Maine PBIS 2022-2023 Cohort Applications Now Open

Maine Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a state-wide effort designed to help school teams form a proactive, school-wide, systems approach to improving social and academic competence for all students. Schools in Maine are engaging in the implementation of PBIS through a variety of training and coaching opportunities offered by the Maine Department of Education in strong partnership with the University of Maine System. PBIS has documented outcomes for schools who implement PBIS with fidelity and integrity related to dramatic decreases in the number of behavior problems experienced in their schools. Additionally, students and staff in these schools report higher ratings of school climate scores than those in comparative schools who do not use a system of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

Maine DOE is now accepting new applications for schools and SAUs interested in joining a 3-year professional development cohort to establish a strong PBIS Tier One System.

To receive the application, please go to https://forms.office.com/g/P8k2wy3veW.

For more information, please contact Anne-Marie.Adamson@maine.gov.

Registration for Math4ME is Now Open

The Maine Department of Education Office of Special Services, in collaboration with the Maine Math and Science Alliance (MMSA), is pleased to announce a new Math4ME cohort for the 2022-2023 school year. Math4ME is designed to increase access to mathematics for all learners through teacher professional development. This year, participants will register as a team – an administrator, general educator, special educator and ed tech for hands on in person learning and remote synchronous interactive sessions. To learn more about this math learning opportunity, please view the Math4ME Informational video found here:

To receive an application for the 2022-2023 Math4ME cohort please go to https://forms.office.com/g/PUizY0fmF2.

If you have questions, contact Anne-Marie Adamson at anne-marie.adamson@maine.gov.

WEBINAR: Resilience Strategies for Educators: Techniques for Self-Care and Peer Support

Resilience Strategies for Educators (RSE): Techniques for Self-Care and Peer Support Train-the-Educator (TtE) Virtual Training by Request (VTBR) is a virtual learning opportunity coming up for caregivers in schools and school districts to better understand, and teach others, resilience strategies following emergency events.

The REMS TA Center is excited to offer the NEW Resilience Strategies for Educators: Techniques for Self-Care and Peer Support (RSE) Train-the-Educator (TtE) Virtual Training by Request (VTBR) created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools (OSSS). This dynamic and interactive half-day-long training is designed to assist caregivers in schools and school districts to better understand resilience and self-care strategies following natural disasters and other emergency events.

Participants will gain the knowledge and hands-on skills needed to implement the five components of Psychological First Aid — listen, protect, connect, model, and teach, as well as awareness about compassion fatigue, and how to build a self-care plan.

Pre- and -post training activities will provide guidance on how this training is relevant to emergency operations planning and assist with the implementation of what is learned.

TRAINING DETAILS
When: Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET
Cost: NO CHARGE
Register here. (Registration for this event closes on Friday, April 22, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.)

TRAINING DESCRIPTION
As part of a comprehensive school emergency operations plan, it is important for schools and school districts to understand how to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from critical incidents, including social, emotional, and behavioral recovery. The training is designed to provide educators and school staff with a better understanding of resilience strategies that can be used to increase their ability to work more effectively with individuals impacted by stress, loss, and trauma brought on by community or family violence, natural and man-made disasters and economic hardship.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
The training is applicable in areas that have been impacted by traumatic events and/or natural disasters, as well as those that have not recently experienced a traumatic event(s). The intended audiences for this training include, but are not limited to:

• School counselors and psychologists
• School social workers and nurses
• Administrators, educators, and support staff
• School Resource Officers
• Community partners such as local mental/behavioral health practitioners

For more information and questions reach out to REMS directly at info@remstacenter.org or contact Maine School Safety Center (MSSC) staff Melissa Condon at melissa.a.condon@maine.gov.

SAVE THE DATE: School Safety Summit – June 21-23

Save the date for the first School Safety Summit hosted by the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) Maine School Safety Center (MSSC).

Windham High School & virtually on Zoom
June 21-23
9:00 am – 3:00 pm

There will be classes and breakout sessions designed for school administrators, staff, school board, and social workers, as well as JCCOs, SROs, Police Officers, front line supervisors, and administrators.

For more information, contact Rob Susi, Maine DOE MSSC School Safety & Security Manager at robert.w.susi@maine.gov.

