Professional Learning Survey/Shirt Order

The Southeast Polk Professional Development Steering Committee met last Wednesday, and WE WOULD LIKE YOUR INPUT!  Please complete the survey at the link below.  There are 8 questions, and it should take no more than 10 minutes.  Your feedback will be used to plan future learning opportunities.

Southeast Polk Professional Learning Survey

*You are welcome to use your name, but it is not required.

**This survey presents as a quiz, but the 'points' are not calculated--just the responses. 

Thank you for your feedback. 

Yes We Can! Shirts

Yes We Can! shirts are available from Fully Promoted through February 9th.  Any shirts purchased after that timeline will be at a higher cost.  If you are interested, you may purchase at the link below. 

SOUTHEAST POLK YES WE CAN! SHIRTS

January Teaching and Learning Newsletter/All Means All Institute Update

January Teaching and Learning Newsletter 

In this month's issue:

• Resources to Support Literacy

• Teaching Gifted and Higher Level Learners

• SEP College and Career Readiness

• Sparking Innovation Tech Tips
• Elementary
• Secondary

• Math Updates

If you would like additional information or support, please reach out to a Teaching & Learning Team member. 

Thank you for all you do to ensure ALL students learn at high levels!

-Southeast Polk's Teaching & Learning Team

All Means All Institute

Our 200 seats to the All Means All Institute were filled in LESS THAN 24 HOURS!!  What a tremendous response and commitment to ALL students at Southeast Polk.  We secured 50 additional seats, and of those seats,  around 15 seats remain.  If you would like to attend, please complete the form as soon as you are able.  

ALL MEANS ALL INSTITUTE SIGN UP

Your dedication to this work is very much appreciated! 

Teaching Resources to Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

As we prepare to celebrate MLK Day, today's blog has some resources to help learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, his impact on the Civil Rights Movement, and his significance to American culture and history.

"I Have a Dream"

While Dr. King had many accomplishments, perhaps he is best known for his "I Have a Dream" speech that was given at the 1963 March on Washington for jobs, freedoms, and civil rights. The link below is a primary source resource and includes the entirety of this famous speech.

 

"Virtual Visits"

Our expanded technology can help students understand the context of King’s life with virtual tours of the MLK memorial in Washington, D.C. and King’s childhood home in Atlanta, GA.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial: A virtual tour of the memorial with simple English narration.

• The National Park Service, which administers the national MLK monument and MLK birthplace, share a number of digital resources around historic sites, both in the life of Dr. King and the American struggle for civil rights at large, including the Selma to Montgomery National Historical Trail and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.

• National Geographic Kids shares a full outline of the advocate’s life and times in this simple presentation, ideal for covering the basics.

• The National Archives shares sources, discussion questions, and more.

--@TCEA

Teaching Resources

PBS Classroom Resources

Lesson Plans

The March on Washington and its impact

Black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, where he gave his 'I Have A Dream' speech. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech as a work of literature

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech as visual text

Music and speeches at the March on Washington

Lesson Plans from the National Education Association

Dr. King's Dream
Students in grades K-2 learn about the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., listen to an excerpt from his “I Have a Dream” speech, and create picture books about freedom for Americans today.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero
Students in grades K-2 learn about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., record information on a KWL chart, and keep a journal of thoughts and ideas.

How Big Are Martin’s Big Words? Thinking Big about the Future
Students in grades 3-5 listen to a reading of Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and then analyze excerpts from King’s speeches for "big" words, words not necessarily as large in length as they are in importance: Freedom, Peace, Love.

Students in grades 6-8 create found poems based on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1968 obituary published in The New York Times.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Power of Nonviolence
Students in grades 6-8 investigate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence and the teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi that influenced King's views.

Lesson Plan: The Children's Crusade & the Role of Youth in the African American Freedom Struggle

Students in grades 9-12 learn about the role of youth in the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, Alabama and Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech as a work of literature
Students (9-12) analyze the rhetorical influences on and the oratorical devices used by King.

Background Resources

I Have a Dream: Celebrating the Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A source of activities, lessons, and websites.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy of Racial and Social Justice: A Curriculum for Empowerment

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WEBSITES

• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Online

Videos

• Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream"
• The History Channel provides a collection of 49 short videos on Martin Luther King, Jr. and his career.

