The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is providing a comprehensive collection of fall professional learning, training, office hours and other opportunities for Maine’s education field as they prepare for and begin the 2021-2022 school year.

Please find below a listing from the Maine DOE Professional Development & Training Calendar with links to a description, more information, and how to register.

In addition, below the calendar listing you will find ongoing and upcoming cohort learning opportunities, as well as links to curriculum resources that can help educators plan classroom and remote learning opportunities throughout the year.

Professional Learning/Training Opportunities:

Note: the below listing is a copy/paste of our Professional Development & Training Calendar. The calendar gets updated every day, check it out anytime for the most up-to-date listing.

Cohorts and Other Opportunities

• Maine’s Leadership Development Program (Maine LDP) – Executive leadership training to selected educational leaders across Maine at no cost to the fellows or their sending school administrative units (SAUs). | Learn more here
• The Transformational Leaders’ Network (TLN) – A two-pronged approach to leadership development that provides school principals an opportunity to deepen their leadership skills while they are leading transformational efforts in their schools. 2 hour virtual monthly sessions and 3 in-person full days over 8 months | Learn more here
• Learning Moments of Mindfulness: Managing Difficult Situation – In this facilitated, online course, learn about different mindfulness techniques to use both inside and outside the adult education classroom to help you manage difficult situations. Offered October 12 – November 22, 2021 | Register & More Info
• Rethinking Responsive Education Ventures is gearing up for several fall offerings.  RREV offers customizable PD to PK-12 public and private schools state wide at no cost to your teams. We still have over 9 million dollars to award innovative pilot projects over the next two years.  Please contact: Martin Mackey, RREV director to learn more about how RREV can support your team in developing a culture of innovation in your school or creating  Innovative pilots or check out our website for more info: RREV Website here
• ThinkerAnalytix – join a team of teachers to work closely with ThinkerAnalytix over the 2021-2022 academic year to receive in-depth training in argument mapping and intellectual empathy- the ability to engage in constructive disagreements over controversial issues with precision and care. Educators are encouraged to register in teams of 2 or 3 with their colleagues. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE
• EVERFI – join a team of teachers to work closely with EVERFI over the 2021-2022 academic year to receive in-depth training on how to successfully implement EVERFI’s digital resources to build your classroom culture and academic readiness. | LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE
• Webinar: Engaging Your Students with Learning Activities using the Founding Documents of the United States – Join the National Archives Foundation and Dr. Charles Flanagan (Outreach Supervisor – Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives) on Thursday, September 9 (4:00pm ET) to learn about engaging your students with learning activities using the founding documents of the United States. Free lessons and resources will be shared. The webinar is free, but registration is required by using this link.

Coming Soon:

• Text Study for K-5 teachers – The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler. The study will run from October – December – dates to be determined.
• Understanding the Maine DOL Employment Projections for Career and Development staff/educators – Registration expected to start mid-September.
• Economic Trends for Career and Development staff/educators – Registration expected to start mid-September.
• Rethinking Literacy: Sputnik Meets Why Johnny Can’t Read (K-3) – Join Maine DOE Elementary Literacy Specialist Dee Saucier, Maine DOE Science and Engineering Specialist Shari Templeton and other K-3 teachers across the state to learn and work together synchronously and asynchronously. We will read recent research, view short videos and webinars, participate in group discussions and work collaboratively – registration coming fall and early winter.
• The National Archives – More information about this learning cohort is coming soon. Contact Joe Schmidt (schmidt@maine.gov) with any questions or if you are interested in participating in this learning cohort when more details are made available.
• The OER Project from The Gates Foundation – More information about the learning cohort coming soon. Contact Joe Schmidt (schmidt@maine.gov) with any questions or if you are interested in participating in this learning cohort when more details are made available.

Curriculum & Other Resources:

• Maine DOE Webinar Library – recordings of webinars, office hours, and other professional learning categorized by subject.
• SEL4ME – a free to use, comprehensive, CASEL aligned and trauma informed PreK-12th grade Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum for Maine schools
• MOOSE (Maine Online Opportunities for Sustained Education) – anytime, anywhere learning options and resources for educators, students, and their families
• Standards and Instructional Support – The Standards and Instructional Support (SIS) Team collaborates with statewide and national partners to provide professional learning opportunities, resources, and guidance for educators to promote integrated learning experiences and educational practices for the whole child that lead all students to become well-rounded citizens.
• Digital Learning 101 – A 12-Part Series – Creating a successful remote learning environment requires numerous considerations. In this series, we look at some models and best practices for digital learning. We also draw from both the successes and challenges of the emergency digital learning of the 2019-2020 school year.
• Rethinking Digital Learning – As we emerge from the cloud of digital learning due to necessity, let’s explore what worked and what didn’t. We’ll share best practices for remote learning as well as dig into innovative ways to rethink how digital learning can be done.
• Memes, Gifs, and Emojis – A Mini-Series – In this mini-series, we explore innovative ways to use memes, gifs, and emojis to enhance connection in remote and hybrid environments and increase general student engagement. We also look at some best practices to get students excited about digital communication.
• Green Screen Creation in the Early Elementary Classroom – Green screen technology may seem intimidating at first, but the basics are fairly simple and allow for tremendous creativity.  While having a professional green screen is helpful, teachers have been “hacking” this technology for years with green clothing, green tents, puppets on green sticks, green screen boxes and even green playdough.  Teachers can transport themselves anywhere and students’ imaginative play can go to a new level.
• Building a Digital Toolbox for Asynchronous Learning at the Elementary Level – This video series has been developed as part of the Maine Department of Education’s efforts to provide guidance and support around the use of digital tools in the 2020-2021 school year. Some of these trainings are tied in with the Department’s MOOSE platform training materials while others are being covered that are specifically not part of the MOOSE digital tools.  The goal is to explore those digital tools that can used effectively for asynchronous learning with a focus on the elementary level.