TO:
NC Public School Teachers
FROM: State Superintendent June Atkinson
DATE: March 28, 2014
Last Friday, you received an email with information about the Governor’s Teacher
Network and where to find the application to participate. This is a great opportunity for
North Carolina teachers to be rewarded for developing professional development and
instructional resources for your colleagues. I think it is especially helpful for us to have
this opportunity to encourage North Carolina-developed resources to improve student
learning. The website - www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt/gtn - includes a link to the
application itself as well as other information to guide your consideration.
Regards,
June Atkinson
In this Biweekly Teachers’ Message:
1. State Board of Education Meets Next Week
2. WikiCentral: One-Stop Resource for All Educators
3. Elementary Math Update Webinar: Ready, Set Review for CCSS Mathematics
4. English Language Learner Support Conference Scheduled
5. Wake County Teacher Named Magnet School of America’s 2013-14 Region IV
Teacher of the Year
6. STEM Project Grants
1. State Board of Education Meets Next Week - The State Board of Education will
hold a Planning and Work Session in addition to their regular monthly meeting next
Monday-Wednesday at the University of North Carolina Pembroke. At their Planning
and Work Session, Board members will finalize their Strategic Plan, and discuss several
issues including Striking the Right Balance for Early Learners and the Board’s
legislative and budget agendas for the 2014 Short Session and 2015 Long Session.
During its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, Board action items include a report
to the North Carolina General Assembly on the Virtual Charter School Study, and LEA
and charter schools requests for Standard Six flexibility. Among the Board’s discussion
and information items are Course for Credit, K-3 Checkpoints for Teacher Effectiveness,
and the annual 2012-13 Consolidated Data Report, which contains school crime and
violence, suspensions, expulsions and dropout numbers for the state and districts.
2. WikiCentral: One-Stop Resource for All Educators - WikiCentral, available online
at http://wikicentral.ncdpi.wikispaces.net, provides a direct point of access for DPI wikis
that contain resources and materials for North Carolina educators. The wikis are
managed by various divisions, and include resources related to professional
development, curriculum, policy, tools and resources. Please make sure you bookmark
this site and check back often.
3. Elementary Math Update Webinar: Ready, Set, Review for CCSS Mathematics –
Elementary school teachers may want to participate in this webinar to learn more about
effective strategies that will foster mastery and retention of critical mathematics skills
and concepts. Instructors will use real teaching in the form of review, formative
assessment, and re-teaching using released EOG items as a resource. The webinar will
be held Wednesday, April 2, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. To register, please visit
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/206056600.
4. English Language Learner Support Conference Scheduled - The Inaugural
English Language Learner Support Conference, Growing Success for ELLS, will be held
Aug. 4-6 at the Greensboro Embassy Suites Airport. This conference will offer ten
concurrent three-day training events including ExC-ELL, LinguaFolio, SIOP and WIDA.
Participants will choose one event to attend for the full three days of training. The
conference includes an opening session where participants will explore the vision for
ESL in NC. For more information, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/esl
and open the “Letter of Invitation” to review course offerings. To register, please visit
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ELLSupportConference. The registration deadline is
May 30.
5. Wake County Teacher Named Magnet School of America’s 2013-14 Region IV
Teacher of the Year - Congratulations to Bugg Elementary School (Wake County
Public Schools) teacher Maria Eby for being named Magnet Schools of America’s 201314 Region IV Teacher of the Year. Region IV is comprised of North Carolina, South
Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Magnet Schools of America Executive Director
Scott Thomas said Eby was selected because for her “ability to inspire students from all
backgrounds to succeed, and for her demonstrated leadership within her school and
community.” She will now compete for National Teacher of the Year, the recipient of
which will be named in May.
6. STEM Project Grants - Duke Energy Foundation recently announced a $75,000
matching gift to DonorsChoose.org to assist teachers in the fields of science,
technology, engineering and math (STEM). According to program guidelines, public
school teachers can submit STEM project proposals to
www.DonorsChoose.org/teachers. When 50 percent of a project's request is funded
through citizen donations, Duke Energy will contribute the remaining 50 percent for
teachers in the company's North Carolina service areas. Qualifying projects already
posted to the site will automatically be eligible for Duke Energy's matching funds.