Category Archives: Announcement

Announcement

Edutopia Features eMINTS and Hartville

Click for link to Edutopia: Schools that Work
On July 25, the Edutopia’s Schools That Work profiles the eMINTS program as it has been implemented in the Hartville R-II School District located in Hartville, MO. The Hartville School District has implemented the eMINTS program at multiple grade levels from elementary through high school over the past seven years. The district was selected

by Edutopia not only for its high levels of performance on standardized assessments but also for its strong showing on other measures of student performance such as graduation rate, number of students completing advanced courses, and career education placements. Edutopia, sponsored by the George Lucas Foundation, is a digital treasure trove of resources, ideas, and communication opportunities for educators, parents, and others who are interested in improving the K-12 learning process. Edutopiahighlights evidence-based strategies that prepare students to thrive in their future education, careers, and adult lives. Edutopia film crews visited the eMINTS National Center offices and the Hartville School District in April to capture footage about the eMINTS professional development programs and how they were implemented in Hartville. The crew interviewed program leaders, Monica Beglau and Lorie Kaplan, about the ways that eMINTS helps teachers learn how to integrate technology into classrooms so that learning can be transformed. The interviews provide insight into how eMINTS professional development is one of the few programs that has lasting positive impacts on how teachers teach. The crew travelled to Hartville to film an eMINTS professional development session and then followed teachers into their classrooms to observe how the professional development changed their practice. In addition to the feature video, eMINTS has shared program resources that teachers can use in their classrooms to integrate technology in more effective ways.

Announcement

eMINTS Announces St. Louis Cognitive CoachingSM Foundations Seminar

eMINTS is excited to announce the next round of the Cognitive CoachingSM Foundations Seminar to take place in St. Louis, MO beginning in September 2012.

The 8-day professional development series is tailored to anyone that wants to encourage self-directedness of others. Participants will learn strategies and techniques to increase others’ thinking potential and mediate thinking when working with someone who is planning, reflecting or struggling with a problem.

Click Image for Source

The seminar is split into four 2-day sessions lasting from 8:30am-4:00pm each day.

Days Dates
Days 1-2 September 26 & 27, 2012
Days 3-4 October 24 & 25, 2012
Days 5-6 November 28 & 29, 2012
Days 7-8 January 16 & 17, 2013

Cognitive CoachingSM – a research-based model – encourages the process of decision-making to achieve goals through metacognition. The seminar will be facilitated by Brooke Higgins, Carmen Marty, and Terri Brines, certified Agency Trainers of Cognitive Coaching.

Learn all the details and registration online now at the eMINTS website. Sign up now to hold your spot in this amazing professional development opportunity.

Brooke Higgins is an Instructional Specialist, Cognitive Coaching Facilitator, and blogger for the eMINTS National Center.

Announcement, Monday Message, Weekly Update

eMINTS Weekly Update: May 21, 2012

Missouri eMINTS Certified Educators Updated on DESE Website: The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has updated the Education Technology portion of their website to include a tab about eMINTS Certified Educators. See: http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/instrtech/100%20eMINTS-METS%20Classrooms/ Please note that the listings include individuals who received certification through the successful completion of an electronic portfolio as of December 2011. Educators who just recently submitted portfolio items (in February, April and May 2012) will be added if their total portfolio scores successfully meet established criteria after all scoring has been completed. For more information about eMINTS certification see: http://www.emints.org/inside-emints/portfolio/  Educators from other states may also complete portfolios for eMINTS certification; however, they are not listed on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education site. The eMINTS Natio  nal Center maintains a database of all (in-state and other states) certified eMINTS educators.

Manage the eMINTS Discussion List over the Summer: You have several options for managing posts from the eMINTS discussion list over the summer. You could decide to unsubscribe for the summer and re-subscribe in the fall. You could select the “digest” option that gives you a single post where all emails for the day are “batched” into a single post every day instead of all of the posts as they come in to the list. Your participation on the list is “self-serve” so that you can make these changes yourself. For more information visit: http://www.emints.org/inside-emints/discussion-list/

e-Learning for Educators Summer Registration Closes May 23: Don’t miss registration for e-Learning for Educators summer session of online professional development courses! These 7-week courses facilitated by certified educators are open to teachers and others in any state. Course costs are $150 per person with graduate credit available at an additional cost. There are 20 partial scholarships available to Missouri educators (limit of 3 scholarships per district please) on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition to a great line-up of courses for teachers at all grade levels and content areas, two exciting new courses will premier this summer:

*             Going Mobile K-12:  Capturing the power of Smartphones, tablets, apps and more!