Relationship Building Resources: Goal #4-Climate and Culture

Another of our district school improvement goals this year is a focus on school climate and culture.  

As we continue to work on building relationships and school connectedness, below are some resources from CJ Reynolds.  Whether you are starting with a new group 2nd semester, continuing to build relationships this year, or adding ideas for next year, these resources can provide ideas to further a positive classroom climate.

Resource to Build Relationships

Life Odyssey Project

TIME Day: NEW FORM

Nearly 200 teachers submitted TIME Day hours for the first round that ended in November.  For those submitting the remaining 4 hours or all 8 hours for the second round, there is a new form for you to complete.  

TIME Day hours will now be submitted in Laserfiche forms.  This will further improve accuracy and efficiency with payments.

As a reminder, certified teachers may receive up to 8 hours of additional per diem pay for collaborative work completed outside their regular contract time during the 2024-2025 school year. EACH person of your collaborative team will need to submit a form to receive payment. Please review your collaborative plan with your building principal prior to beginning this work. 

Those submitting their remaining 4 hours or their 8 hours will use the new form linked below.  The link has also been updated on the Professional Development site.  For round 2 of payment, all remaining hours must be submitted prior to the end of the day on May 10th. 

For additional information and FAQ's related to TIME, please see the Southeast Polk Professional Development Site.

NEW TIME Day FORM

Research Resolutions

Happy New Year!  As we start 2025 with resolutions and commitments to goals, here are some of the top findings from research studies from the past year.  The topics include:

• The impact of outdoor learning on cognitive and social-emotional growth
• The effectiveness of learning from errors in math
• The importance of keeping English learners with their peers
• The power of peer learning
• A modest turnaround in youth mental health

The Impact of Outdoor Learning on Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth

Key Findings

• Outdoor activities are easily aligned to course standards in subjects such as art, science, social studies, and English.
• These types of activities can help with student's 'estrangement from nature'.
• Outdoor activities can build cognitive and processing skills, and those who participated reported less stress, closer connections to their own emotions, and improved self-esteem.

From Science to Sunshine: Rescuing Children's Outdoor Playtime in the Digital Era, Charan, Kalia, and Khurana, 2024.

The Effectiveness of Learning from Errors in Math

Key Findings

• Teaching efficacy improved when time was focused on students' mathematical errors and engaged in collaborative discussions about common mistakes of logic or computation.
• Groups of students who spent time in teacher-led learning sessions devoted to answers students got wrong scored roughly the same as their peers; however the group in the 'learning from errors' group invested half the time.
• Embracing mistakes supports learning, alters the climate of the classroom, deepens relationships, and improves student motivation.

Learning from Errors, Metcalfe, Xu, and Vuorre, 2024

The Importance of Keeping English Learners with their Peers

Key Findings

• English learners participated with their proficient peers in a 10-week literacy program building around science and social studies.
• The focus was on interactive read-alouds, target vocabulary, peers discussions, and structured writing tasks.
• Those who remained in the classroom with their peers out-performed English learners who were removed for remediation in vocabulary and writing.

Effects of Tier I Content Literacy, Relyea, Kim, Rich, 2024.

The Power of Peer Learning

Key Findings

• Students who taught a classmate reported elevated levels of anxiety and greater levels of brain activity across the social and cognitive processing of the brain.
• They also significantly out-performed the restudy group on tests of recall and transfer, monitored their learning more effectively, and included more elaborate examples in their explanations.
• Researchers hypothesized that the presence of classmates may have attuned students to 'up their game'
• It's best to mix direct instruction with group activities such as turn and talk, teaching classmates, gamifying quizzes, peer review, etc. 

Effects of Explaining a Science Lesson to Others, Zhu, Wang, Mayer, 2024

A Modest Turnaround in Youth Mental Health

Key Findings

• While student mental health has shown a decline in the last decade, the latest CDC data suggest we may finally reaching a turning point. 
• There was a modest decrease in the percentage of students feeling persistently sad or hopeless.
• There is still much work ahead, but with schools providing more services for youth mental health, there is progress we can build on. 

CDC Data Show Improvements in Youth Mental Health, Centers for Disease Control, 2024