Teacher Learning Hub News
Ring in a Shiny, Bright, Professional You for 2022!
The break is over and, just like you, facilitated courses are back in full swing for January! Polish your professional self with facilitated professional growth opportunities kicking off in January and February! It is still not too late to register for January 2022 courses that begin on 1/9 and 1/10! But wait! There’s more! Enrollment opens January 16, 2022, for the following February professional growth opportunities:
Championship Courses for Championing Children!
Another year is flying by and there is so much to do to accomplish everything you want to in order to best champion every need, from social-emotional to academic, of the young people with whom you have been entrusted. Stay positive, enthused, take care of yourself as you too, continually grow, and know that great teachers make an immeasurable difference in ways you may never fully understand. In support of your efforts, check out these self-paced courses! (On your own time, at your own pace!)
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Foundational Skills Series: This is a series of five courses and you need to take Introduction to Foundational Skills and Montana Content Standards as a prerequisite to unlock the others! These are so worth it! Regardless of your grade level, K-12, you will glean important, pertinent, practical, foundational understandings, for assisting all content readers and enabling constructive interventions in your classroom!
Cheers to the New IEFA Course!
Building Your IEFA Mindset: Unpacking the Essential Understandings is a new course that will launch on 1/24/22 and run through 3/31/22! Enrollment will open on 1/9/22! Please mark your calendars so you can be assured of a spot for this great 15 RU course that will unpack the essential understandings regarding Montana Indians, understand the spirit of the law, and why implementation is essential! Look forward to making personal connections, discovering your own biases, and discussing common misconceptions in a safe and supportive environment! This course is best suited for K-12 teachers who are currently in the classroom.
Helpful Hub Tip of the Month: Renewal Unit Certificates - The Hub’s purpose is to provide high-quality professional learning opportunities for Montana educators so you can earn no-cost renewal units for professional growth and licensure renewal. Always be sure to download and save your course completion certificate and renewal unit certificates each time you complete a course. As the OPI Licensure Unit is getting ready to replace the old MSEIS system with a more efficient, user-friendly licensing system, it is all the more important that you manage documentation of your accomplishments to include for licensure renewal after the new system goes live in June 2022. We also recommend printing a hard copy for your personal file should you ever have issues with your PC. (Hope not, but it can happen!) To learn more about the new OPI Educator Licensing system, please visit the Educator Licensure webpage. While the Hub staff is happy to help you with your learning, please refer any questions you may have about Educator Licensure to the staff at cert@mt.govor call 406-444-3150 between noon and 4:30 p.m. each weekday.
Also: The Hub pages you see in your courses will be taking on a slightly new look in the new year as we welcome an upgrade on our learning platform. You will see added instructions that will be even more user-friendly as well as the word DONE in a green box vs. the checkbox to the far right that used to show activity completion. We hope you enjoy the small changes and find them beneficial! Feel free to contact us if you have any trouble, but we think you will find it even easier!!
May Your New Year Be Bright and Beautiful!
Visit us at the link above to set up an account and sign up for courses.
Course List | Catalog | Calendar
Questions? Contact Allyson Briese or Marti Paugh
opilearninghub@mt.gov | 406.444.3557
English Language Arts & Literacy News
Second Chance to Participate in the National Council of Teachers of English, 2021 Convention
Dreaming of spending your winter break cozied up with some tea and a good book…or six? NCTE extends an invitation to participate in one or more book discussions on titles written by General Session presenters at the 2021 NCTE Annual Convention between January and February of 2022. Each book discussion will center on open dialogue among literacy educators regarding the book and will be led by one or more NCTE member leaders. For a fruitful dialogue, attendees should have read or should be generally familiar with the featured title(s).
Book Discussions are currently open to registered attendees of the 2021 NCTE Annual Convention. We will be holding the events on the convention’s registration platform. You can register for the Annual Convention through December 30, 2021. (In addition to access to these book discussions, you will also be able to view all general Convention recorded content through February 19, 2022!) Please express interest in attending by completing the RSVP form.
Standards-Aligned MLK-Themed Resources
Looking for a way to really engage your students in authentic standards-based learning about the importance of civil rights around MLK Day? Look no further! Better Lesson, NCTE’s ReadWriteThink, and CommonLit have some high-quality, free MLK resources (digital and available to download/print) to help you supplement your instruction and meet the diverse learning needs of your students.
Some of my favorites include:
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Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero aligned specifically to Montana State Standards with a grade-level Montana standards interactive alignment feature for grades K-2!
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How Big Are Martin's Big Words? Thinking Big about the Future aligned specifically to Montana State Standards with a grade-level interactive Montana standards alignment feature for grades 3-5!
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Conduct a close read of MLK’s I Have a Dream speech aligned to the standards RI 6.1, RI 6.3, and RI 6.4. (Includes 13 additional digital resources for building context and text-text connections!)
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RFK'S Speech Following the Death of MLK aligned to standards RI 8.1, RI 8.2, RI 8.3, RI 8.5, and RI8.6 (Bonus! Includes Related Media, Paired Texts, and Parent Guide!)
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Langston Hughes Hidden Influence on MLK aligned to standards RI 9-10.1, RI 9-10.2, RI 910.4, RI 9-10.5, and RI 9-10.6 (Bonus! Includes Related Media, Paired Texts, and Parent Guide!)
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Become Experts on MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail aligned to standards RL11-12.1, RL11-12.5, and RL11-12.6.
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MLK’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech aligned to standards RI11-12.1, RI11-12.2, RI11-12.4, RI11-12.5, and RI11-12.6 (Bonus! Includes Related Media, Paired Texts, and Parent Guide!)
Questions for our ELA & Literacy Instructional Coordinator?
Contact Stephanie Swigart | stephanie.swigart@mt.gov or 406.444.0736
Continuing the Journey: Mathematics Instruction in the Time of COVID and Beyond
This is our time to humanize mathematics by creating greater opportunities to learn for all students and ensure that all students have access to grade-level content. Creating greater coherence and providing just-in-time support for grade-level content provide a lever that helps students develop a deeper mathematical understanding, increase their motivation for learning because they see the connections and enhance their identities as confident and effective doers of mathematics. (NCTM, NCSM, ASSM, 2021, p. 3)
Happy New Year! We are halfway through the 2021/2022 school year…another school year like no other. Midyear is often a time of reflection, looking back on where we have been, while also looking forward, making plans for the second half of the school year. As we reflect on the challenges of these past two years, is it possible to use this time as an opportunity to strengthen our instruction in mathematics? Can we use this disruption in “business as usual” to continue to develop our capacity to build on our students’ strengths and to better meet all our students’ needs? We have been told to shift from remediation to acceleration, supporting, and scaffolding. What exactly does this look like in our school settings? The publication Continuing the Journey: Mathematics Learning 2021 and Beyond provides guidance for this ongoing endeavor. This report is a combined effort of the Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics (ASSM), Leadership in Mathematics Education (NCSM), and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The work takes an in-depth look at three key areas: Grade-level Content; Equitable, Effective Teaching Practices; and Advocacy. As administrators, leadership teams, and teachers work together to strengthen math instruction for all students, this report provides considerations, questions, and potential solution processes to support this important work on behalf of our students.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics (ASSM), Leadership in Mathematics Education (NCSM). 2021. "Continuing the Journey: Mathematics Learning 2021 and Beyond". www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Research_and_Advocacy/collections/Continuing_the_Journey/NCTM_NCSM_Continuing_the_Journey_Report-Fnl2.pdf.
Questions for our Mathematics Instructional Coordinator?
Contact Sonja Whitford | sonja.whitford@mt.gov or 406.444.0706
Coaching During "Other Duties as Assigned"
Learning Forward released a blog and webinar recently regarding how to coach while performing other duties in schools/organizations. As you work with coaches within your organizations, you may be hearing how they feel as if their coaching of educators is taking a back seat. The article and webinar contain helpful recommendations for coaches dealing with this situation.
Renewal Unit Provider System FAQ: Issuing Copies of Certificates
If you are a renewal unit provider, you could be asked by an educator to provide another copy of a renewal unit certificate. Per the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) 10.57.215, the educator is "solely responsible for retaining the renewal unit verification to be used in the application for license renewal." However, per ARM 10.57.216, providers are required to "maintain records of all professional development activities for which renewal unit awards are made for five years following the date of completion of the annual reporting requirement." Therefore, you are permitted to issue a copy of a renewal unit certificate as long as you have record of attendance for the educator requesting a copy.
Evidence-Based Curriculum Review Event
Save the date: January 27, 2022
Time: 3:30pm
Zoom: Zoom Room Link
Join us to learn about our review process and the resources that meet rigorous criteria for the ARP-ESSER funding. The OPI’s Content Standards and Instruction team has completed reviewing vendor responses to a Request for Information regarding evidence-based curricular materials. Five vendors responded with information regarding how their supplemental digital programs, computer-based programs, and/or curricular materials meet ESSA Tiers of Evidence and Student Data Privacy to enrich and deepen K-12 students’ conceptual understanding of English language arts, mathematics, and/or science.
Questions for our Professional Learning Coordinator?
Contact Carli Cockrell | carli.cockrell@mt.gov or 406.444.0769
STEM Opportunities for Teachers and Students
STEM opportunities, grants, and challenges are available all the time! Check out the OPI Science Page for the latest opportunities available. Recently added this week were the following opportunities:
- Captain Planet Foundation ecoTech Grants are specifically offered to engage children in inquiry-based, STEM-related projects that leverage technology and/or use nature-based design to address environmental problems in local communities.
- For Elementary grades, to support early literacy, the Montana State Library and Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks are pleased to announce a relaunch of the Ready 2 Read Goes Wild Bear Trunk program, which will provide communities throughout Montana with a unique learning opportunity grounded in outdoor education and appreciation
- Now until December 22, 2021: Montana Environmental Education Association $1,000 mini-grants applications are open! Also, there is an opportunity to Nominate an Outstanding Educator!
- Air Quality Flag Program. This program is funded by the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Flags, onsite training, and educational materials are free. If you would like to get involved, contact mac.nollde@montanahphc.org, or call (406) 763-1006.
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For High School, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) offers free, innovative classroom products. These online learning resources form the foundation of a global civics curriculum, empowering young people with the essential knowledge, skills, and perspective to be responsible citizens, take on the challenges of global competition, and steer through partisan rhetoric and disinformation. Review their resources that could be used in a science classroom. For more information contact Lori Matza, lmatza@cfr.org.
Plus, there is so much more!
Questions for our Science Instructional Coordinator?
Contact Michelle McCarthy | mmccarthy5@mt.gov or 406.444.3537
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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