Spring Training Continues in April – Check Out This Lineup of MLTI Professional Learning Offerings

Active learning, student engagement, technology integration, digital instructional design, and digital citizenship and online safety are the main topics for an ongoing professional learning series offered by the MLTI Ambassadors. This series features daily offerings that can be attended live via Zoom and are open to all interested educators. The sessions are now available as asynchronous versions through our website. To attend one of the live sessions via Zoom, be sure to register through this April calendar. Please note that the times of these offerings vary from day to day. Asynchronous versions of these sessions will be available through MLTI Professional Learning as well as the MLTI Youtube channel.

Some topical offerings:

Kate Meyer is offering a Digital Poetry session to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Looking for something for Mathematics Awareness Month? Erik Wade will be offering professional learning with Engaging Students with Math and Science Simulations on the 12th and Rob Dominick’s offering Using Digital Tools to Uncover Student’s Thinking in Math from the recent ATOMIM Conference is already available.
Holly Graffam’s session Computational Thinking Skills with Engineering Design Process and Physical Computing with Microbits and PBL are excellent leading into World Creativity and Innovation Week in late April as well as Inventor’s Month in May.
Erik Wade’s Engaging Students through Citizen Science from last month is perfect for both Citizen Science Month and Earth Day.
If you are a librarian or library support staff member looking to change things up for National Library Week, consider Jonathan R. Werner’s six-part series on Digital Citizenship and Online Safety

Monday – Technology Integration with Rob Dominick

The Technology Integration series has dug into some data describing the effect of technology in the classroom, discussed the foundational integration strategies of TPACK and SAMR, and introduced three other useful strategies of TIM, PICRAT, and Triple E.

Coming up in April, we will continue to discuss those strategies by analyzing each one and looking into what they actually look like in practice in the classroom. The series will culminate in the last week of April by evaluating some example lesson plans which integrate technology so that participants can apply that skill to their own planning.

To find the previous professional development sessions in this series, and receive contact hours for them, please visit our YouTube playlist.

Tuesday Tech – Student Engagement with Erik Wade

The student engagement series has been engaging audiences far and wide with professional development about integrating graphic design, inquiry, citizen science, and 3D design and printing. If you would like to view these past professional development opportunities, you can find them by clicking this link.

Coming up in April, we will explore engaging students through virtual reality, math and science simulations, and the use of technology in outdoor education and agriculture.

Wednesdays with Werner – Digital Citizenship & Online Safety with Jonathan R. Werner

This six-part series on Digital Citizenship and Online Safety will draw on the incredible resources Common Sense Education (CSE) has curated to provide educators with a framework for and tools to teach students about Digital Citizenship. April will include the last two offerings: Relationships and Communication (Week 5) and Cyberbullying, Digital Drama, and Hate Speech (Week 6).

Please note, educators can choose any or all of these sessions and do not need to be able to attend all six. After April Break, we will tackle the sixth CSE focus area, News and Media Literacy, in a multi-week series focusing on issues such as Finding Credible News, the Four Factors of Fair Use, and Creator’s Rights and Responsibilities.

Thursday – Digital Instructional Design with Kate Meyer

This series of workshops will explore the creation and implementation of high-quality, engaging, interactive digital learning experiences for your students. Each week we will explore a new digital strategy that you can easily implement into any unit of study. This month we will be exploring Digital Poetry, Design Thinking Infographics, and Podcasting.

If you missed March’s workshops on Hexagonal Thinking, Silent Discussions, or Curation Projects, you can view them asynchronously on MLTI’s YouTube channel on the Digital Instructional Design playlist.

Friday – Active Learning with Holly Graffam

The first series of workshops focused on integrating Problem-Based Learning in the classroom, including an overview of Problem-Based Learning as well explored applications across a variety of content areas from literacy to science.

Beginning in April, Computer Science across the curriculum will be the subject of the second series of workshops. Sessions will discuss the critical need for computer science in our classrooms and examine engaging, creative ways to integrate computer science into your existing curriculums.

Reminder: Register NOW for Conducting K-12 Site Assessments with SITE ASSESS Train-the-Educator

Don’t miss your chance to register for next week’s training brought to you by the Maine School Safety Center and the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center. Registration closes Friday, April 1st.

This dynamic and interactive 2.5-hour training is designed to assist school districts and schools with conducting site assessments and using SITE ASSESS, the REMS TA Center’s free and secure mobile app that allows personnel to walk around a building and grounds, and examine their safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness.

