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Volume 1 Edition 12         Week of September 14, 2020

Please forward this newsletter to teachers in your school. There are many exciting opportunities for Maryland educators and students. 

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• Formative Assessment PLC Series
• Virtual STEM Expo
• Maryland Arts Institute of Racial Justice
• Leadership for Emergency Academic Preparedness Program
• Common Ground Maryland is Going Virtual
• SHAPE Maryland
• Integrating Artificial Intelligence
• Monthly Programming Workshops from the Maryland Center for Computing Education
• Professional Learning Sessions for MCAP Mathematics Assessments
• Teaching Remotely: A Practical Guide
• Professional Learning for Remote Teaching Portal: Earn Credits While You Learn
• Light Up the Learning Brain: Equipping Staff, Empowering Students
• 47th AMLE Annual Conference
• WEBINAR: Teaching with Empathy - The Missing Instructional Link
• Computer Science Praxis Preparation
• Youth Summit on Teen Resistance to Systemic Racism
• "School Library Media Together" Recovery Plan
• The Social Studies Knowledge Map™ Introductory Webinar
• BOOK STUDY: Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity
• This is Worth Reading!

Formative Assessment PLC Series

MSDE's Office of Professional Learning has created a PLC Series that is designed to be facilitated by school-based staff.  Each PLC focuses on a different component of the formative assessment process and takes the learning to a deeper level.  PLC topics include: learning targets, effective feedback, feedback through questioning, exploring formative assessment, embedding formative assessment, and teacher clarity.

To access all PLC resources, visit the MD Formative website.

Virtual STEM Expo

K-12 students, college students, educators, and families are invited to participate in a free virtual expo featuring interactive STEM activities and stage shows. The virtual event runs from September 16-23, 2020. Attendees will have a full week to experience over 100 exciting and innovative exhibits featuring interactive STEM activities. Virtually explore all aspects of STEM from outer space to the inner body. Discover something new every day! 

For more information or to register, visit the Virtual Festival Expo website. 

Maryland Arts Institute of Racial Justice

As institutions move toward Racial Equity, it is necessary to examine and reconcile the past, understand the present, and create change for the future.  The Maryland Arts Institute of Racial Justice has two types of offerings to explore racial justice together as the Maryland Arts sector. Registration is FREE.

Lunchtime Book Club

Connect with members of Maryland’s arts sector to build shared language and understandings about racial justice through guided discussions and sharing. This event occurs on select Tuesdays at noon.

For dates, times, and registration, visit the book club registration page.

Monthly Academy 

In a community with members of Maryland’s arts sector, participants will build a brave space for courageous conversations about race and other social identities. Participants will increase their understanding and capacity for racial equity through guided reflection and discussions.

When registering for an academy, please commit to attending the Evening Session and Lunch-time Reflection Session for the month.

For dates, times, and registration, visit the academy registration page.

Leadership for Emergency Academic Preparedness Program

Hood College is introducing an exciting professional learning program for PreK-12 certified teachers in Maryland.  The Leadership for Emergency Academic Preparedness (LEAP) program is designed to empower teachers in novel circumstances, such as the current pandemic. Teachers can join this supportive professional network to learn new strategies and become leaders in developing guidelines to support other educators in times of emergency situations across the state of Maryland.

Participating teachers will receive free training, a $500 stipend per semester (4 semesters), a collaborative support system, and leadership opportunities. This opportunity is for teachers who are at all stages of their teaching career and teachers who have potential to become leaders in the profession.

For more information, visit Hood College's LEAP website.

Common Ground Maryland is Going Virtual

It is with much thought and consideration that the Common Ground Maryland team has made the very hard decision to cancel the conference in October. However, they are excited to announce they have decided to host Common Ground Maryland as a virtual event in January 2021.

Please save the date of Saturday, January 30th and join Maryland educators for an all-day virtual conference. To learn more about the virtual conference, check out this video.