*             What is the Right Blend?  Making sense of blended and hybrid learning for the K-12 classroom

Registration closes May 23. Courses begin June 12 and end July 24. For more information call 573-884-4233 or visit the website at http://www.elearningmo.org/

 

 

4ALL, Announcement, Monday Message

eMINTS Weekly Update 4/16/12

New MU College of Education K-12 Virtual Program: Check out the new University of Missouri College of Education K-12 Virtual program called Mizzou K-12 Online at: http://www.mizzouk-12online.missouri.edu The program will launch this summer with 5 high school level courses facilitated by Missouri-certified teachers. The courses are open to students in any school setting or location and can be purchased by schools, districts, parent, or guardians. The courses available include American Government and Health along with several elective courses. Additional courses including English 1 – 4 and Algebra will be available beginning in late August.

e-Learning for Educators Summer Registration Open: Don’t miss registration for e-Learning for Educators summer session of online professional development courses! These 7-week courses facilitated by certified educators are open to teachers and others in any state. Course costs are $150 per person with graduate credit available at an additional cost. There are 20 partial scholarships available to Missouri educators (limit of 3 scholarships per district please) on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition to a great line-up of courses for teachers at all grade levels and content areas, two exciting new courses will premier this summer:

  • Going Mobile K-12:  Capturing the power of Smartphones, tablets, apps and more!
  • What is the Right Blend?  Making sense of blended and hybrid learning for the K-12 classroom

Registration closes May 23. Courses begin June 12 and end July 24. For more information call 573-884-4233 or visit the website at http://www.elearningmo.org/

New eThemes for the week of April 16, 2012

Literature: “Loser” by Jerry Spinelli<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1498?locale=en>

These websites are about the book “Loser” and author Jerry Spinelli. Go to his official website to learn more about him. There are also worksheets, games, quizzes, discussion questions, and lesson plans for the book. Includes links to eThemes resources on Jerry Spinelli, the literature theme of bullying and the Mark Twain literature awards for 2004-2005, for which this book was a nominee.

Literature: “Riding the Flume” by Patricia Curtis Pfitsch<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1530?locale=en>

These sites provide suggested readings and activities for the book “Riding the Flume.” Also includes sites on related themes of lumber mills, log flumes, and images/information for the region. There are links to eThemes Resources on Writing: Fiction and Writing: Historical Fiction.

Literature: “The Courage of Sarah Noble” by Alice Dalgiesh<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1469?locale=en>

These sites offer ideas for activities relating to the book “The Courage of Sarah Noble.” Writing activities involving characters from the book are given. Includes eThemes Resources on Native Americans and colonial life, which are main topics in the story.

Announcement

Weekly Update 4/9/12

e-Learning for Educators Summer Registration Opens April 11:

Don’t miss registration for e-Learning for Educators summer session of online professional development courses! These 7-week courses facilitated by certified educators are open to teachers and others in any state. Course costs are $150 per person with graduate credit available at an additional cost. There are 20 partial scholarships available to Missouri educators (limit of 3 scholarships per district please) on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition to a great line-up of courses for teachers at all grade levels and content areas, two exciting new courses will premier this summer:

  • Going Mobile K-12:  Capturing the power of Smartphones, tablets, apps and more!
  • What is the Right Blend?  Making sense of blended and hybrid learning for the K-12 classroom

Registration closes May 23. Courses begin June 12 and end July 24. For more information call 573-884-4233 or visit the website at http://www.elearningmo.org/

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Mizzou K-12 Online Seeking Part-time High School Instructors: The Mizzou K-12 Online program will soon be offering a full slate of high school courses to Missouri school districts and their students. The program’s goal is to offer a partial catalogue beginning in summer 2012 and a more complete catalogue in fall 2012. Part-time online instructors are needed in all content areas for a variety of courses in grades 9 – 12. Instructors may also be employed as full-time teachers in Missouri school districts but may teach for Mizzou K-21 Online only during non-contract hours. Current Missouri certification is required and instructors must have documentation of recent criminal background check as required by DESE. Applicants must have successfully completed a course in facilitating online courses for K-12 students or be willing to complete such a course prior to being assigned students (course registration fees will be paid). For more information search for Instructor position ID 71

77 on the University of Missouri Human Resources website: http://hrs.missouri.edu/find-a-job/index.php. For assistance with the Human Resources website, please call 573-882-7976. Interested applicants can send questions about the program or positions by email to mucoemizzouk12online@missouri.edu<mailto:mucoemizzouk12online@missouri.edu>

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New eThemes for the week of April 09, 2012

Literature: “The Kid in the Red Jacket” by Barbara Park<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1431?locale=en>

These sites provide suggested questions and activities for the book “The Kid in the Red Jacket.” Also includes sites on the related themes of friendship and adjusting to a new community. There are links to eThemes Resources on Author Study: Barbara Park, Literature: Book Activities, and Literature Themes: Friendship.