TRAINING DETAILS

When: Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET
Cost: NO CHARGE
Register here
Download the flier here

For more information, contact info@remstacenter.org.

REMINDER: Public Pre-K Technical Assistance Sessions Available April – July, Register Now

As a reminder, members of the Early Learning Team will be providing an opportunity for new and expanding Pre-K programs to come together to learn and discuss the components of high-quality programming.

These sessions will be offered virtually on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, April through July 2022, from 3:30-4:30pm. You may register once and have access to all sessions. Each session will be recorded and links to the recordings will be shared.

Once your registration is confirmed, you will receive an email with a link to a document that highlights resources and links related to each session topic. This should be used as a guide during the sessions.

Please feel free to share the registration link with others in your school system who may be interested.

The sessions are scheduled as follows:

April 11, 2022: Pre-K Application in Accordance with Ch. 124 and the Pre-K Guidebook Review & Reflect
April 25, 2022: Community Needs/Recruitment/Enrollment/Transitions
May 9, 2022: Partnering with Community Providers exploring MOUs & Child Care licensing
May 23, 2022: CDS Relationships/Coordination/Screening
June 13, 2022: Curriculum and Assessment Choices
June 27, 2022: High-Quality Classroom Environments & Materials
July 11, 2022: Early Childhood Development Teacher Training and MELDS
July 25, 2022: Family Engagement Strategies

For questions and clarifications please contact the Early Childhood Specialist, nicole.madore@maine.gov

Launch of Online Training from the Children’s Safety Partnership

With Child Abuse Prevention Month coming up in April, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) is helping to spread the word about a new way to access the Children’s Safety Partnership (CSP) training, “Understanding and Responding to Child Sexual Abuse”.

The pandemic has changed everyone’s ability to gather and train together in-person. Recognizing that all school personnel are required to take the one-hour training, “Understanding and Responding to Child Sexual Abuse” every four years, the Children’s Safety Partnership, a program of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, has developed a completely online version of “Understanding and Responding to Child Sexual Abuse”.

The preference for this training is still that it be in-person, if possible. However, the hope is that this online course version will provide opportunities for school personnel who may not otherwise have access to the training to be able to complete it and to be in compliance.

The training and all supplemental materials are available on the Children’s Safety Partnership website for all educators who have previously taken the training of trainers with the CSP. Access is intended to be a support for those responsible for delivering and/or ensuring the training is completed. Those who have not completed a training of trainers but would like to access the materials can reach out to their local sexual assault support center prevention educators to learn more. This course was designed using the Teachable platform. It provides a road map of the content, while also offering the option to start and stop whenever is convenient for the participant.

If training facilitators have questions when delivering or monitoring the training, they should contact their local sexual assault support center prevention educators!

Register Now for April 5th Math4ME Interest Session

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Office of Special Services, in collaboration with the Maine Math and Science Alliance (MMSA), is pleased to announce a new Math4ME cohort for the 2022-2023 school year.

Math4ME is designed to increase access to mathematics for all learners through teacher professional development. This year, participants will register as a team – an administrator, general educator, special educator, and an education technician, for hands on, in-person learning and remote, synchronous, interactive sessions. For a glimpse into this math learning opportunity, please view the Math4ME informational video found here:

To learn even more about the program, please attend the Math4ME information session on April 5th from 3:30- 4:15 pm.

Please register in advance for this meeting and to receive the Zoom link.

Webinar: Understanding the Role of Information Technology Specialists in Supporting School Safety Before, During, and After an Emergency

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools and its Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center will host a Webinar on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. This Webinar will highlight the role of information technology (IT) specialists in supporting school safety efforts at the local and state levels.

The objectives of this 60-minute Webinar are to:

Highlight the role of IT specialists in supporting school safety efforts at the local and state levels.
Demonstrate the importance of developing a collaborative planning team to support emergency operations plan development, as outlined in Step 1 of the six-step planning process detailed in the Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans.
Discuss the role that IT specialists play in supporting the National Preparedness System mission areas — prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery — as well as their role in the before, during, and after phases of a potential emergency.
Share resources to assist IT specialists in collaborating with and supporting school safety efforts at the local and state levels.

Presenters:

U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)