SHAPE Maryland

SHAPE Maryland will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall for Health and Physical Educators on September 29th at 7:00 pm. Membership is free. To sign up, complete this registration form.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence

Are you new to Artificial Intelligence? Are you curious to know how you can incorporate some of these high-interest ideas and engaging activities in any class? Join this online class from MindSpark Learning and IBM--with local online discussion groups-- to build an understanding of the affects of Artificial Intelligence and how students can be informed consumers and creators.

Earn 1 CPD credit by participating in six hour long synchronous online sessions and nine asynchronous hours of online interactive activities. The synchronous online sessions will take place on Monday and Thursday evenings on October 5th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 19th & 22nd from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm.  To sign up, complete this registration form.

Monthly Programming Workshops from the Maryland Center for Computing Education

The Maryland Center for Computing Education is offering a variety of professional learning experiences for educators in all grade levels and subject areas. Collaborate with other teachers at monthly workshops to plan upcoming units, share resources, and discuss challenges and solutions. The topics of these workshops include: Python programming, AP Computer Science (A Java programming), and Scratch programming.

For more information or to register, visit the MCCE website.

Professional Learning Sessions for MCAP Mathematics Assessments

The MSDE Office of Mathematics will be offering nine prerecorded professional learning sessions. These sessions will highlight the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) Mathematics Assessments. They will offer deep dives into what is meant by "Modeling with Mathematics" across the grade levels and what is meant by "Reasoning with Mathematics" across the grade levels. Recordings will be posted on the MSDE Mathematics web page.

Teaching Remotely: A Practical Guide

This one-credit course is offered by the Friday Institute at NC State University in collaboration with MSDE. During this six week course, participants will learn best practices, resources, and strategies related to successfully setting up distance learning classrooms.  There will also be many opportunities for brainstorming and collaboration. Throughout the course, there will be a specific focus on supporting students with limited connectivity and supporting students with learning differences and other unique needs. The strategies shared in this course go beyond the COVID-19 crisis and will support educators in bringing remote learning to their classroom whenever it is needed. At the end of the course, educators will develop an action plan for their classroom. 

Over 600 Maryland educators participated in this course when it was first offered during the summer of 2020.  Many shared overwhelmingly positive comments regarding their experience. 

For more information or to register, check out Friday Institute registration website.

Professional Learning for Remote Teaching Portal: Earn Credits While You Learn

During the pandemic, Maryland teachers were tasked with delivering instruction remotely. After speaking to many educators about their experiences, MSDE was able to identify the most troublesome areas related to synchronous or blended teaching and learning. These areas range from the instructional development and planning for remote teaching to more specific topics such as: how to communicate effectively with students and parents; how to meet the needs of EL students; how to provide accessible digital resources; how to design and conduct assessments, and more.

In response to these identified needs, the Office of Instructional Technology and School Library Media created the Professional Learning for Remote Teaching Portal. This portal offers professional learning webinars, courses, and activities contributed by Maryland’s local school systems, individual educators, and quality educational organizations. There are currently over 60 short modules available for educators in this "living portal” but additional modules will be added as needed.

After completing professional learning opportunities in the portal, participants should access the Professional Learning Program for Maryland Educators to submit and request hourly points towards Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits.

Light Up the Learning Brain: Equipping Staff, Empowering Students

Join Jessica Sinarski, Brave Brain Founder and CEO, for a virtual session on trauma and the brain.  In this session, participants will learn about the ACE study and why it matters and explore how to best nurture their brain so they can do the same for their staff and students.  

This session will take place on Saturday, September 26th at 9:30 am. 

To register, visit the MAESP registration page.

47th AMLE Annual Conference

The 47th annual AMLE conference will will be going virtual, making high-quality professional learning more accessible to all educators around the world. The conference will take place from Friday, October 23rd to Sunday, October 25th. 

For more information or to register, visit the AMLE Annual Conference website.

