May 12, 2016 Teachers' Biweekly Message North Carolina Public Schools Thu 5/12/2016 3:51 PM Inbox To: Lynda Fuller <Lynda.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov>; Biweekly message to North Carolina public school teachers from State Superintendent June Atkinson Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. May 12, 2016 For the past year, the Department of Public Instruction has been in the five-year review process for the mathematics content standards, involving local district teachers, curriculum leaders, higher education representatives and others. Also, information from other resources, including the Academic Standards Review Commission’s December recommendations, was included in the process. As a result of this feedback, modifications to the sequencing of standards as well as revisions for clarity of the standards have been proposed to Math I, II and III (high school levels). K-12 English Language Arts review will begin this summer and Mathematics in grades K-8 and the fourth level math courses, AFM, Discrete and Pre-Calculus, will be under review beginning this fall. Educators, parents and other interested citizens are invited to provide feedback regarding proposed revisions to the content standards for high school math courses Math I, II and III via an online survey. The survey will be available through May 20. A quick way to access the background information on each set of math standards’ changes is to click on the links below. * NC Math 1 Draft Standards * NC Math 2 Draft Standards * NC Math 3 Draft Standards * Summary, Overview and Rationale If you are a mathematics teacher, please consider taking the survey and sharing your feedback. The State Board of Education could act on these revisions as early as June 2 when it holds its next monthly meeting. State Board of Education Meeting Highlights At last Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting, members approved School Reform Models to be applied to five schools in four districts, LongRange Facility Plans (Five-Year Report), requests for local flexibility in the Analysis of Student Work, and a number of consent agenda items. Members also discussed Digital Learning Competencies/Digital Learning Plan, Math I, II and III Draft Standards Revisions, and Career and Technical Education Licensure revisions. The complete list of this month’s Board actions is available on the Board’s website. The Board’s May agenda as well as supporting executive summaries are available online by clicking on the SBE Meetings tab. Guilford County Teacher Participates in White House Event Celebrating Teachers Congratulations to Murphey Traditional Academy (Guilford County Schools) teacher Claudia Walker for being selected to represent the Teacher Advisory Council for the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., (on which she is a member) at an event President Obama held May 3 to honor teachers. During the celebration, Obama honored the 2016 National Teacher of the Year and finalists, alongside great educators from across the country, including Walker. And the 2016 NC TWCS Winners are… NCDPI staff would like to thank the over 101,800 educators who participated in the 2016 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey (NC TWCS). Almost 1,100 NC schools met the statewide goal of 100 percent participation. In order to recognize the effort of this accomplishment, NCDPI has partnered with the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and the North Carolina Association for Educators (NCAE) to award those schools with prizes and monetary incentives. On May 9, the Department organized a live drawing to randomly select six schools to recognize those schools and districts that led the state with participation. The following schools were selected “firsts” in our state: * First Elementary School in state to reach 100 percent response rate: Allenbrook Elementary (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools) * First Middle School in state to reach 100 percent response rate: East Rutherford Middle (Rutherford County Schools) * First High School in state to reach 100 percent response rate: Creswell High (Washington County Schools) * First School District in state to reach 100 percent response rate: Edenton-Chowan Public Schools * “Nick of Time” School (final school in state to reach 100 percent response rate): Plain View Primary (Bladen County Schools) All schools that reached 100 percent participation may be found here. Thank you to all of our gracious sponsors: BB&T, California Casualty, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Duke Energy and Lenovo. The DPI Prize Patrol will travel the state to hand-deliver prizes to these schools. Stay tuned … they may be arriving at your school during the month of June! Cumberland County Schools’ Principal Named Principal of the Year Congratulations to E.E. Smith High School Principal Melody Chalmers who today was named the 2016 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year. As Wells Fargo Principal of the Year, she will receive $3,000 for personal use and $3,000 for her school. She also receives professional development and resources supporting global awareness in the curriculum for her staff thanks to Education First Tours, and a custom-made NC Principal of the Year signet ring and pendant from Jostens Inc. She will continue to lead her school for the next year however, Wells Fargo will furnish her with a stipend to travel across the state serving as an ambassador for education. She will serve as a member of the State Superintendent’s Principals’ Advisory Committee, and as an advisor to the State Board of Education and the Board of Directors for the NC Public School Forum. Chalmers succeeds Pactolus School (Pitt County Schools) Principal Steve Lassiter. The Goal is Not Just Better Students but Better Future Citizens NCDPI is partnering with First Vote NC (formerly Kids Voting) to bring a student-led, project-based initiative to high schools