Category: Professional Development

National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security Summit – Nov. 1-3

The Maine Department of Education supports Cyber Awareness Month. The National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security Summit includes CYBERSECURITY AND ONLINE SAFETY.  Please consider attending!

November 1-3, 2022 @ 2:00-4:00pm

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will host the inaugural National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security on November 1-3, 2022. This three-day, virtual event will convene school safety experts, practitioners, and leaders from across the country to discuss current threats in school safety and explore research-informed strategies for addressing security challenges and risks in K-12 schools.

Sessions are planned for all members of the K-12 community and will include keynote remarks, one-on-one interviews, and panel discussions on issues such as targeted violence, violence prevention, cybersecurity, online safety, emergency planning, and physical security. The event is designed to foster a nationwide dialogue on school safety, as well as equip school stakeholders and personnel with resources, training, and expertise to apply in their local school settings and communities.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT

The Summit is a free, virtual event that combines discussion, education, networking, and knowledge-sharing among federal, state, and local school safety stakeholders. Through the event, attendees will hear from government, private sector, and community leaders in the field, who will speak about current and critical school safety issues, threats, and solutions.

EVENT DETAILS

The Summit will be held virtually over the course of three days in November. Each day will consist of a two-hour session centered around the themes of violence prevention (Day 1); cybersecurity and online safety (Day 2); and physical security (Day 3).

Additional event details include:

  • Dates: November 1-3, 2022
  • Time: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
  • Location: Held virtually via Microsoft Teams  (access link to be provided to all registrants)
  • Registration Information: The Summit is open to all interested parties and there is no cost to attend. Registration is required for planning purposes.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The Summit is open to anyone with a passion for improving school safety. K-12 educators, administrators, principals, school-based law enforcement, mental health professionals, policymakers, cybersecurity experts, community liaisons, and other school safety and security professionals are especially encouraged to attend.

Register here 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Additional details, including confirmed speakers and a final agenda, will be shared when available. If you have any questions, please contact the CISA School Safety Task Force at SchoolSafety@hq.dhs.gov.

Free Virtual On-Demand Financial Education Training for Maine Educators

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) and the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College, in partnership with the Maine Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and its sponsors, the Office of the Maine State Treasurer, and Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), is offering free online and on-demand training for Maine teachers.

The Financial Educator Virtual Academy will train Maine educators on how to successfully teach personal finance in their classrooms and communities. Educators will receive contact hours for each course module attended, and the first 100 Maine classroom teachers to complete all seven hours of training will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

The online course offering is available starting October 12, 2022 and will close on December 16, 2022. The goal of this training is to support educators as they work to ensure that all Maine students have access to high-quality personal financial education. Maine educators can earn up to seven hours of professional development training and receive suggestions for grade-appropriate personal finance classroom resources over the duration of the virtual academy.

During the virtual academy, which features nationally known experts, participants will learn how to implement the JumpStart National Standards in K-12 Financial Personal Finance Education. These standards allow for the teaching of personal finance in an interdisciplinary or stand-alone manner.

Interested educators may register for the program with this link.

Download a flyer for distribution 

For further questions contact Maine Jumpstart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy at info@mejumpstart.org

 

WORKSHOP: Creating a Restorative Code of Conduct

As schools continue to adjust to a post-pandemic educational reality, teachers, administrators and students struggle to rebuild a sense of community and safety while undesirable behavior continues to escalate. The Maine School Safety Center, a division of the Maine DOE, believes that the development of an intentional community based on Restorative Practices is the best way to build a sense of safety, equity and belonging, while also responding to behavior in a victim centered, nonpunitive manner that encourages accountability, and restoration to individuals and community.

Restorative Practices in schools work best when initiated using a top-down approach, starting with consensus from all stake holders, followed by a review of district or school-based codes of conduct to ensure that both restorative language and restorative response to undesirable behavior is the standard. Analysis of current policies also allows for modifications that ensure equity for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, academic ability or socio-economic status.

