Aug. 25, 2016 Teachers' Biweekly Message

Biweekly message to North Carolina public school principals from State Superintendent June Atkinson

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Aug. 25, 2016

On Monday, nearly 1.6 million students will begin the 2016-17school year. Our work in education is to help students becomebetter every year. Not only are we interested in their learning, wealso would like for them to be good people with strong characters. Ihope you can take a moment and watch my back-to-schoolmessage to you. As we begin this new school year, students – and in fact, all of us –are beginning the new year following a summer of difficult andpainful news and events. Students may bring the stress of theseevents with them without fully acknowledging or being aware ofhow the news has affected them. I commend the following two articles to you as good resources toconsider how we can all support students during a time ofuncertainty. They provide important suggestions for ways to speak

with students concerning the ongoing tragedies in our world.

• “What’s on the Horizon This Year?” was included in the Aug. 10 edition of SmartBrief. North Carolina’s2014 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year and Concord Middle School (Cabarrus County Schools) PrincipalCarrie Tulbert authored the article. In it she addresses the political and racial turmoil our country hasbeen experiencing and suggests a number of ways to start a conversation about equity in education.• “How We Talk With our Kids” was included in the Aug. 17 edition of SmartBrief. Do we love our kids?Do they know they matter to us? Those were just two of the questions that President Obama asked anaudience after meeting with students at a My Brother’s Keeper roundtable last year. They are also thequestions that we have been asking ourselves while meeting students across the country. Students who

North Carolina Public Schools

Fri 8/26/2016 5:46 AM

To:Lynda Fuller <Lynda.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov>;

are wrestling with tragedies and injustice need to feel our love and support now more than ever. Best wishes for a successful school year!

Teachers’ Biweekly Message Helps Keep You Informed If this is the first time you’ve received an email newsletter from State Superintendent June Atkinson –welcome! If this is old hat – welcome back! Every August, we retrieve teacher email addresses fromPowerSchool to refresh our teachers’ email list so that we can communicate directly with teachers onissues of importance to you and your profession. You can expect to receive this message on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month throughoutthe school year. You also may receive separate messages if timeliness is an issue. If you ever have any questions regarding the items included in these messages (that don’t alreadycontain contact information), please email Lynda Fuller in Communications and she will ensure that youreceive the answers to your questions. Also, please don’t hesitate to let her know if you have any issuesyou would like addressed in future messages. One more thing…last year we changed our email delivery system to GovDelivery. Not only does this newemail delivery system give us the opportunity to send more visually appealing messages to allsubscribers almost instantaneously, but it allows subscribers to take advantage of other topics offeredby NCDPI staff. If you would like to see the topics open for subscription, just visit our home page andclick on the “Sign Up for Updates” link to the left. Once on this page, type in the email address fromwhich you received this message then peruse the topics open for subscription. We hope you arepleasantly surprised at the wealth of information that is available to you at the click of your mouse!

New Year Greetings from North CarolinaTeacher of the Year Teachers, as another school year begins, let me tell you how much Ienvy you. Since I will spend the year travelling as North CarolinaTeacher of the Year, this will be the first time in 17 years that I willnot be welcoming children into my classroom in the fall. Like a manwho has left his phone at home and taps his pockets all day, I findmyself reflexively putting school supplies in my cart. School for mehas been like electricity, a force which I never realized was sonecessary in my life. But now, in this blackout, I wander the houseflicking the switches, each time surprised by the dark. Like salt,light, water or warmth, school is a force in my life that only now,when I do not have it for the first time since I was five, do Iunderstand how vital it is in the lives of children. For many of the children you meet at your door, this first day of school is a return to themselves, tostability, to “normal.” For so many children, life outside of school is chaotic, sometimes violent, and full