across the state. Launching this fall, First Vote NC will provide your schools with everything they need for students in the Founding Principals, Civics and Economics courses to become their school's Board of Elections and run a school-wide simulation election. In addition, teachers will have access to data analytics tools that will allow students to engage in contrast and comparison studies with other high school students across the state. Please take three minutes to watch the video (produced by high school students) then access online materials. This resource is offered free-of-charge to high schools this fall. If you have any questions, please contact Hunter Buxton. Professional Development Opportunities Two new professional development modules have been added to the Home Base Professional Development system: * Helping Struggling Readers in the K-12 Classroom: Action Research from the GTN Project – 1 CEU – Literacy * Universal Design for Learning 2: UDL and the Whole Classroom – 1 CEU – General Each self-paced module will take approximately 10 hours to complete. For a complete description of these newly added modules, please visit http://rt3nc.org/. If you need additional support, please contact NCDPI Instructional Design Lead Geetanjali Soni. Action Research Project Spotlight: Motivation We are approaching the time of the year where educators may need a few new ideas on how to motivate students to do their best. Instead of pouring over articles or doing countless web searches, why not go directly to a source that has been proven to work for North Carolina students. Kelly Brock, an action researcher with Stanly County Schools, investigated seven different motivational strategies with three groups of fifth graders at different learning levels. Kelly’s goal was to discover what motivates students to increase time on task, persist with tasks, and ultimately, be more successful in applying grade-level curriculum. If you are interested in learning more about Kelly’s interesting and sometimes unusual motivational techniques, please visit the Online Professional Development Catalog and click on the Action Research tab. The Action Research tab contains over 200 action research projects spanning all grade levels and 11 subject areas created by members of the 2014-15 Governor’s Teacher Network. NCCAT Offers Professional Development Opportunities North Carolina educators have plenty of opportunities throughout the summer to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Registration for the summer programs is open now. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. Programs are available to North Carolina educators at the Cullowhee and Ocracoke campuses, online and with NCCAT faculty visiting school districts. For more information visit NCCAT’s website and click on the Programs tab. A few upcoming programs include: 14162 • Just Plan It! Build Your Couse Digitally from Start to Finish Cullowhee, June 6 -10 Wouldn’t you like to begin the year with your course mapped out from start to finish? Come get organized and build a blueprint of your upcoming course. 14164 • Success from the Start: How to Survive and Thrive Your First Three Years in the Classroom Ocracoke, June 6-10 Open to teachers in their first, second, or third year of teaching, this program supports motivated beginning teachers by strengthening their knowledge base and classroom expertise. 14172 • Integrate Coding Skills into Your Curriculum Cullowhee, July 5-8 Learn how to code, integrate coding into your curriculum, basics in robotics, and inspire students to learn more about computer science. 14186 • Reading Resources: Equipping Your Classroom for Reading Success Ocracoke, Aug. 8-12 Explore multiple means of acquiring literacy-related donations, discover open-access materials online, and share strategies for the effective use of these resources. Save the Date for World View’s Fall Programs Partners Program – Full STEAM Ahead: A Cross-Discipline Program Exploring Global STEM and Art Education Aug. 11 Our one-day workshop is held at a different North Carolina school campus each year specifically for World View Partners. This program will help kick-off your new school year with an introduction to 21st century global issues, globalization, and global education. This workshop is for every teacher, no matter the subject area or the grade level. Teachers also will have the opportunity to learn new classroom teaching strategies for integrating global content into their curriculum. The program is FREE for participants attending from Partner schools and districts. One CEU credit for successful completion. Global Education and 21st Century Skills Online Course Oct. 6 – Nov. 16 This redesigned online course immerses K-12 educators from all disciplines in an exploration of global topics such as the economy, the environment, diverse populations, and the U.S.’s place in the world. Over six weeks participants will read, discuss and reflect on the most important issues facing the United States and the world today. As a final project, each participant will present a global connections planner or an action plan for their classroom or school to support the development of globally competitive graduates. Four CEU credits for successful completion. K-12 Global Education Symposium: Innovation and Technology to Drive Global Learning Oct. 19 – 20 Our K-12 Global Education Symposium is held each October at the William and Ida Friday Center in Chapel Hill. This day-and-a-half program explores significant global issues, offers best practices in global education, and provides educators an opportunity to develop a global action plan for their classroom, school or district. 1.5 CEUs will be offered. Stay Connected with North Carolina Public Schools: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Subscriptions | Help This email was sent to lynda.fuller@dpi.nc.gov using GovDelivery, on behalf of: North Carolina Public Schools · 301 N. Wilmington St. · Raleigh, NC 27601