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.

MRVED Update - November 21, 2018

MRVED Business

The annual MELT is fast approaching and the MRVED has been busy making arrangements for the big day. The MELT will be held on January 21, 2019 at the LQPV High School.  Registration will open on December 5th and it will close on December 19th. Please remember to register early as sessions will fill up fast! There are new sessions offered this year as well as some popular sessions from years past.  Some groups will also have the opportunity to network.

Registration
Last year we sent out the MELT brochure a couple days prior to sending the registration link.  This allowed people to set their schedule and read through the descriptions prior to registering.  This seemed to work really well.  The process will be the same this year.  The brochure will come to you on Monday, December 3 from your Principal.  The link to register will come to you on Wednesday, morning from your Principal.  Principals, look for this information from Gloria please.

We cannot stress enough the importance of registering as early as possible.  Some sessions fill really fast, therefore the later you are in registering, the greater the risk of not being able to get into those sessions.

Upcoming Meetings

November 28, 2018  Superintendents’ Council

December 7, 2018 Title III Teachers

December 12, 2018  MRVED Board (6 p.m.)

December 13, 2018 TAC

December 14, 2018 Principals’ Council

December 19, 2018 Superintendents’ Council

January 11, 2019 Title III Paras
January 21, 2019 MELT
January 23, 2019 Superintendents
January 25, 2019 Principals

Minnesota Standards Updates (Physical Education & Science)

Developing a Shared Understanding of the 2018 Physical Education Standards and Benchmarks 2019 Training Schedule

In this training, actions and resources are recommended to help educator teams* develop a shared understanding of the 2018 Minnesota physical education standards and benchmarks, and initiate the curriculum review process. By attending this training, participants will develop a shared understanding of:

• The 2018 Minnesota K-12 Physical Education Standards and Grade-Level Benchmarks
• The shifts that drove changes in the standards
• The knowledge, skills and rigor represented in the learning progressions in the benchmarks within and across grade levels
• The curriculum review process and action planning as part of a continuous review cycle

*It is highly recommended that physical educators attend this training in school district teams.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Training is from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants are asked to bring a brown bag lunch and beverages.

There is no cost to attend these trainings, but registration is required. Please register individually, even if attending as part of a school team.

To register, click below on the training you wish to attend.

Monday, January 14, 2019 - Minnesota Department of Education, Roseville, MN

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 - Minnesota Department of Education, Roseville, MN

Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - Metro Service Cooperative, Arden Hills, MN

Wednesday, January 30, 2019 - Minnesota Department of Education, Roseville, MN

Thursday, February 7, 2019 - Sourcewell-MN (formerly NJPA), Staples, MN

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - Lake County Service Cooperative, Fergus Falls, MN

Thursday, March 21, 2019 - SW/WC Service Cooperative, Marshall, MN

Friday, March 29, 2019 - Resource and Training Solutions, Sartell, MN

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - South Central Service Cooperative, North Mankato, MN

Friday, May 3, 2019 - Southeast Service Cooperative, Rochester, MN

Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - Northeast Service Cooperative, Mountain Iron, MN

Thursday, May 9, 2019 - Northwest Service Cooperative, Thief River Falls, MN

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - Winona State University, Winona, MN

https://education.mn.gov/mde/dse/mde075000

1st Draft of the New Science Standards

Provide Feedback on the First Draft!

The first draft of the revised Minnesota K-12 Science Education Standards-2019 is now available (see below). The public is invited to provide feedback during its Public Review and Comment Period, November 9-26, 2018. Submit your feedback using the online form, or attend one of the Town Hall meetings (all have already been held) and provide your feedback in person.

Contact Terry Alvarado to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event. Please note: The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) requires a two-week advance notice to provide accommodations and 48-hour notice to cancel the request.

The date by which all schools must implement the new standards will be determined during the rulemaking process.

For more information about the standards review process, contact John Olson 651-582-8673.

2019 K-12 Science Standards First Draft

ReMoved

I came across this short film series entitled ReMoved.  It's a story, from the kids perspective, about being placed into foster care and then going through having a brother adopted.  It's a very touching short story, and one that will make you think about how trauma affects our kids.  If you have 30 minutes, give both parts a watch today, it is well worth it!

ReMoved - Part 1

ReMoved - Part 2

Teach Like a Pirate - Part III Building a Better Pirate & Conclusion

Part III of Teach Like a Pirate provides us with a challenge to be better, tips on how to get started, and advice to surround ourselves with positive people.

My biggest takeaway out of Part III  was in the chapter Where do I start? Burgess talks about the five most common reasons why we never get started with something.

1. The fear of failure - people won't start something if there is a chance they can fail.  We don't have to embrace failure, but we can learn from it and not be afraid of it.  He uses the example of if a lesson fails, nobody dies, it's OK.  You are a teacher, not a brain surgeon, failure is OK in our world!

2. Believing you have to figure it all out before you begin - In reflection on my own life, this is a tough one for me.  I want to know everything before I start something.  I have worked hard in my personal and professional life to fix this attitude of mine.

3. Perfectionism - Some people wait for the "perfect" time to start something.  It goes back to the analogy from one of the previous chapters about creative people walking around getting "struck" by brilliant ideas.  If we wait for the perfect moment to strike, we'll never get started.

4. Lack of Focus - It's all about prioritization.  Being able to prioritize the truly important things in our lives, and not allowing the small things to take up the majority of our time.  We lose focus on what truly is important.

5. Fear of Criticism and Ridicule - Starting something new is not only different for you, but different for the people around you.  The people around you might not be ready for the change, don't let those people get in your way of progress.

Conclusion
Teach Like a Pirate is a book chalk full of strategies you can implement in your classroom tomorrow.  You don't have to be a great performer like Burgess to take the strategies and implement them into your classroom.  I felt the book was much deeper than just the strategies though.  One of the biggest "aha" moments for me was really thinking deeply about ALL aspects of the lesson plan.  The analogy of the BBQ is spot on, we have to bring all elements to the table on every single day in order to have a successful BBQ.

The other part of this book that really got me thinking was the aspect of presentation.  In the chapter about the 3 circles, Burgess is absolutely correct.  We spend so much of our professional development time on best practices and content, but never focus on the actual presentation of the material.  Without proper presentation, there is no engagement, without engagement, there is no learning.  This book made me think more deeply on how I do my own professional development.  How do I engage the learners in the audience?  How do I make my content sizzle?  Do I bring enough passion and energy to the table every day?