districts needing time to stop and reflect on COVID plans, districts will be able to plan the rest of the day to meet their needs. There is no need to register for this day. 

MRVED MELT Presenters & Networking Facilitators

The MRVED MELT will look a little different this year being virtual, but we are still looking for passionate people to present. The details of the conference are still being worked out, but we do know we will be in need of people to present on topics of interest. Sessions will be 45 minutes in length this year and there is an option to pre record your presentation. If you are interested, please fill out the form linked below. Deadline to submit a proposal is October 30, 2020.

MELT 2021 Call for Proposals

Networking Facilitators

Networking at the Virtual MELT will look a little different than in the past. Networking groups will take place after lunch. Participants will have the option to participate in networking groups, watch more pre recorded sessions, or participate in district activities. A Networking group will not be held without a facilitator. Deadline to sign up is November 13, 2020.

MELT 2021 Networking Facilitator Signup

Social Studies Standards Update

Brandon is serving on the Minnesota Department of Education Social Studies Review committee. The group met for the 1st time on September 16th to get the work started. Much of the morning was spent on team building & understanding the process of standards review. The whole afternoon was spent on looking at gaps in the current standards as opposed to other states. It appears the C3 Framework will guide the groups work in creating a standard document that helps students become College, Career, and Civic ready. The first draft will be available in November.

All meetings are public meetings and broadcast live on the MDE Academic Standards YouTube page. The meetings are also archived, so if you wish to watch previous meetings, you may do that as well.

Election Resources

With the presidential election a little over a month away, it would be a great time to start talking about it with students. Even though this is one of the most heated elections in modern history, doesn't mean we should shy away from the topic with our students. Here are a couple great resources to help teach kids about the election in a non biased way:

PBS Electoral Decoder

KQED - Let's Talk About the Election

CNN - Resources

Lower Elementary Resources

MRVED Update - September 9, 2020

Upcoming Meetings

September 9, 2020 - MRVED Board Meeting (Virtual)

September 17, 2020 - Teachers' Advisory Council Meeting (Virtual)

September 18, 2020 - Principals' Advisory Council Meeting (Virtual)

September 23, 2020 - Superintendents' Council Meeting

September 25, 2020 - Title III Teachers' Meeting

Welcome Back

Welcome back to the 2020-2021 school year! We hope you had a rejuvenating summer and were able to put school in the rearview mirror for a little while. Last year was tough and this year looks to be just as difficult. Please know that the MRVED is here to provide support for you and your district wherever/whenever we can. If there is anything we can do, please do not hesitate to ask. Many times, if we don't have the expertise to help in a certain area, we can direct you to someone who does. Although this year looks to be just as challenging as last school year, know that you are surrounded by many people that support the tough work you are doing every day.

As with everything else, the MRVED Common In-Service days will most likely look a little different. The October date will feature a keynote message by Carla Tantillo Philibert. More information will be coming on the October date. The MELT Conference in January will still happen, however it will look different and offer virtual options. The April 1 date is a long ways off and our Teacher Advisory Council will be developing a plan throughout this fall.

The MRVED Common In-Service Dates

October 14, 2020 - Virtual

January 18, 2021 - MELT (TBD)

April 1, 2021 - TBD

MRVED Paraprofessional Conference Recap

On August 19, 2020, the MRVED hosted their first ever virtual conference for the paraprofessionals. The day started with a keynote by Carla Tantillo Philibert from Mindful Practices. Carla spoke about the importance of SEL and provided the paraprofessionals with a handful of awesome strategies they can use with their students. Teachers will have the opportunity to see Carla virtually during the October common inservice. After the keynote, the paraprofessionals participated in a handful of breakout sessions from trauma to good posture when working online to math and reading support. Overall the day went really well. The MRVED staff learned much about hosting a virtual conference and look to make improvements for each event. A huge thank you to our presenters, participants, and Katie in the MRVED office for handling registration and questions. You are all ROCKSTARS!

Minnesota Standards Update

Minnesota is in the middle of a massive standard review process. I thought it worthwhile to take a look at where each content area is at on the Minnesota Department of Education Timeline

Arts - Revised in 2018 - Was making its way through rulemaking to determine implementation. 2018 Standards

Science - Revised in 2019. Approved by the commissioner in 2020. Still in rulemaking to determine implementation. Commissioner recommends full implementation by 2023-24. 2019 Standards

Language Arts - Revised in 2020. Awaiting commissioner approval. Implementation will be made in rulemaking this year. 2020 ELA Standards Draft

Social Studies - Revised this year. Review Timeline

Math - Will be revised in 2021. 

Physical Education - Revised/adopted SHAPE America's in 2017. Reviewed every 10 years.

Health, Career and Technical Education, and World Languages - Established locally

Distance Learning Tool of the Week - Google Meet Breakout Rooms

If you are looking for a way to do breakout rooms within Google Meet, try the Google Meet Breakout Rooms extension. If you are looking for more information on how this works, join the Google Meet Breakout Rooms Facebook Group or visit the website.