MRVED Update - September 29, 2021

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings

October 20, 2021 - MRVED Common Inservice Day

October 27, 2021 - Superintendents' Council

October 29, 2021 - Principals' Council

October 20, 2021 Common Day

Jon Gordon will be our keynote speaker starting at 9:00 AM. A link to the live presentation will be sent to your school a week prior to the event. If you are watching the keynote in your own classroom, please ensure that Zoom will work on your computer. You can ensure Zoom will work on your computer by joining a Test Meeting Room.

October 20, 2021 Networking Groups

The MRVED is also looking for teachers to host networking sessions within their grade level or content area. The networking groups will take place from 10:30 to Noon and will be hosted on the platform of the teacher hosting the meeting. Facilitators will be paid a stipend of $100. If you are interested in being a networking facilitator, please sign-up HERE, prior to the end of the day October 1st.

Standards Update

There is much to share in the world of standards! Due to COVID & legislative action, many of the standard implementation dates have been extended. Below you will find a listing of new standards and implementation dates.

Arts Education - 2023-24

Physical Education - 2023-24

Science - 2024-25

ELA - 2025-26

Social Studies (Draft 2) - Currently Under Review

Math - Going under Review

Social Studies Standards Update

If you have been following the news over the summer, you should know that the Minnesota Social Studies Standards are currently under review. In fact, the committee just met yesterday (September 21st) to finalize their 3rd draft. The draft will then be sent to the commissioner for approval before being sent to rulemaking for an implementation date. Much like the last revision, 11 years ago, expect these standards to be litigated in the courts and implementation delayed.

One of the biggest changes in the new standards is the addition of a 5th strand, Ethnic Studies. Ethic Studies joins US & World History, Civics & Government, Economics, and Geography as strands in Minnesota Social Studies Standards.

Before reading through the final draft of the new Minnesota Social Studies Standards, I encourage you to read through a guest blog post I wrote for edUconnections for my good friend Dr. Wendy Schoolmeester. Whether you agree or disagree with the direction of the new standards, please become as informed as possible and then form your opinion.

The Power of Positive Leadership

Jon Gordon will be our keynote speaker on October 20th and will center his talk on positive leadership and building leadership qualities in people. The following book study and reflection is in no way a replacement for buying the book. I highly recommend buying the book and following along. Below is my synopsis and reflection on the first 2 chapters in the book. My hope is that by reading my reflection it will spur other thoughts and dialogue amongst your colleagues.

Jon lays the groundwork for the book in chapters 1 & 2. The quote that most resonates with me from either chapter comes from page 5, "I know that being a positive leader doesn't just make you better; it makes everyone around you better." I don't think anyone can name a single person they consider to be a positive leader that is leading an organization that has a negative culture or reputation. They don't exist, because the positive leader rubs off on all aspects of the organization. And it's true, genuine positivity. People can see right through fake positivity.

Another quote that stuck with me comes from page 4, "every one of us will have to overcome negativity, adversity, and challenges to ultimately define ourselves and our team's success". The reason this resonates with me is that we often times see these positive leaders, the leaders we look up to, and think they NEVER face adversity. Everything is perfect for them. This idea couldn't be any further from the truth. The truth is, in the words of PJ Fleck, positive leaders keep rowing the boat. They row through adversity. They weather the storms and the positive attitudes carry them. They keep their oars in the water and keep pushing. Jon Gordon says it best in his introduction to chapter 2, "We are positive, not because life is easy. We are positive because life can be hard".

I challenge you to identify a REAL positive leader in your life. What aspects make him/her a positive leader? Has there been a time the leader has faced adversity? How did they "row" through the adversity?

MRVED Update - September 15, 2021

MRVED Business

Upcoming Meetings

September 21st - Title III Paraprofessionals

September 22nd - Superintendents' Council

September 23rd - Teachers' Advisory Council

September 24th - Title III Teachers

Welcome Back

Welcome back to the 2021 school year! The MRVED hopes the best for you in the 2021-22 school year. After a full year of bouncing in and out of distance learning due to COVID, people are hoping for a "normal" school year. We challenge you to think about what the new normal will look like. Although COVID teaching was not fun, what can we learn from last year that will make us better educators, leaders, and students for the 2021-22 school year?

Paraprofessional Conference Recap

The 2021 Paraprofessional Conference was held in Benson on August 18, 2021. Over 150 paraprofessionals attended the training and had the opportunity to partake in over 20  sessions. There were many positive comments about the training from the attendees. Thank you to Benson schools & staff for helping the MRVED put on this successful annual conference. Thank you to the MRVED superintendents for investing in training for the people that work closest with some of our most precious cargo - our kids.

Looking Ahead

Planning for the 2021-22 MRVED Common Days began in the Spring of 2021. Our Teacher Advisory Council met and discussed format and topics for the day. The following was sent to the Superintendent Council for approval.

October 20, 2021 - Virtual (Topic - Leadership)

January 17, 2022 - In- Person MELT Conference at LQPV

April 14, 2022 - TBD

Obviously, with the ever changing COVID pandemic, even the best plans could be disrupted. 

October 20, 2021

The October 20, 2021 MRVED Common In-service day will be held virtually this fall. The MRVED is excited to announce that Jon Gordon will be our keynote speaker in the morning. Jon is a best-selling author and world-renowned keynote speaker. Jon has worked with sports teams ranging from the L.A. Dodgers to Clemson Football and Fortune 500 companies such as Campbell's Soup, Dell, and Snapchat. He is a highly sought after speaker.

More details on accessing the Keynote will be coming in the near future.

There will also be time throughout the day to collaborate virtually with others in your grade level and/or content area. Please see the network facilitator sign-up information below.

October 20, 2021 Networking Groups

The MRVED is also looking for teachers to host networking sessions within their grade level or content area. The networking groups will take place from 10:30 to Noon and will be hosted on the platform of the teacher hosting the meeting. Networking facilitators will be paid a stipend of $100 for their time and effort. If you are interested in being a networking facilitator, please sign-up HERE, deadline to register to be a facilitator is the end of the day October 8th.

Facilitator Expectations

• Start & End the meeting on time
• Provide the virtual meeting space (Link to the meeting)
• Keep the meeting time positive
• Facilitate a brief Jon Gordon follow-up
• Attend a short virtual meeting with Brandon on October 13th at 3:15

Book Study - The Power of Positive Leadership

Through popular demand, we'll bring back the MRVED Update Book Study. This fall we will go through Jon Gordon's book, The Power of Positive Leadership. If you wish to follow along with the book study, please purchase the book. We'll start discussing the book in the next MRVED update. In the next update, we will go through Chapter 2. The discussions questions and reflections in this blog are in no way a replacement for purchasing the book. The Power of Positive Leadership is a quick and easy read. You will not be disappointed in purchasing this book...in fact, I'm also reading Row the Boat by Jon Gordon and PJ Fleck at the same time!

You can sign up for Jon Gordon's Positive Leadership Challenge. It's a free 7-day challenge to help you become a better leader and create positive results.