WEBINAR: Teaching with Empathy - The Missing Instructional Link

The concept of empathy has been well explored in many educational circles. The colloquialism, “walk a mile in my shoes,” is a concept which many teachers embrace. Educators strive to take on the perspectives of their students in order to create connections and develop lessons that are engaging; however, as the world of young people becomes increasingly complex due to current events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, enacting empathy may present a difficulty.

For an educator who hopes to see all students succeed and wishes to prepare students for future success, empathy is not optional. The most perfectly designed lesson delivered with impeccable pedagogical execution will not reach students if they are disconnected. Student engagement depends on students’ relationships with their teachers more than ever. The key to building strong relationships is the ability of the educator to know individual students on an authentic level. This means developing an understanding of student culture, home environment, interests, and values outside of the classroom. Educators also must explore learning preferences, strengths, and challenges within the classroom. Getting to know students on this level may sound like an insurmountable task but inn this webinar, participants will discuss a range of strategies that offer opportunities for success.

This webinar will take place on Wednesday, October 7th from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm.  For more information or to register, visit the edWebinar website. 

Computer Science Praxis Preparation

This is an opportunity for teachers in Maryland who are currently teaching computer science and are interested in earning an endorsement through passing the CS Praxis II. Participants have the option to apply to be part of a formal study cohort (eligible for a stipend), or to join weekly synchronous review sessions. Participants may also elect to do both! Review sessions will occur on Saturday mornings starting September 12th from 8:30 am -11:00 am, but participants can register at any time.

For more information or to register, complete this registration form.

Youth Summit on Teen Resistance to Systemic Racism

Join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and teens from around the region in a virtual conversation on how they are addressing and fighting systemic injustices occurring in their world today. Students will discuss how teens are active in their communities and the power they yield to shape change. The summit will feature artistic and musical expressions. This summit is facilitated by educator Dr. LaMarr Shields and Hadiya-Ayodele.

This event will take place on Saturday, September 26th from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm.  

To register, visit Reginald F. Lewis Museum Regional Youth Summit registration page.

"School Library Media Together" Recovery Plan

Through a collaborative effort and input from Maryland’s Local School Systems, the Office of Instructional Technology and School Library Media developed a comprehensive recovery plan to support all school library media specialists, educators, and administrators. This plan includes return-to-school scenarios (face-to-face and remote) that address the multiple roles of the librarian as well as activities that can strengthen daily instruction and provide additional support to the classroom teacher. Please share the School Library Media Together plan with all educators. 

The Social Studies Knowledge Map™ Introductory Webinar

The nation’s schools are back in session – just in time for the most contentious election cycle in recent memory. Now more than ever, educators need to equip young people with the political knowledge, political skills, habits of engagement, and civil tolerance that alone sustain democratic society. 

The Institute for Education Policy and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University have designed a suite of tools to help policymakers, school leaders, and teachers accomplish this task. Those tools include: Election 2020: Engaging Students in Civil Discourse; School Culture 360;  and the Teacher Survey for Curriculum Use.

On Tuesday, September 29th, these institutes will host a webinar where they will release their latest resource: the Social Studies Knowledge Map™. This new tool allows educators to assess whether a given social studies curriculum offers systematic, robust knowledge building across students’ K-12 journey. It also evaluates whether the curriculum provides multiple perspectives on a given topic, and whether the teachers’ materials encourage an open classroom climate. The result is a landscape analysis that leaders can use for continuous curricular improvement in this critical subject.

This webinar will be most beneficial for district and state education leaders; charter and private school principals and directors; and educational non-profits and foundations. 

To register visit the webinar registration page.

BOOK STUDY: Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity

Join Learning Forward Maryland and Learning Forward Virginia for a summer book club and 3 synchronous virtual learning sessions with authors, Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple, in the fall. Participants will read the book Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity: The Keys to Successful Equity Implementation over the summer and authors John Krownapple and Floyd Cobb will facilitate 3 virtual reflection sessions via Zoom on September 23rd, October 7th, and October 14th beginning at 5:00 pm on each date. See the flyer for details. 

This is Worth Reading!

"Antiracist" Grading Starts With You