MRVED Update - March 9, 2022

MRVED Business

MRVED Meetings 

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

The April 14, 2022, MRVED Common Inservice Day will be held in Benson at the Benson High School.  Registration will be sent out early next week.  If you have a student teacher this spring, please have your student teacher register through the registration link as well.  We need to plan our seating accordingly.  

The schedule for the day is as followed:

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - PJ Fleck

10:00 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. - Break/Breakfast

10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. - Networking

11:35 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. - Community Building Activity

12:20 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch

1:05 p.m. - 1:55 p.m. - District Choice

For lunch, your administration is asking everyone to eat at Benson High School due to a shortened lunch time.  The cost is $7.00 and is to be paid to your district. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY TO THE MRVED.  The following are your lunch options:

Option #1:  Chef Salad with a breadstick, fruit, and a cookie.

OR

Option #2:  Chicken Salad Croissant with fresh vegetables, fruit, chips, ranch cup, and a cookie. 

If you choose NOT to eat the boxed lunch, you are asked to bring your own lunch to eat at Benson High School.  Please note that there is NOT a cooler to store your lunch and a microwave is NOT available to warm up food, so please plan accordingly.

You will receive an email prior to the April 14th Common Inservice Day with everything you need to know for the day.  A personalized agenda will be handed out when you arrive at the Benson High School. 

***Registration will close on Friday, March 25th @ 4:00 p.m.***

Resources

Ukraine/Russia Conflict Resources

As teachers we make an instructional decision to talk or not talk about current events. Sometimes we shy away from topics that may seem controversial, or we shy away from topics because we don't fully understand the topic ourselves. Either way, we know our kids are hearing and seeing news from Ukraine. Here are some resources to enrich your own knowledge of the Ukraine/Russia conflict.

• How to Talk to Kids About the Ukraine Invasion (PBS)
• Talking to Kids About the War in Ukraine

Legislative Update

You might have heard about Minnesota legislation pertaining to the "Parents Bill of Rights" or a requirement to have at least one, full-time social worker in every building. It can be very difficult to keep up to date on everything that is being proposed in the legislature. The Minnesota Rural Educators Association (MREA), does a fabulous job keeping track for you. Check out their latest legislative update. The Minnesota School Board Association also does a nice job with a summary document weekly.

Professional Learning

Testing 1,2,3

Testing 1,2,3  has been shared previously, but as we start gearing up to MCA testing, questions about testing seem to arise. The Testing 1,2,3 website developed by the Minnesota Department of Education is a great resource to help answer many of your questions. It has everything from data analytics, to test specs, to ideas on how to teach certain standards and benchmarks. There is a TON of information on this website, check it out today!

Book Study

Row the Boat - Chapter 7 & 8

Chapter 7 & 8 in Row the Boat by PJ Fleck is all about his first couple years in Minnesota. How he had to establish the RTB culture to a team that was divided. Going through the growing pains again of building the RTB culture.

Coach Fleck tells the story of Casey O'Brien, a five-time cancer survivor. Coach Fleck was looking for that one person in Minnesota that would be his rower. Casey O'Brien came to him one day and asked if he could join the team. He was everything that Coach Fleck was looking for. Check out the two videos below, the first one tells the story of Casey and the second video is him getting into his first college football game.

One part of this chapter, other than the Casey O'Brien story, is when Coach Fleck is talking about the decision to come to Minnesota. After making his decision, his wife told him, "You will make your biggest impact where it will be the hardest" (Fleck, 64) He quotes the Cadet's Prayer..."Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won" (Fleck, 64).

MRVED Update - March 14, 2018

MRVED News
The next Common Day is March 29 in Dawson-Boyd with George Couros as the keynote speaker. The day will start with breakfast (compliments of the administrators) and everyone will break off into district time to prep for Couros before attending his presentation. Everyone will receive a personalized agenda when they arrive so they know where to go and when. The full schedule:

• 9-9:45 District Time-Staff Prep for George Couros
• 10-11:45 George Couros Keynote Speaker
• 11:45-12:30 Lunch
• 12:30-1:30 Elementary with George Couros
•  Secondary in District Time
• 1:30-2:30 Secondary with George Couros 
•  Elementary in District Time

Upcoming Meetings

March 16- Title III Paras
March 23-Principle Meeting
March 28- Superintendent Meeting
March 29-George Couros (Common Day)

April 11- MRVED Board
April 20- Title III Teachers
April 25-Superintendent Meeting

MREA News

The Minnesota Rural Education Association (MREA) offers districts a great news resource on their website.  MREA does an excellent job at informing districts on legislative and school issues.  Spend a couple minutes getting caught up on the latest in Minnesota education news by going to the news section of the MREA website.

Science Standards Review Committee Applications

The application for the Mn Science Standards Review Committee will likely be posted on the MDE Science page on March 26. This committee will review current standards and recommend any changes.

Committee members will represent teachers, administrators, professors, scientists, business and
community. It will have geographic and diversity distribution. We especially encourage you to recruit
scientists and community members that could make a contribution.

The committee will meet approximately monthly from August through April, for full day sessions.
Applicants will have to commit to the full schedule of committee meetings. Technical writing teams
(mostly teachers) will meet more frequently and likely electronically. The committee schedule and
assumptions guiding the committee work will be posted at the same site. The review process and
considerations are described in a series of articles at the MnSTA Science Standards page. The deadline for submitting applications is April 13. Contact John.C.Olson@state.mn.us for questions.

5 Parent Resources to Support Children in Being Safe & Responsible Digital Citizens

In our ever more connected world, it becomes even more important that we are teaching our kids how to navigate the vast reaches of the internet.  Tech & Learning came out with a list of 5 resources you can send home with parents or students to support them in keeping the kids safe online.

5 Digital Citizenship Resources for Parents

Innovator's Mindset - Create Meaningful Learning Experiences for Educators

This chapter is a great reminder that if we expect our students to be self-guided learners, we ourselves need to follow suit.  We need to take control of our own professional learning.  Will Richardson says, "Kids wouldn't wait for a blogging workshop.  Adults shouldn't either" (Couros, 184).

Couros takes the same graphic from a previous chapter about 8 Things to Look for in Today's Classroom and applies it to professional development.  If we want things to change, our professional development needs to look different.  Couros states, "...if lectures and traditional staff meetings ar the only way we try to improve the profession, we are more likely to maintain the status quo than move forward." (Couros 182)

The 8 Things to Look for in Today's Classroom (Professional Development) are as follows (read the chapter to get examples from Couros).
1. Voice - Being able to share ideas
2. Choice - Choosing what to learn
3. Time for Reflection - Time to reflect on learning
4. Opportunities for Innovation - Time to be innovative and support
5. Critical Thinking - Questioning the status quo
6. Problem Finders/Solvers - Not only solve problems, but find problems that exist
7. Self-Assessment - Being able to assess if we are doing things correctly
8. Connected Learning - Being connected to others

Bottom line is that we expect our students to be innovative, but our students will never be innovative if our teachers, administrators, and schools are not innovative.  Our schools need to take the same approach we want our teachers taking with their students.  Couros says it best, "...people need to move from their point A to their point B.  Learning doesn't happen by simply distributing information" (Couros 199).  These are two critical pieces of information to understanding innovation and progress.  We are all at different points, so the important thing is that we are able to go from our point A to our point B.  Learning and innovation will not happen by providing a staff meeting on innovation, people need to experience it.  Couros offers a variety of ideas on how to do that in this chapter.