LEARN Curriculum Network

Dear Colleagues-

Thanks to those of us that could join us last Friday for our October 19th Curriculum Network Meeting. I am reaching out to share the notes of our last meeting, a few of the resources we discussed and updates regarding our next meeting, Friday, November 6th at 10:00am.

As always, please feel free to reach to contact us to share suggestions, tips, or ask any questions.

Best,

Sue

Dr. Sue Iwanicki

Director of Curriculum & Instruction

LEARN

44 Hatchetts Hill Old Lyme, CT 06371

(203) 859-2838 (mobile)

siwanicki@learn.k12.ct.us

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) Talent Office will provide an overview of the Educator Evaluation Flexibilities for 2020-2021 for each RESC. LEARN will be hosting them during our Virtual Curriculum Network Meeting time, on Friday Nov 6th at 10:00am.

They will highlight guidance and resources for observing performance and practice of educators and leaders in varied teaching and learning models, as well as other resources and professional learning related to performance and practice.

The guidance and resources for implementing the Flexibilities can be found on the CSDE website. The resources identified apply to in-person, hybrid, and remote/blended teaching and learning models, and include strategies and tools aligned to the Flexibilities.

Districts are invited to bring or send a principal or administrator to attend if it fits your districts needs. Please see your email for the Zoom invite coming soon.

During the last few meetings, we have been sharing resources to engage students online, including ideas from Fisher, Frey, and Hattie's Distance Learning Playbook.

Region 18 Director of Curriculum, Michelle Dean offered to share the list she has been compiling for her staff which has resources from this book and beyond. Please click on this link to view this helpful compilation of Online Engagement Strategies. Thanks so much, Michelle!

Freund Resources is a service that can produce reports which may not already be available through your current learning management system, but are helpful in analyzing student data. Assistant Superintendent, Marco Famiglietti of Clinton Public Schools shared it has some reports that are no longer offered through PowerSchool. LEARN has contacted their product representative and hopes to offer a product demonstration some time soon. A consortium pricing agreement would help those people using this tool control costs. Interested in learning more before they come to visit? For more information, consult their website at: https://www.freundresources.net/

The state department held Performance Matters virtually in sections this year. On October 22, Chief Performance Officers Ajit Gopalakrishnan and Abe Krisst discussed the CSDE’s memorandum dated October 15, 2020. They also affirmed the CSDE’s commitment to statewide assessments and described the CSDE’s plans for district/school accountability for the 2020–21 school year. To view their presentation, entitled "Assessment and Accountability in 2020-21," click here.

Who is Catlin Tucker?

After our meeting, I was asked to share a little bit more about Catlin Tucker. Tucker is a Google Certified Teacher, bestselling author, international trainer, and frequent Edtech speaker, who currently teaches in Sonoma County where she was named Teacher of the Year. She has written a number of books on Blended Learning. Catlin also writes the "Techy Teacher" column for ASCD's Educational Leadership. She is active on Twitter @Catlin_Tucker and writes an internationally ranked education blog at CatlinTucker.com.

Balance With Blended Learning: Partner With Your Students to Reimagine Learning and Reclaim Your Life

Her latest book was published in January 2020 and has some wonderful resources, but most educators have found her greatest resource-- her blog. In her blog she identifies "in-the-now" challenges teachers are experiencing and provides credible and doable solutions educators can try.

Combatting the Challenges of the Concurrent Classroom with the Station Rotation Model

The idea of balancing "brick and mortar" with our "virtual students" has been a frustration that many educators have expressed in our various round tables. In this blog entry, Catlin walks teachers through how they might use the station rotation model.

Sharing Learning after a "Choose Your Own Adventure" Learning Experience -- It models personalized, engaging, Formative Assessment!To learn more, click here.

How are YOU doing?

This Ted Talk also featured an article that may be helpful--7 Strategies to Help you Live with Uncertainty. The author, Dr. Christine Carter suggests ways to focus on purpose in a time where that may be difficult. See link below.

Montville Public Schools is welcoming the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to work with the educators as one of the professional learning options they will provide on November 3rd. Assistant Superintendent Diane Vumback shared that the lesson plans for the teen text The Hate U Give have been helpful for their teachers as they look for ways to teach about bias and prejudice while also promoting respect for diversity and encouraging social action. For a copy of the lesson plans provided by the ADL for this text, click here. To learn more about this award winning (Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller!) book itself from Amazon, click here. Thanks, Diane, for sharing this resource!

At our last meeting, the question of supports for teachers and staff dealing with stress from COVID was raised. It was shared that this has also been a topic of conversation at several of our principal roundtables. Below are resources highlighted during some of those roundtables:

FREE SEL Training from Yale University

The 10-hour online course is being offered FREE to all Connecticut school staff, including teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, principals, and non-teaching staff in preK-12 schools, thanks to the generosity of Dalio Education. Upon completion, school staff will earn a certification from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. For additional information about the course, please visit www.ycei.org/selcourse.

Professional Learning from Clinton Public Schools

This presentation was mentioned at our last meeting and there was a request to share it with our network. Clinton Public Schools school psychologists created a "Self Care" section of their September SEL professional learning. Click here to view a copy of their presentation.

Second Step®

Several school have highlighted the use of Second Step® materials not only for community and staff care, but for SEL goal setting. Their site is offering Free COVID 19 Support Resources for schools for a limited time.

Rhode Island State Department of Education Resources

Rhode Island's resources are also helpful in setting SEL goals. Please see this link which has their resources as well as SEL in different contents according to the CASEL standards.

Kaiser Permanente's RISE- Resilience in School Environments

Kaiser Permanente’s Resilience in School Environments, or RISE, empowers schools to create safe and supportive learning environments by cultivating practices that strengthen the social and emotional health of all school employees and students. For more information, some of which is free, please click here.

Are there notes from our meetings? When are the next Curriculum Network Meetings?

To view the notes from the October 23rd meeting, please click here. As a reminder, all dates for our meetings are listed on the LEARN Curriculum Hub which also includes past meeting notes, our shared resources file link, and links to all e-newsletters.

• November 6th, 2020- 10:00am-11:00am
• November 20th, 2020- 10:00am-11:00am
• December 4th, 2020- 10:00am-11:00am
• January 8th, 2021- 10:00am-11:00am
• January 22nd, 2021- 10:00am-11:00am
• February 12, 2021- 10:00am-11:30am- Shift To Once a Month- 90mins
• March 12, 2021- 10:00am-11:30am
• April 23, 2021- 10:00am-11:30am
• May 14th, 2021- 10:00am-11:30am

Email: siwanicki@learn.k12.ct.us
Website: www.learn.k12.ct.us
Location: 44 Hatchetts Hill Road, Old Lyme, CT, USA
Phone: 8604434800