With this in mind, the Maine School Safety Center will begin our Restorative Practices training with a free of charge workshop, led by Stacey Barlow, Restorative Practices Coordinator of the MSSC and John Hudson, nationally recognized Restorative Code of Conduct expert, designed to help schools evaluate their current code of conduct through an equity lens and then integrate restorative policy and language, the foundation of building a restorative school culture. A Restorative Code of Conduct will put your school or district in alignment with Maine law, as described below:

15-A. School disciplinary policies. When revising the prescribed consequences for violation of the student code of conduct pursuant to subsection 15, paragraph C, a school board shall consider districtwide disciplinary policies that:

B. Focus on positive and restorative interventions that are consistent with evidence-based practices rather than set punishments for specific behavior and avoid so-called zero-tolerance practices unless specifically required by federal or state laws, rules or regulations. For the purpose of this paragraph, “restorative interventions” means school practices that are designed to strengthen relationships, improve the connection to school and promote a strong sense of accountability and that help students learn from their mistakes, understand the impact of their actions on others and find opportunities to repair the harm they have caused through their misbehavior; [PL 2011, c. 614, §7 (NEW).]

Workshop dates/times (same workshop offered in three locations):

  • Monday, November 7, 2022 – USM Portland 9AM – 4PM
  • Wednesday, November 9, 2022 – Augusta Civic Center 9AM – 4PM
  • Thursday, November 10, 2022 – University of Maine, Bangor 9AM – 4 PM

All workshops are free for Maine Educators – Register for Workshops Here

For questions, please contact Stacey Barlow at Stacey.Barlow@Maine.gov (207)446-8313

Professional Learning Opportunity: Teacher Leaders – Planning with the WIDA English Language Development Standards

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, coordinators/directors, Ed Techs, tutors, and instructional coaches are invited to join the Maine Department of Education and WIDA for a hybrid workshop on planning with the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards!

This hybrid workshop is designed to support ESOL educators in providing local professional development and support for using the WIDA ELD Standards Framework (2020 edition) to plan instruction at the unit level. This workshop is for you if you can answer “yes” to any of these questions:

  • Have you been asked to provide professional development about the WIDA ELD Standards Framework (2020 edition) to educators in your school or district?
  • Do you engage in co-planning with content/classroom educators on a regular basis?
  • Do you have experience evaluating and/or designing content lessons and units?
  • Do you have a strong background in the WIDA Standards system and in working with multilingual learners?

Participants who complete the workshop will receive an invitation to join a consortium-wide pilot community of practice with quarterly activities and collaborative online discussions.

There will be a live virtual session on 11/30/22 from 3-4pm, followed by an in-person workshop on 12/6/22 from 9am-3pm in Augusta. Register here.

If you have any questions about this professional learning opportunity, contact April Perkins, ESOL & Bilingual Programs Specialist, at april.perkins@maine.gov or (207)441-9043.

Book Study – Finding Your Blind Spots: 8 Guiding Principles for Overcoming Implicit Bias in Teaching

Join the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of School and Student Supports (O3S) as they read and reflect on Finding Your Blind Spots: 8 Guiding Principles for Overcoming Implicit Bias in Teaching, by Hedreich Nichols. Members of the Maine DOE not only introduced this book study to participants at the Educator’s Summit in early August, but they also introduced participants to the author! Hedreich Nichols is an educator, writer, and passionate advocate who is sharing her lived experiences with readers and participants of this book study so that we can be reflective practitioners and can truly understand bias. You can also find her work at #Smallbites.  The O3S first heard Nichols’ work on Jennifer Gonzalez’s podcast: Uncovering Your Implicit Biases: An Exercise for Teachers | Cult of Pedagogy.

This opportunity is open to all Maine educational personnel.  Sessions are being held on Thursdays – either at 3:30 in the afternoon or 7:00 in the evening.  Participants are welcome to join for both!  October 6th is our first offering, and we will be reflecting on chapters 1-3.

Check out the authors website to learn more about the book. For any questions about this opportunity, please direct those to O3S Director Julie Smyth at julie.a.smyth@maine.gov.

Health Ed. and Physical Ed. Inclusive Teaching Practices and Learning Workshop to be Held in December – Register Now!

The September Health Education and Physical Education Inclusive Teaching Practices and Learning Workshop dates are being postponed. The first sessions will now be held in December.

