Request for proposalsThe LSDO is seeking proposals from educators to run workshops at its dinner series. Here is a link to the proposal form if you are interested in submitting a proposal. MURSD PD Proposals One outcome from the October 11th PD day was that you love learning from and collaborating with your colleagues. You also expressed that you would like to continue with some of the learning, so it can be sustained. Therefore, we are taking requests for proposals from staff to provide either before-school or after-school workshops for colleagues. Ideally, to maximize sustained learning, we would be interested in workshop series of numerous sessions. We are also open to creative PD ideas such as leading book studies, Twitterchats, or virtual sessions. Preference is for workshops that align to strategic goals such as project-based learning, social-emotional learning, maker education, and our portrait of a learner competencies. Workshop presenters would be compensated for providing the workshops and participants will be able to walk away with new skills, sustained learning, and PDPs. Here is the Request for Proposals link. We will be accepting proposals throughout the year, but would like the initial proposals for sessions in November/December to be submitted by next Friday, October 25th. PD OpportunitiesSchool Counselors - Ensuring All Students are Future Ready:The Massachusetts School Counselor’s Association (MASCA), the Department, and Bentley University will sponsor a convening, “Ensuring All Students are Future Ready”, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on December 3 at Bentley in Waltham. The agenda includes a discussion lead by Commissioner Riley about the role of school counselors. The event is free. Registration is open online until Friday, November 29. Deeper Learning Symposium-Nov 7-with STMath When math education moves beyond how and into why, you hear it happening. “Oh, now I get it.” “Yes!” “I knew it!” This is the sound of deeper engagement, deeper thought, deeper learning. How do you get there? Dr. Peterson will share insights on how our brains learn and how to create effective strategies to invigorate your math curriculum, deepen understanding and impact achievement for all students active learning environments that encourage deeper learning and foster student success in the 21st century. Information to Register Portrait of a Learner Twitter ChallengeBeginning November 1, we are launching a Portrait of a Learner Twitter Challenge. Each month we will choose one Portrait of a Learner competency and highlight through Twitter what that competency looks like in our classrooms and schools. If you post with the hashtags #MURSDInspires #PortraitofaLearner with your picture and/or description of the Portrait of a Learner in action, you will be entered into a raffle to win some fun prizes! Our Twitter Challenge POL competency for November will be: Skillful Collaborator Inspired Learning ConversationResourcesArticles/Blogs from Twitter Civics Project Guidelines DESE is excited to publish the Civics Project Guidebook, a guidance document to support implementation of Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018, An Act to promote and enhance civic engagement. The Department developed the guidebook in partnership with Generation Citizen and The Democratic Knowledge Project of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. The Guidebook outlines key components of grade 8 and high school student-led civics projects aligned to the 2018 History and Social Science Framework. Included are six stages of student-led civics projects, considerations for district implementation, planning and assessment resources, and case studies for use in professional development. Self-Care Practice I highly recommend adding in the Chrome Extension Momentum, which provides you with inspirational quotes and beautiful images on your Chrome tab that rotate throughout the day. It also acts as a tool where you can create to-do lists easily. Inspiration: “Today, you have 100% of your life left.”--Tom Landry Upcoming District events/Meetings
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Request for PD ProposalsOne outcome from the October 11th PD day was that you love learning from and collaborating with your colleagues. You also expressed that you would like to continue with some of the learning, so it can be sustained. Therefore, we are taking requests for proposals from staff to provide either before-school or after-school workshops for colleagues. Ideally, to maximize sustained learning, we would be interested in workshop series of numerous sessions. We are also open to creative PD ideas such as leading book studies, Twitterchats, or virtual sessions. Preference is for workshops that align to strategic goals such as project-based learning, social-emotional learning, maker education, and our portrait of a learner competencies. Workshop presenters would be compensated for providing the workshops and participants will be able to walk away with new skills, sustained learning, and PDPs. Here is the Request for Proposals link. We will be accepting proposals throughout the year, but would like the initial proposals for sessions in November/December to be submitted by next Friday, October 25th. Inspired Learning ConversationsWe will be hosting Dr. Julie Coiro for an online interview on 10/28 @ 4:00 PM. We will discuss her book From Curiosity to Deep Learning: Personal Digital Inquiry in Grades K-5. A description can be found below and I can drop off a copy of the book to you today if you act fast :-). Please reach out to Dave Quinn if you are interested. From Curiosity to Deep Learning: Personal Digital Inquiry in Grades K–5 reveals the powerful learning that results when you integrate purposeful technology into a classroom culture that values curiosity and deep learning. The centerpiece of this practical guide is Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI), a framework developed by Julie Coiro and implemented in classrooms by her co-authors, Elizabeth Dobler and Karen Pelekis. Clear, detailed examples offer ideas for K-5 teachers and school librarians to support their teaching. PD Opportunities