Announcement, Resource Links

SMART Notebook 11 – Coming Soon

Click for source

How did I miss the announcement??? Back on January 9, SMART Technologies announced the updates to SMART Notebook to be expected in SMART Notebook 11. I am super excited!

Here are some of the new features and capabilities:

  • Embedded web browser will allow users to insert a live browser page directly into a SMART Notebook file and then interact with that page. (I can’t wait to see how this works.)
  • Widgets, such as a dictionary and translator, will let users handwrite a search query, receive the answer and move that answer to the SMART Notebook software page. An avatar widget will let teachers bring their dynamic talking avatars into SMART Notebook 11 and save them to the Gallery. (It’s an embedded Voki). Widgets will be available for download at the SMART Exchange. SMART is even allowing 3rd party developers to create custom widgets.
  • Crayon feature that allows users to create authentic crayon drawings on the interactive whiteboard.
  • Customizable creative pen builds individual pen types based on any image.
  • Create activity objects with the activity builder tool that reacts to actions made by students or teachers with animations or sounds for engaging interactions.
  • Contextual toolbar that responds to actions by changing when users choose a certain object, giving them the required tool choices they need to work with that tool.
  • Reset page function brings the SMART Notebook software page back to its last saved state. (So much better than undo or clear page for those teachers that teach the same class multiple times.)
  • SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard and the SMART Board 8070i interactive display boards will now have 4 touch capability. (Wish I had access to one of these…I did get to play with one at the eMINTS Conference this past month and WOW it was pretty cool.)
  • SMART Notebook 11 is compatible with Microsoft® Windows 7®, Microsoft Windows XP®and both Mac Snow Leopard® and Mac OSX Lion operating system software. (Possibly my favorite addition – I really hope this takes care of many problems my eMINTS teachers have been having.)
  • Shake feature will allow for quick grouping and ungrouping of objects.
  • Audio recording records sound directly into a file.

To see all of the new features and functions of SMART Notebook 11 visit SMART Technologies. Watch the video Sneak Peak by clicking on the Video tab.

SMART Technologies usually makes the new software available in June or July, right around ISTE, but the media release said this version will be ready this Spring. Going to keep my fingers crossed and keep checking their site.

What new feature are you most excited about and in what ways do you plan on using SMART Notebook 11 to support learning in your classroom?

Brooke Higgins is an instructional specialist with the eMINTS National Center. You can read this and more at her blog Higgins Helpful Hints Blog.

Announcement, Weekly Update

Weekly Update 3/5/12

Annual eMINTS Conference Resources Available on eMINTS Website: Check out the great resources and materials shared by presenters at the 2012 eMINTS Conference. Many of the presenters have graciously shared the resources, sites, tips, and materials they used in their concurrent presentations at the Conference via the eMINTS website. Visit the website at: http://www.emints.org/conference-2012/presentation-materials/ for more information.

eMINTS Discussion List Server Migration: The host for the eMINTS discussion list, MOREnet, has notified us that there will be very small and short outages of the discussion list as they move the list to a new server this week. A specific time for the outage has not been provided, however, it will be a very brief outage and should not affect any future functions of the discussion list. The Weekly Update apparently got caught in the migration and is thus late by a day. Once the migration is completed this week, the interface will remain the same as will all features including the availability of archives and the options to manage your own experiences on the list (subscribe, unsubscribe, request digests, etc.). If you experience any continued difficulties, please email support@emints.org<mailto:support@emints.org> for assistance.

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New eThemes for the week of March 05, 2012

Early American Settlements: For Lower Elementary Grades<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/2018?locale=en>

These sites are about the early American settlements at Plymouth and Jamestown. They include instructional materials, videos, coloring sheets, games, recipes, and images. Links to eThemes Resources: Pilgrims of Plymouth County, Mayflower Voyage, Famous People: Pocahontas, and Early Settlement of North America.