HE & PE Inclusive Teaching Practices and Learning Professional Development

  • Have you taken a look at your curriculum and teaching practices with the lens of inclusion?
  • Are your materials representative of all students and their families?
  • Are your practices and the language you use inclusive of all your students and their families?  
  • Do you even know what to look for?

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Health Education & Physical Education (HE & PE) Program will host a professional development opportunity this year focused on learning more about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and the impact on teaching practices. The training will start with an exploration and understanding of foundational concepts in DEI then teachers will be led through a process for doing a deep dive into their own curriculum, instructional strategies and classroom management practices. Following the trainings, video sessions for follow-up conversations and technical assistance will be held.

We are excited to have Dr. Sarah Benes (she, her, hers), as our co-trainer and consultant on these trainings. Sarah is an assistant professor at Southern Connecticut State University in health education and physical education, co-owner of Lighthouse Wellness and Health Education Consulting, and SHAPE America President-Elect. We are pleased to have some of Maine’s HE & PE Teacher Leaders also co-training with us this year.

This is a two-day training and attendees must commit to both days. There will be at least three opportunities offered throughout this school year. The first one is open for registration. Thursday and Friday, December 1 & 2 in Augusta (Please note we may change the training format due to the shortage of substitutes.)

The fee for this training is ONLY $40 to cover the cost of food. All other expenses are being funded by the Maine DOE.

A book study will be held this fall to begin to explore and understand issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. This is not required to attend the two-day workshop.

Register here December Workshop

For further information and questions contact Susan Berry at susan.berry@maine.gov and/or Jean Zimmerman at Jean.zimmerman@maine.gov.

The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health: Calling Maine’s Anti-Hunger Advocates

Join other educators and advocates to learn about the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and review federally recognized innovations & data-driven solutions.  Then, join with local multidisciplinary teams to collaborate on opportunities specific to your region and make a commitment to eliminating disparities.

Date: September 28, 2022
Time: 3:30pm
Facilitator: Rebekah Sousa

Outcomes:

  • You will be able to define food security
  • You will consider the 5 Pillars of the conference and apply them to the State of Maine, Counties, and/or Local Communities.
  • You will have models for strengthening food security within communities
  • You will network with like-minded individuals across sectors and specialties to create more holistic and thoughtful approaches for the specific challenges in Maine.

Audience: School staff, administration, and school stakeholders

Register here.

For further questions, reach out to Rebekah Sousa at Rebekah.Sousa@maine.gov.

Introducing the Maine Association for Improving Literacy (MAIL) – a Statewide Literacy Network

Literacy, as defined by the Maine Department of Education, is the ability to construct and convey meaning for a variety of purposes through an array of contextual forms and symbols, including reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.

Literacy advocate and expert Pam Allyn says, “Reading is like breathing in and writing is like breathing out.”

We can blend these thoughts to substantiate literacy as the overarching key to educational equity which enables communication and comprehension. Literacy achievement is pivotal for ensuring students have access to the world of today and tomorrow, The Maine DOE has launched a Literacy Network to strengthen statewide literacy educational practices.

During the Spring of 2022, an introductory meeting began the process of envisioning the possibilities, priorities, and efforts of the Maine Association for Improving Literacy (MAIL). This network, open to all educators and those interested in improving literacy education efforts to benefit students, is being developed to strengthen statewide literacy practices. The Maine DOE plans to facilitate this group through:

  • professional text and article studies,
  • opportunities to share problems of practice,
  • conversations across the state,
  • sharing resources,
  • state updates, and
  • development of professional presentations for the benefit of all of Maine’s educators, schools, districts, and communities.

The attendees at the introductory meeting began the process of visioning what a literacy network might set for goals and products. The hopes of this group included:

  • Ensuring children can read and love to read.
  • Developing outcomes to address the needs and diversity of Maine’s current population.
  • Supporting districts, teachers, specialists, etc. to build common ground, common language, common knowledge that leads to greater continuity of practice across the state of Maine.

