As educators and schools are preparing for the 2020/2021 school year, Maine Department of Education specialists have begun once again offering regular and on-going virtual office hours in a number of content areas. During these meetings, Department specialists will be available to provide support and guidance regarding distance, hybrid and in-person learning and school supports, as well as to facilitate networking and resource sharing between educators and school staff.

Be sure to check out the Department’s Professional Development Calendar on a regular basis to see what is being offered and when. As the school year goes into full swing there will be many more learning and networking opportunities posted there on a regular basis.

As a reminder, the Department also offers an ever-growing library of recorded webinars and sessions to support educators, school staff, and administrators. The library is organized by topic area and it can be found here.

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is pleased to announce the opportunity for Maine leaders to participate in the 2020-2021 Maine Leadership Development Program (LDP) cohort!  The Maine LDP is an initiative designed to build and strengthen instructional leadership skills among Maine’s educational leaders at the school, district, and state levels. In our ongoing efforts to support and foster the educational expertise in Maine, educators who aspire to do the same are invited to take advantage of this high impact opportunity!   

During the 2019-2020 school year, The Maine DOE partnered with the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) to prepare the first cohort of candidates to become certified trainers and facilitators of future cohorts.  The 2020-2021 cohort will be led by Maine leaders committed to excellence in education.     

Maine’s LDP is delivered through a blended learning model including case studies, inquiry, and hands-on activities with practical applications that meet the rigorous expectations for today’s educational leaders.  Successful completion of the LDP may contribute to credit hours for participants pursuing an advanced degree or contact hours for re-certification purposes.  

Benefits for Maine Schools  

• Prepares educational leaders to lead for excellence and equity  
• Increases student achievement, and fosters a culture of high expectations  
• Enhances teacher recruitment, retention, and quality  

Program Curriculum  

• Nationally researched, evidenced-based, and locally delivered in a cohort model  
• Improves the practice of leadership, transforms instruction and student achievement in schools  
• Consists of 12 two-day units, delivered in 12 months  
• Bridged with online coursework, readings, and job-embedded application of key concepts through action learning   

Characteristics of Ideal Candidates  

• A belief in and commitment to improving instruction and increasing achievement for all students  
• Experience in a leadership role at the school, district, and/or state level with background as a classroom teacher. Ideal candidates include, but are not limited to, teachers, principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, deans, Title I directors, department leaders, ESEA coordinators, special education directors, English Learner directors, assistant superintendents, instruction and curriculum directors, CTE instructors, CTE directors, and superintendents. Priority will be given to educational leaders from schools identified to receive Tier III support throughout Maine.  
• Excellent communications skills; able to effectively facilitate professional development for peers  
• Demonstrated skills in mentoring and coaching  
• Experience as a successful practitioner who is able to translate concepts to actions, theory to practice, and programs to craft  
• Able to participate in the entire Maine LDP Program and deeply engage in action learning   
• Likely to live and work in Maine for the next five years  

The Department encourages educational leaders to consider applying for this exciting opportunity by September 4, 2020.  

Please visit http://www.maine.gov/doe/educators/maineldp to hear from participants and for more information.

View the program schedule at https://www.maine.gov/doe/educators/maineldp/application and download the application by clicking here. 

For more information please email emily.doughty@maine.gov. 

 

Are you interested in teaching in one of the most healthy, healthful, beautiful, and interesting states in the nation? One that values autonomy, innovation, and creativity in teaching? One that values equity and diversity? Then this is the session for you! Our team is excited to share information with you regarding Maine’s certification process, tips for successful searches for current openings, avenues for completing coursework, supports in place for newly-hired educators, and the benefits of teaching in Maine!  #TeachMaine #LiveAndWorkInMaine

Date: August 11, 1:00 PM (EST)

Host: Maine Department of Education: Office of Higher Education and Educator Support Services (Session will be recorded and available on the MDOE web site)

Contact: For more information contact Emily Doughty at Emily.doughty@maine.gov or 207-592-0314

Register now for this webinar   

The Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL)  is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm to explore the issues around the reopening of Maine school libraries.

With Janet McKenney, from the Maine State Library, Jennifer Alvino, Director of the Windham Public Library, along with representatives from Maine’s CDC and the DOE, the webinar will identify solutions to the problems librarians will face as they plan to safely reopen their facilities this fall while continuing to facilitate learning, support curriculum, and promote literacy.

To register for this free event, open to all Maine educators, visit this link: http://www.maslibraries.org/events

Juniper Hill School will be running a Teaching with Nature, Summer Educator Institute this summer in person August 5-8th at Juniper Hill School (with safety measures in place). It will be an opportunity for anyone interested in establishing outdoor learning at their schools or programs this fall.

They will be focusing on the uniqueness of this coming year and especially the First Six Weeks outdoors–academics/curriculum, setting up an outdoor classroom, community learning, and risk management.

For more information or to register visit Juniper Hill School’s Website or contact info@juniperhillschool.org with questions.

