Geographic Information Systems in classrooms

The Maine Department of Education, Maine Geographic Alliance, and the Maine GIS User Group are collaborating with local teacher-founded organization, Maine GIS Education Partners, to bring Geographic Information Systems to Maine classrooms. GIS is a proven method to help students gain twenty-first century skills and advance their knowledge of geographic science.

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Beyond The Basics in Suicide Prevention Conference

A nationally recognized speaker applauded Maine last week for taking a proactive approach when it comes to suicide prevention. You can read more about the State’s strategic plan in action here. Featured at the conference were two sessions focused on school strategies and supports.

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MLTI Student Conference registration open

Students and educators will join together on May 26 at the University of Maine for a one-day student conference to understand the power and possibilities delivered to them through Maine’s Learning Through Technology Initiative (MLTI). This is the thirteenth year of the event and it promises to be one of the most exciting!

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AP4ALL – reduced costs for dual enrollment program

The AP4LL program is pleased to announce the cost through the dual enrollment program at the University of Maine at Fort Kent has decreased for eligible students for fall 2016. Three credit courses are now $85 instead of $97.50 and four credit courses are now $113.30 instead of $130.

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Registration open for 2016 Summer Literacy Institute

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to announce registration is now open for the 2016 Summer Literacy Institute: High Impact Instructional Routines and Strategies. The one-day institute will provide a foundation for ongoing professional development throughout the 2016-17 school year.

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Maine DOE invites school transportation teams to attend regional safety conferences beginning next week

Safety is priority one in school transportation. This commitment to safety is why Maine school transportation traditionally has one of the best safety records in the nation.  Annual training is the foundation of safety.  Each spring school transportation teams participate in six statewide regional school transportation safety conferences.

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“Content Corner” releases final round of instructional improvement articles

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to conclude the 2015-16 “Content Corner” collection with this third release of instructionally-focused articles for Maine educators. The third collection of articles completes this year’s focus on effective practices that support student learning in the content areas.

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Creating a discourse community in the world language classroom

For students to have adequate opportunity to acquire language and develop proficiency in a language other than English, maximum use of the target language in the classroom by teachers and students is critical. While the research-based recommendation is that target language use represents 90% of teacher and student discourse in the classroom, many teachers struggle to maximize the use of L2 (world language that the student is working to learn during instruction).

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Clear learning targets and feedback strengthen social studies and science learning

How do we know that students understand and are learning what we intend in our classrooms? When do we adjust our instructional sequence or delivery of content to meet student needs? To answer these questions, we first must answer this question: What is the role of formative assessment in our classrooms?

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