of need. For those children, your classroom is a place where they are stable and safe, a place wherethey know they will be provided for and where someone cares about them. School for them, as it hasbeen for me all my life, is “home” in the deepest sense of the word. A teacher may be the one person ina child’s life who greets them everyday with a smile, or who tells them they are talented, intelligent,beautiful. For many of our students it is only a teacher who will see their value, and teach them to valuethemselves. For some, it is only at school where they know they are welcome. So, as this new school year begins, I urge you to teach gently. Give a kid a pencil if he needs one, not alecture on being unprepared. The world is a hard enough place for children. In a letter to his son’steacher, Abraham Lincoln wrote, “To live in this world will require faith and love and courage. So, World,I wish you would sort of take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know.Teach him — but gently, if you can.” Like so many parents and teachers, Lincoln was keenly aware thatthis world is often no place for children, that the things our children need to know to survive it are darkand sad and often pessimistic. But in that same letter, Lincoln urges his son’s teacher to, “Teach himthat for every scoundrel, there is a hero, that for every crooked politician there is a dedicated leader.Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.” Lincoln believed that we do not have to steal a bit ofinnocence for every ounce of experience we give them of our grown-up world. By teaching gently in a world of numbers and data, metal and machines, we can make our schools agarden of kindness, humanity and hope so that, maybe, they will build a world just a little kinder thanthe one we built. Teaching gently is hard, it often means putting away our own ego, forgiving when wehave every right to punish, being generous even when others take advantage of it. Teaching gently ishard, but we must remember that they are our children. As Lincoln wrote about his own son, “This is abig order, World, but see what you can do. He’s such a nice little fellow...” Bobbie Cavnar, 2016 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year and South PointHigh School (Gaston County Schools) English and Journalism teacher. You can follow Bobbie’s journeyover the next year via twitter @BobbieCavnar, Facebook and Instagram as Bobbie Cavnar, or by visitinghis website BobbieCavnar.com.

Global Educator Digital Badge As a reminder, if you are pursuing the Global Educator DigitalBadge (GEDB) your Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) must besubmitted to NCDPI.

Once the MOA is received, you will have access to the online management platform where you mayaccess resources and any additional forms or information to assist you through the process. The MOA, Implementation Guide, April 2016 Webinar and other resources are available online.

Resources/Professional Development to Support Implementationof High School Math 1, 2 and 3 Standards NCDPI Secondary Math consultants would like to share the following implementation resourcesavailable on the NCDPI HS Mathematics Wiki page to support the 2016-17 implementation of NC Math1-3:

Revised standards documents.

Revisions at-a-Glance documents that outline thesubstantive changes within and across the three highschool math courses.Math Resources for Instruction provide content andmathematical practice connections within and amongcourses, instructional guidance for teachers, formativeassessment examples and links to resources.Collaborative Pacing Guides created collaboratively bypractitioners from schools and districts for optional useby any school/district. Additionally, some districts haveshared their pacing guides for others to adapt and use as

necessary. Please note that the pacing guides are shared, but not maintained by NCDPI. Allcopyrights belong to the LEA.

Additionally, NCDPI staff plan to create virtual and face-to-face professional development opportunitiesto support districts and teachers as they implement the revised high school math standards. Thefollowing implementation support services are scheduled/being scheduled for this upcoming year:

Using the Math Resources for Instruction webinar – Aug. 31 (3:30-4:30 p.m.)Virtual professional development sessions – Begin in September (dates TBD)Fall and spring regional face-to-face professional development (dates TBD)High School Mathematics Summit (date to be TBD)

Additional information will be shared as dates and locations are finalized. Questions may be directed toNCDPI Secondary Math Consultants Lisa Ashe or Joseph Reaper.

Home Base Update Who's Got Resources? We do!

Have you been teaching that same lesson year after year? Could your previous students come in aclass and predict your classroom style? Change it up this year with instructional materials available through Home Base! Within your IAMaccount you can access Schoolnet (IIS), which has several resources available for perusing and use.Click on the "Classrooms" tab in Instructional Materials. The filters will allow you to search for content(number of items in parenthesis) in Arts Education (4,172); Career and Technical Education (1,949);English as a Second Language (1,166); English Language Arts (8,379) ; Exceptional Children (58) ;Guidance (76); Health Education (2,625); Home Base Training (59); Information and Technology (9) ;Mathematics (7,736) ; Physical Education (825); Science (6,999); Social Studies (4,704); STEM (1,113);World Languages (2,438). If you need help locating these instructional materials, click on this link. 2016-17 Tuesday NCEES Webinar Series Take advantage of the free Tuesday Webinar Series, which invites system users to join and discusstimely topics related to educator evaluation and professional development. Attendees have theopportunity to learn about best practices, tips for success, and new aspects of the system. Participantsalso are given a chance to ask live questions and connect with Educator Effectiveness experts real-time. August topics include: Aug. 30: Educator Effectiveness Office Hours

For a full list of upcoming topics, descriptions, start times and registration links, please visit the NCEESWikispace. (Please allow the flyer a minute to load.) Project-Based Learning: Newest Module in Home Base Professional DevelopmentSystem Project-based Learning (PBL) is a form of unit design in which students learn content standards anddevelop 21st century skills by working for an extended period to research and respond to a challengingproblem or question based in a real-world context. This module introduces participants to the essentialelements of PBL along with current research about the practice and gives participants the opportunity tobegin implementing PBL in the classroom. This course offers 1.0 CEU. Not interested in this PBL course worth 1.0 CEU? Please visit the OnlineProfessional Development Catalog to learn about over 75 self-paced/facilitated courses available forNorth Carolina educators. Join over 20,000 NC educators who in the 2015-16 school year discoveredthe value of professional learning anytime, anywhere through the Home Base PD System.

Statewide System of Support Creates Resource for Teachers We realize teachers may not be aware of the many support resources available, which is why theStatewide System of Support teams developed a one page, one stop shop for busy teachers. Whetheryou are curious about new webinars, online modules, content area standards and resources, or simplywant to sign up for a regional or the state’s newsletter, check out the NC Statewide System of SupportResources for Teachers, it has you covered. To receive professional development updates, sign up for the NCPD newsletter by clicking on the "SignUp for Updates" link on the Department of Public Instruction’s website. Registration Opens for Fall Facilitated Courses Below is the list of instructor-facilitated online courses being offered by NCDPI’s Educator EffectivenessDivision for the fall semester. These courses combine high-quality professional development with theopportunity to interact with peers and an instructor and the flexibility of working from anywhere at anytime. Most Fall Session 1 courses start Monday, Sept. 12.

These courses are available at no cost to North Carolina educators and will be facilitated by NCDPIprofessionals. The courses are completed entirely online. Participants are expected to meet all weeklydeadlines in order to receive CEUs. Partial credit will not be given. A full description of the courses, associated CEUs, and registration information, is available online.Contact Dr. Geetanjali Soni if you have any questions.

STEM Opportunities Boost Your STEM Lesson Plans at Museum OpenHouse K-12 educators are encouraged to start the school year withengaging ideas and innovative curriculum-correlated STEM lessonsfor students. On Friday, Sept. 9, between 5:30-9 p.m., The SciRENTriangle Networking Event and Museum Open House offers anopportunity to explore the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’galleries and exhibits, talk directly with museum staff about onsite programs, learn first-hand aboutvirtual-education classes, outreach, and professional development opportunities as well as meet morethan 60 local scientists ready to distribute curriculum-centered lessons based on their research. The event showcases the wide array of museum programs and opportunities for both teachers andstudents available both on- and offsite. The event is free, but registration is appreciated. The event willbe held at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh. Contact Megan Chesserfor more information. K-12 education resources and STEM-Related Modules The Teaching Channel, in celebration of The Boeing Company’s 100th Anniversary, has launched 10newly-revised Science and Innovation modules to help teachers guide students in becoming problemsolvers and critical thinkers for the 21st century. The curricula is inspired by the science and engineering innovations at Boeing and informed by globallycompetitive science, math and literacy standards. This content integrates engineering design thinkingand problem-based learning. The curriculum is available on the Teaching Channel’s website.

Character Matters When it Comes to Finances!

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), in partnership with Capitol Broadcasting,has launched a new campaign to bring attention to the importance of understanding matters of personalfinance both at school and at home. We believe that teaching adults and youth how to make soundfinancial decisions should be an integral part of character development and citizenship education aspersonal choices may have profound consequences for the larger community. WRAL.com’s Spotlight section now features six articles that focus on various aspects of personalfinance to include topics such as understanding credit, credit unions, mortgage options, retirementplanning and paying for college. Additionally, parents, educators and students may visit the Character Matters website to discover somecurriculum connections. On this site, you will find resources used by educators to support personalfinancial literacy as well as resources that may be used to further develop financial competency athome. For questions about information contained on this site, please contact NCDPI K-12 Social StudiesSection Chief Fay Gore.

Guilford County Schools’ TeacherReceives Mathematics Award Congratulations to Jamestown Middle School (Guilford County Schools) seventh-grade teacher DanielleHendren for receiving the Outstanding Secondary Mathematics Teacher Award from the North CarolinaCouncil of Teacher of Mathematics and NCDPI. The award recognizes and rewards secondary school teachers who exemplify mathematics teachingexcellence by nurturing students’ enthusiasm through involvement in mathematics fairs, projects andcompetitions to supplement and enhance everyday classroom experiences. This recognition is for thoseteachers who succeed in motivating students to excel in mathematics.

NC Dept. of Insurance Sponsors Poster ContestSupports Fire Prevention Week The theme for this year’s Fire Prevention Week in North Carolina (Oct. 9-15) is “Don’t Wait – Check theDate.” The theme emphasizes the importance of knowing how old your smoke alarms are and replacingthem every ten years. Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal