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Ministry Development Plans

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At the Area Lutheran High School Conference last week, administrators shared success stories and strategies from their schools regarding implementation of ministry development plans.  Some have used  MDP reminders note cards, accountability partners and/or vision boards ( Matt Moeller Template ) that have helped various faculties and teachers to use their MDP goal to improve student learning: Others shared that p eer visits and s tudent surveys have been effective ways to determine whether the MDP plan is improving student learning. Consider whether any of these would be helpful for you in carrying out your plan. If you are still trying to determine a goal for your plan, your might research PBL (Project Based Learning). A  new body of research  on Project Based Learning was just released that makes the case for PBL with the strongest evidence yet, using randomized control studies. If you have started doing research for your plan and are ready to share resources, you might contrib
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Mental Health for Educators

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  KML Family, We survived and thrived in February!   Your work is critical to the success of the KML ministry and our students. Thank you.  Be sure to take time to care for yourself by participating in activities that fill your cup so that you can continue to pour out your love, time, energy and passion to others. MENTAL HEALTH FOR EDUCATORS As a gesture of support to educators during this challenging and stressful time, ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is extending FREE online access to our issue on mental health. Please pass this along to your fellow educators and share with your networks:  https://t.co/fXliI4M0su  #MentalHealthMatters  https://t.co/SMbdeYYNA1 Matt Moeller - KML Curriculum Coordinator
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Helping Students Better Understand What Works Best for Their Learning

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To more effectively meet the learning needs of my students,  I've begun to provide more options for understanding concepts and building skills, but I need to help my students determine which options are best fits for them and build a classroom culture where students feel comfortable and supported as they make various educational decisions.  This past week I started having my students set weekly goals at the beginning of the week and then providing an opportunity for them to analyze what worked and didn't work for their learning at the end of the week.  My hope is that this makes them feel more in control of their learning and helps them make effective choices among the options and supports that I provide as well as options they can seek out on their own. CAST provides some great resources for eliminating learning barriers in my instruction. Graphic from Novak Education
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Improving Classroom Discussions

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“When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, physicist, biologist, and artist “As Samuel Johnson purportedly wrote, “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” ― Adam M. Grant, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success I've been listening to  Give  And Take  while I take my dog for walks and am driving.  In the book Adam Grant explains the three different types of how we interact with others and shows you why being a giver is, contrary to popular belief, the best way to success in business and life.  In one chapter he explains that givers are often more successful as lawyers and salespeople because rather than pushing their ideas on others they lead with empathy and pose questions to better understand the situation and let others draw their own conclusions.  As teacher
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Giving Students Choice and Voice

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KML Family, Jay McTighe, one of the authors of  Understanding by Design , shares the following ideas for planning great lessons: "Focus on the larger ideas and processes, teach them in ways that kids understand them, and give them lots of practice applying their learning."  Jay McTighe from the  Backwards Podcast .   STUDENT CHOICE AND VOICE One way to engage more students is give students more control of their learning.  You can find some ways to do that in this article: " 10 Ways To Give Students More Control Of Their Education " EXIT TICKET IDEAS Here are a wide variety of options that you might give students to consolidate their learning at the end of a lesson or unit. Saved to serve, Matt
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Improving Reading Skills 3/2/20

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I finished reading the ASCD Educational Leadership issue entitled "Rooted in Reading."  Below are some of my key takeaways: " Within this growing culture of busyness, we believe schools have an important counter role to play. One critical antidote to this epidemic of overload is to reorient reading instruction to cultivate intentionally present, mindful readers through classroom time dedicated to engaging in immersive reading." " As educators, we must do something to counteract the push for fast reading. We must look at not only how we are creating the time for slow reading in our classrooms (Newkirk, 2010), but also how we are equipping children to engage in the kinds of immersive reading that allow for enveloping pleasure outside of school, where digital distractions are even more omnipresent." " The authors state that "the research base on student-selected reading is robust and conclusive: Students read more, understand more, and are mo
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Google for Education Tools

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I attended the Google Anywhere School yesterday in Chicago and learned about some new tools and updates to tools that I was already using. You can find my travel diary from the conference here . ScreenCastify is an extension that teachers and students can use to easily create videos with a webcam or by "filming" the screens of your computer while providing explanations.  They just updated the free version to include trimming and editing options.  I even learned how to make my own gif with my group! Below are some of the tools that might be used in various departments: SOCIAL STUDIES Google Tour Creator - We created a tour of Mt. Everest base camp. Google Tour Builder Google Expeditions ( list of field trips available) and Google Earth can be used to explore areas throughout the world. SCIENCE https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wImGnftAz5BL_Qj3PREUIHic50SQks8s/view OK Go Musical Group Google Science Journal (Free App) https://sciencejournal.withgoogl
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