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Wednesday, March 17, 2021

MRVED Update - March 17, 2021

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

March 18, 2021 - Title III (Virtual)
March 19, 2021 - Principals' Council (Virtual)
March 25, 2021 - Superintendents' Council
April 1, 2021 - MRVED Common Inservice (Virtual)

April 1 Common Day

With warmer weather on the horizon, April 1st will be here before we know it. The MRVED will continue to work towards our Social Emotional Learning goals for our common days. Since we can't all come together again, the MRVED is creating a website that will include SEL activities, as well as a handful of webinars that teachers can watch with specific discussion questions. Teachers are encouraged to utilize the activities and/or videos in groups (PLC, Grade Level, Content Area). There are some excellent, high quality activities, and videos for teachers to access. Look for the website roughly a week prior to the event.

Also, as part of the April 1st date, the MRVED will be piloting an idea to try to effectively collaborate amongst our districts from a distance. The collaborative time will take place between 10:00-12:00 on April 1st. Instead of the MRVED controlling which virtual platform will be used, we are leaving that up to the teachers who wish to start a collaborative meeting. Teachers will have the power to decide what and when they want to collaborate, all you have to do is place a video call link into the document listed below. Please have your collaborative group and link listed on the document no later than Friday, March 26 at 3:00 PM.

If you wish to collaborate around a certain topic, or grade level, or even content area, please sign-up using the document linked below. 

Collaboration Zone Sign-Up

Look for more information from your district pertaining to a schedule for the day. The SEL videos and activities can take place at any time during the day or even after. The Collaboration Zone will take place from 10:00-12:00 on April 1st.

Professional Learning Opportunities

The Hormel Foundation Gifted and Talented Symposium

The annual Hormel Foundation Gifted and Talented Education Symposium provides an opportunity for educators, counselors, administrators and parents to gain greater understanding of the unique needs of gifted and high potential learners. Participants attend in-depth sessions focusing on foundational knowledge, creativity, curriculum strategies, and social/emotional needs of gifted and high potential learners provided by the field's finest regionally, nationally and internationally recognized presenters. All are welcome to register and attend the symposium.

When: June 15-17, 2021
Where: Virtual
Registration: $100


What Have We Learned From COVID - 1 Year Later

As we soar past the 1 year anniversary of COVID-19 shutting down our schools, I have begun pondering the question, "What have we learned?" I have also wondered what aspects of COVID teaching will we take with us into the future? What things will we leave behind? What shifts have we made? The questions go on and on. As I was thinking about this, a very succinct article about this very topic scrolled past my Twitter feed, so I thought I would share it here. I would like to hear your thoughts about what we have learned one year later.


Resources

Supporting Students During the Derek Chauvin Trial

The upcoming trial of Derek Chauvin might be one of the biggest trials in the lives of your students. This case has the potential to be as big as the OJ Simpson case, although the contents of the trial are much different. The one thing we, as educators, need to remain cognizant of is how different groups of people will react to the trial and eventually the verdict. Some people will simply ignore the trial and not want to talk about it in their classrooms. Others will see this trial as a teachable moment for our students. With the contents of the trial being racially charged, it's important that we provide accurate information as it is presented. Intermediate District 287 has put together a variety of resources about supporting students through the trial. The bottom line is that as educators, we don't need to force our opinions of the trial on to our students. Our job is to support them through their emotions about the trial as well as provide them with accurate information. You can sign-up to receive updates about the trial by going to the trial website.

New Test Specifications for English Language Arts & Science

With new standards released the past couple years in Science and English Language Arts (ELA), means a new MCA test eventually. The ELA test will first be administered in the 2024-25 school year and the first administration of the Science test will be the 2023-24 school year. With each test, MDE must create a test specifications document. This document in the legislatively controlled document that guides the test creation. You can access the drafts of the new ELA and Science Test Specifications below. Please note, both documents are still considered to be in "draft".

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