Math: Solving High Degree Polynomials<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/2017?locale=en>

These sites include information on solving high degree polynomial equations. Algebraic concepts covered include: solving for graphing, dividing polynomials, cubics, quartics, and the use of the Rational Root Theorem. Includes links to explanations and interactive applets for solving these types of equations. Links to eThemes Resources: Math: Quadratic Equations: Graphs and Patterns, and Math: Quadratic Functions.

Photos and Images for Educational Use<http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/125?locale=en>

These sites are collections of photo databases free for educational use. There are general image galleries that include various categories and sites with images on specific topic. Clip art is not included.

4ALL, Announcement, Conference, Monday Message

It’s eMINTS Conference Week!

Every winter, the eMINTS National Center hosts a conference for educational technology practitioners and eMINTS teachers to get together and share resources, methods, and loads of great technology. The conference is part of our professional development program, but many other educators and alumni love to come back for inspiration and energy to carry them through the winter months.

Typically, we post updates from the conference on another blog space, but this year we’re moving the operation here to Networked Teaching and Learning. I’ll do a couple of pre-conference posts here and there, but full updates should start on Wednesday. You may also want to follow me on Twitter and the hashtag #eC12.

Conference sessions begin Wednesday with some pre-conference workshops. Thursday and Friday are the main days for the conference with keynote speakers set to open each day. Thursday’s keynote is delivered by Dr. Todd Whitaker where he’ll discuss “What Great Teachers Do Differently”. Friday’s keynote speaker is our old friend Bernie Dodge. Bernie will present on “The Power of Student-Made Questions”.

Even if you missed your chance to register for this year’s conference, you can follow the action here or on Twitter as mentioned above. It should a be a fun few days of some great educational discussions.

Zac Early is an instructional specialist and blogger for the eMINTS National Center.

Announcement, Weekly Update

Weekly Update – Belated – 2/8/12

Congratulations to Joplin, MO School District for Recognition: Special congratulations to the Joplin, MO school district for TWO special recognitions of the work their district is doing in educational technology and eMINTS. Joplin Superintendent, C.J. Huff, was selected by eSchool News as a 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent. See the article at: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/02/01/meet-our-2012-tech-savvy-superintendent-award-winners/7/ The district was also featured in an article in Education Week. The article tells of how eMINTS trainer Klista Reynolds and others came to grips with the realization that their high school and tech center were gone and other schools were severely damaged. Read the complete article and see an accompanying video at: http://tinyurl.com/7s8a5b7

eMINTS Blog Discusses eMINTS Instructional Model and “the Basics”: For a thoughtful discussion about the eMINTS instructional model and how to think about eMINTS and the strong knowledge base often needed by students before they can move on to more complex topics and skills see: http://blog.emints.org/ Start a discussion with others and use the blog site as another place to share your ideas and strategies.

(^That’s us!-ZE)

New and Updated eThemes

See the eThemes website for the latest new and updated eThemes resources: http://ethemes.missouri.edu/new_themes?locale=en

4ALL, Announcement, Weekly Update

Weekly Update 1/23/12

Announcements for the week of January 23, 2012:

University of Missouri-Columbia Launches Virtual School: The MU College of Education is launching a virtual school called Mizzou K-12 Online. The program will provide semester-based facilitated courses for students in grades K -12. The first two pilot courses – high school level American Government and Healthy Living – are open for enrollment. Courses are $300 per student per course and include all instruction and materials. Both courses are slated to begin the week of January 30 and conclude May 25. For more information see the College of Education website at: http://education.missouri.edu/ – the announcement is just above the EdLife icon on the right-hand side of the page. Both courses were developed using Missouri course-level expectations but are open to enrollment for students from any location.

Alliance for Excellent Education Digital Learning Day: There is still time to register for and participate in the first-ever Digital Learning Day on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. Visit http://www.digitallearningday.org/sign-up to stay connected, get updates, and receive exclusive information on what you can do to support this effort by taking less than five minutes to sign up and join the wave of innovation and momentum that is building for this groundbreaking event.

This national awareness campaign is designed to celebrate innovative teachers and highlight instructional practices that strengthen and personalize learning for all students. The Digital Learning Day campaign explores how digital learning can provide teachers and students with the opportunities they deserve in an effort to build or become part of a workforce that is ready to succeed in college, a career, and life. One of the newest toolkits provided by the Alliance is for after-school and community-based programs. Check it out at: http://www.digitallearningday.org/toolkits/beyond_the_classroom

New and Updated eThemes:

To view a list of the most recent new and updated eThemes, see: http://ethemes.missouri.edu/new_themes?locale=en