Check out the Maine Department of Education’s Professional Development Calendar for upcoming professional development offerings. The Department continues to offer office hours for School Based Mental Health Supports and School Counselors each week. Now is the time to register for two of our upcoming series, one on Reading Differentiation using Jan Richardson’s Practices and our Pre K for ME Curriculum Training 

Be sure to browse our webinar library for recorded sessions, we have recordings on a range of topics, everything from ESEA Office hours to World Languages! We have newly uploaded sessions on Physical Education, Health Education and coming soon will be playlists for Business Managers in addition to a series of recorded sessions about ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds).

Find the Professional Calendar here.

Find the Webinar Library here.

Provided by Transfinder, sponsored by Maine Deptartment of Education. Held Thursday, July 30 – Friday, July 31, 2020

DAY ONE

Thursday, July 30
Register for Day 1: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4579505920092838411

Agenda

Glimpse Into the Transfinder Future
9:00 am – 10:00 am

This session will build your excitement for the new technology being developed at Transfinder. See the next generation of Wayfinder Navigation allowing drivers to benefit from turn-by-turn voice guidance. Learn about Tripfinder for managing field trip requests and secure access for district personnel to submit requests and track approvals. Stopfinder, the All-in-One parent engagement app, brings enhanced communication with parents and district administration through push notifications, 2-way messaging and GeoAlerts. And Routefinder PLUS – the next generation of Routefinder Pro. This easy-to-us, full-featured browser-based transportation solution is revolutionizing school transportation with Faster, Safer and Smarter routing.

Routefinder Pro 101
10:15 am – 12:15 pm

Welcome to Routefinder Pro! Routefinder Pro is a powerful, easy-to-use school bus routing, scheduling and planning solution. By attending this session, you will learn the basics of navigating through Routefinder Pro by learning the tools available in the toolbar, how to look up data, and using your maps to begin creating trips. You will walk away with knowing how to set trip criteria, stop creation, driving paths and timing. In addition, you will know how to create trip reports once your routes are complete.

Field Trips with Infofinder Le: Part 1
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Infofinder le is a web-based solution that leverages your investment in Routefinder Pro by providing an unlimited number of designated district personnel access to your student and trip information. In this session you will get an overview of the entire Infofinder le program, learn how to create user accounts for district personnel, and begin learning how to configure the fields of the Field Trip Request Form. You will know how to use the security module in Routefinder Pro to set access rights for the user accounts of district personnel, so they can access Student and Trip data, run reports and request and approve Field Trip requests electronically.

Field Trips with Infofinder Le: Part 2
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

In Part 2 of this session you will learn how to adjust the Infofinder le system settings and create a message for the Infofinder le homepage. You will also walk through the steps of how to request and approve a Field Tip request, assign resources to a Field Trip, and complete a Field Trip Request Form. In addition to the above, at the end of the session you will know how to run and print driver sheets and invoices, populate dropdown lists for users and set up easy billing.

Wayfinder
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Wayfinder is Transfinder’s All-In-One In-Vehicle App. Enhance your fleet by using Wayfinder to Build Routes and Navigate all from your mobile device. In this session you will learn how Wayfinder can help you prepare for the upcoming school year and use the navigation feature which will safely and clearly guide your drivers along the planned trip as well as tracking student attendance as you arrive at each stop. At the end of the session you will know how to add routes to Routefinder Pro using a tablet or smartphone
and create stops with the click of a button

DAY TWO

Friday, July 31, 2020
Register for Day 2:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7905766088626871051

Agenda:

Viewfinder
8:30 am – 9:30 am

With Viewfinder you can monitor the day-to-day operations of your transportation department from any computer. Quickly access updates on students, trips, field trips, vehicles, and staff to ensure your operation is running smoothly. In this session you will learn how to use Viewfinder to gain powerful insights into your operation. At the end
of the session you will walk away knowing how to use the dashboards and automated reporting function so you can monitor the Transportation Department from outside Routefinder Pro.

Servicefinder – Part 1
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Servicefinder simplifies fleet maintenance to help reduce costs, reduce vehicle downtime, extend vehicle life, increase technician productivity, maintain lower inventory levels and extend better control of personnel and vendors. In this session you will learn the tools and functions available in the Dashboard, Driver Portal and more. You will walk away with a greater understanding of how to use these tools to help you tackle the complex administrative tasks associated with keeping your fleet running smoothly.

Servicefinder – Part 2
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

In Part 2 you will learn how to import data for buses and parts, and use the Quick-Add method to enter and maintain the system. You will explore the Control Panel configuration, and learn how to make the most of customizable options and settings.
By the end of the session you will know the process for receiving inventory and how to generate work orders.

 

 

 

The Maine Department of Education’s content specialists along with partnering educational leaders from the field continue to schedule, provide, and record a wide variety of virtual support sessions, professional development, and continued and engaging conversations over the summer.

Upcoming sessions include everything from supporting PreK and K teachers, remote learning, Multi-tiered Systems of Support, brain centered support, grading equity for ELA, all the way to an Iced Coffee Hour with VPA educators from across the state, and more!

Find a schedule of upcoming sessions here | Find recorded sessions here.