As the new school year begins, MAIL will move forward, continuing to build vision and purpose. Plans for this year include:

  1. Holding monthly meetings, beginning in October. The tentative schedule for 2022-2023 School Year is as follows.
    Second Thursday of each month from 3:30 pm-4:30 pm:

    • October 13, 2022
    • November 10, 2022
    • December 8, 2022
    • January 12, 2023
    • February 9, 2023
    • March 9, 2023
    • April 13, 2023
    • May 11, 2023
    • June 8, 2023
  2. Offering 2 text study opportunities to spark discussion.
  3. Identifying the needs across the state and developing strategies to support and strengthen instructional literacy knowledge, messaging, and practices.
  4. Beginning to develop a toolkit of resources and information.

If you are interested in joining this literacy network and helping to develop the vision for a statewide effort to improve literacy, please register at the link below. There is no commitment, but your registration will ensure that you receive information and mailings.

Register for the Maine Association for Improving Literacy

If you have additional questions about MAIL, please do not hesitate to contact Dee Saucier, Inclusive Education Literacy Specialist, (danielle.m.saucier@maine.gov) or Lee Anne Larsen, Coordinator of Early Learning (leeann.larsen@maine.gov).

 

TRAINING: On Any Given Day – Leadership Lessons from Columbine and Beyond

Sponsored by Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, the Maine Department of Education’s Maine School Safety Center, and the US States Attorney.

Retired Principal of Columbine High School Frank DeAngelis will provide a training designed and intended for school administration, educators, law enforcement and public safety personnel who have the responsibility for building and executing safety plans for school related events.

Date and Time
Tue, October 18, 2022
3:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Location
Mt. Blue High School
129 Seamon Road
Farmington, ME 04938

Register here – Given the sensitive nature of this topic, the training is open only to those with an authorized role in school safety planning. Attendance is subject to verification. Registration information will be confirmed.

Download a printable flyer

For further information or questions contact Sara Bickford at SBickford@franklincountymaine.gov and or 207-860-4277.

 

 

 

An Invitation to School Principals: Join Maine’s 2022-2023 Transformational Leaders’ Network 

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) invites school principals to register for a year-long professional learning experience. The Transformational Leaders’ Network (TLN) offers Maine principals an opportunity to deepen their leadership skills and network with colleagues across Maine, while they are leading transformational efforts in their schools. This “learner-centered” program has a rich history of success and is open to ALL Maine principals. The primary requirement for joining the TLN is the ambition to improve your leadership and your school! 

Who should apply? 

  • School Principals (PreK-12) 

What is the commitment? 

  • The program consists of three in-person full day sessions and five shorter virtual sessions. The three full-day in-person sessions (aligned to CDC safety guidelines) will be in October, February, and May at a site(s) to be determined based on participation.  The TLN will be facilitated by experienced educators.  Sessions are aligned to leadership standards and informed directly by the needs of participants.   

2022-2023 Schedule: 

  • October 14, 2022: 8:30-2:30 full day in person session  
  • November 4, 2022: 8:30-11:00 virtual session 
  • December 9, 2022: 8:30-11:00 virtual session 
  • January 13, 2023 8:30-11:00 virtual session 
  • February 3, 2023: 8:30-2:30 in person session 
  • March 10, 2023: 8:30- 11:00 virtual session 
  • April 7, 2023 8:30-11:00 virtual session 
  • May 5, 2023: 8:30-2:30 full day in person session 

How is the program designed? 

  • The TLN experience revolves around each principal’s efforts to improve their school’s success with students.  
  • Colleagues and resources from facilitators provide on-going consultation and advice focused on immediate and long-term goals.  In this fashion, each principal’s learning goal(s) drives the curriculum of the Network. 
  • Participants are provided readings and resources throughout the year. 
  • Successful completion of the TLN will result in to contact hours for re-certification purposes. 

I’m interested… what next? 

  • In order to receive materials by the first session, participants are encouraged to apply by October 5, 2022.   
  • Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.  
  • Registration for the 2022-2023 TLN can be found here:  http://events.egov.com/eventreg/ME/event.htm?name=transformationalleadersnetwork 
  • The cost of the TLN is $60 per participant for the full year of professional learning.  This includes all TLN content, meals at in-person events, and materials. Participants will be responsible for travel.  A credit card will be needed at time of registration. Please reach out directly to Emily Doughty regarding financial support.   

Where can I find more information?