Portrait of a Learner Twitter ChallengeBeginning November 1, we are launching a Portrait of a Learner Twitter Challenge. Each month we will choose one Portrait of a Learner competency and highlight through Twitter what that competency looks like in our classrooms and schools. If you post with the hashtags #MURSDInspires #PortraitofaLearner with your picture and/or description of the Portrait of a Learner in action, you will be entered into a raffle to win some fun prizes! Our Twitter Challenge POL competency for November will be: Skillful Collaborator ResourcesArticles/Blogs from Twitter Self-Care Practice: Yoga Looking to try yoga out in the comfort of your home and for free? Check out Yoga with Adriene. With over 5 million subscribers, you can join Adriene's followers. Inspiration "You are confined only by the walls you create yourself." --Andrew Murphy Upcoming District Meetings
October 11, 2019 PD DayThank you for a productive PD Day on Friday. It was great to see the positive and collaborative learning taking place. If you have not yet completed the end of day survey that was shared with you, please do so now as it provides important feedback to us on your work outcomes from the PD Day as well as suggestions of sustained learning moving forward. Here is the link to the PD Day Survey. Request for proposals-Ongoing PdOne outcome from the October 11th PD day was that you love learning from and collaborating with your colleagues. You also expressed that you would like to continue with some of the learning, so it can be sustained. Therefore, we are taking requests for proposals from staff to provide either before-school or after-school workshops for colleagues. Ideally, to maximize sustained learning, we would be interested in workshop series of numerous sessions. We are also open to creative PD ideas such as leading book studies, Twitterchats, or virtual sessions. Preference is for workshops that align to strategic goals such as project-based learning, social-emotional learning, maker education, and our portrait of a learner competencies. Workshop presenters would be compensated for providing the workshops and participants will be able to walk away with new skills, sustained learning, and PDPs. Here is the Request for Proposals link. We will be accepting proposals throughout the year, but would like the initial proposals for sessions in November/December to be submitted by next Friday, October 25th. Portrait of a Learner Twitter ChallengeBeginning November 1, we are launching a Portrait of a Learner Twitter Challenge. Each month we will choose one Portrait of a Learner competency and highlight through Twitter what that competency looks like in our classrooms and schools. If you post with the hashtags #MURSDInspires #PortraitofaLearner with your picture and/or description of the Portrait of a Learner in action, you will be entered into a raffle to win some fun prizes! PD OpportunitiesIgnite Learning with Education Apps: K-5 Literacy Date and Time: November 1, 2019, 8:45 am to 12:00 pm Eastern Location: Whitcomb Middle School, 25 Union Street, Marlborough, MA 01752 To register, please click here. Here’s what you’ll experience: - Join Seesaw for an overview of their digital portfolio app which enables students to demonstrate and share learning and gives teachers and families insight into student progress. - Learn how Nearpod transforms digital learning through an interactive platform that improves classroom workflow offers access to a large digital content library and provides tools for formative assessment. - Explore how Lexia Core5 Reading adaptive curriculum offer supporting analytics to help educators differentiate learning for students at varying levels of proficiency. - Discover the built-in features on iPad that can help build reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Don’t miss this opportunity to see how iPad and engaging educational apps are creating new possibilities for teaching and learning. Please remember to pre-register by clicking here. PBL It’s not too late to register for our 10th annual Project-Based Learning Conference! PBL10 will be held at centrally-located Regis College in Weston, MA, on Friday, October 25th. Our one-day, low-cost conference is designed to make it easy for teachers and administrators to immerse themselves in best PBL practices. This year promises to be extra special as we have Rob Riordan, co-founder of High Tech High and retired head of its Grad School of Education, sharing his wisdom about PBL and his school, which is perhaps the most iconic high school in the USA. We’ll wrap up with time for Rob to guide participants in crafting P-BL concepts for their own classrooms. And, as always, the stars of the show, students from Massachusetts elementary, middle, and high schools, will impress and delight you as they share their projects, and engage with you in Q+A. Here is a link to the Registration Information ResourcesArticles/Blogs from Twitter Self-Care Practice Audible: A teacher shared that if you don't yet have audible and download it you get one free credit and can download Onward to listen to. She stated that it was perfect to listen to while commuting to and from work. Inspiration: “Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire.” -St. Catherine of Siena Upcoming district Meetings
community supportWe had a number of community activities that took place this weekend in support of our students and schools. Thank you to all the teachers, administrators, staff who participated in these and thank you to our supportive Mendon-Upton Community! We Care Miscoe was in full swing with the landscaping day at Miscoe and our music boosters had a great fundraiser to support the music program. We are so fortunate to have such a caring and supportive community! October 11 PD DayThank you to everyone for submitting your proposals by the deadline of last Friday, October 4th. We have a diverse line-up of offerings. Here is a link to information on the October 11 PD day. Now that the proposals have been entered into Teachpoint, you can go into the Teachpoint PD Tracker to enroll in the sessions you will be participating in. VERY IMPORTANT--Enroll. You must enroll for the sessions prior to the October 11th date. It will not let you enroll in the sessions once the date/time of the session is reached. For now, you need to enroll into the Teachpoint sessions, found under the Available Events tab. Then it will show up in your My Activities tab. For some of the closed sessions we have already enrolled the names that were submitted so it should then show up in your My Activities tab. Sign-In. On October 11th, you go back into Teachpoint to sign-in and can only sign in during the hours of the session. We will forward sign-in instructions again at the end of the week to assist you with this process. Logistics We will be providing breakfast items and coffee/tea at each of the building locations. Lunch will be on your own. At the conclusion of the day you will complete a feedback form that provides an overview of your learning outcomes for the sessions/work you participated in. CurriculumMaking the Most of Wonders The following is an opportunity for our K-4 educators to join a DESE-sponsored network to discuss the implementation of Reading Wonders. Click here for REGISTRATION Audience: Teams of teachers and literacy coaches, with at least one building or district administrator, using Wonders by McGraw Hill as part of their Literacy program Location and dates: All participants: Kickoff and Closing sessions Central, MA: Holiday Inn Marlborough Dates: 10/15, 10/16 and 5/27 Time: 9:00am to 2:30pm Questions: Susan Kazeroid, [email protected] The Making the Most of Wonders Network will support educators in schools and districts who are currently implementing Wonders by McGraw-Hill as part of their curriculum. Participants will:
Curriculum Review Last year we launched our curriculum review cycle of a review of social studies and a review of our wellness programming. The self-study reports will be presented to the School Committee this fall. Our next curriculum review to be launched this upcoming month is ELA as well as specialized reading support. The first ELA/Reading curriculum day is scheduled for Monday, November 4th. We have some volunteers so far who expressed interest at the end of last year. We are seeking ELA representatives from across all grade levels to participate. Please discuss with your ELA curriculum leaders and principals to determine who will be participating on the review team this year. PD OpportunitiesSocial Studies Seminar Series We are pleased to partner with the Mass Council for Social Studies and Center for Civic Education to offer professional development for K-12 teachers. This seminar series is designed to provide professional development on topics, methods and resources for teaching social studies in the K-12 classroom. Each seminar will focus on a specific theme: Global Issues, History/Civics and Research and Literacy Skills. Three workshops will be presented each evening with participants choosing two of the three offerings. Dates: Tuesdays - October 15, October 29 and November 12, 2019 Time: Each session will run from 4:00 - 7:45 PM Location: Bridgewater State University, Science and Mathematics Center Fee: $100 per participant for all three seminars. Refreshments and dinner will be provide Additional information can be found on our website https://microsites.bridgew.edu/earthview/earthview-institute PBL It’s not too late to register for our 10th annual Project-Based Learning Conference! PBL10 will be held at centrally-located Regis College in Weston, MA, on Friday, October 25th. Our one-day, low-cost conference is designed to make it easy for teachers and administrators to immerse themselves in best PBL practices. This year promises to be extra special as we have Rob Riordan, co-founder of High Tech High and retired head of its Grad School of Education, sharing his wisdom about PBL and his school, which is perhaps the most iconic high school in the USA. We’ll wrap up with time for Rob to guide participants in crafting P-BL concepts for their own classrooms. And, as always, the stars of the show, students from Massachusetts elementary, middle, and high schools, will impress and delight you as they share their projects, and engage with you in Q+A. Here is a link to the Registration Information Inspired Learning Digital Conversations. Our monthly author conversations have returned with a new look and a new platform (Skype). Our first interview was held last week with Mike Caulfied (sorry about the echo!). We discussed supporting students as they build their information and media literacy skills. We also discussed his free e-book Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers and his open modular course, Check, Please, which teaches students how to evaluate the credibility of online texts. If you're interested in implementing it with your students, I'm happy to run PD on using the course in your classes. We have two interviews coming up in the next few months. The dates, times and descriptions of the books are provided below. Please email me if you are interested in participating and we can provide you with a copy of the book. Space is limited. If there is an author you'd like us to try to have on the series, we will be more than happy to reach out to schedule an interview. 10/28 @ 4:00 PM | From Curiosity to Deep Learning: Personal Digital Inquiry in Grades K-5 with Julie Coiro From Curiosity to Deep Learning: Personal Digital Inquiry in Grades K–5 reveals the powerful learning that results when you integrate purposeful technology into a classroom culture that values curiosity and deep learning. The centerpiece of this practical guide is Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI), a framework developed by Julie Coiro and implemented in classrooms by her co-authors, Elizabeth Dobler and Karen Pelekis. Clear, detailed examples offer ideas for K-5 teachers and school librarians to support their teaching. 11/5 @ 4:00 PM | Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities by John Warner A book written by the editor of McSwwney's online magazine, John Warner provides useful strategies for improving student writing and supporting them in their craft. An extended description can be found here. ResourcesArticles/Blogs from Twitter Self-Care Practice: Create a Visualization Practice "Visualization techniques have been used by high achievers for ages. They can help you create your dream life by accomplishing one task or goal at a time with a laser focus and confidence. When you create a future board, journal, or develop a "me in five years" plan, you will build internal motivation, fire up the law of attraction, and reprogram your brain so you are ready to recognize the resources and opportunities needed to achieve your goals. Visualization allows you to change your beliefs and assumptions about yourself" (p. 45, Fear is My Homeboy, by Judi Holler). Inspiration "The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be."--Reid Hoffman Upcoming district Meetings/events
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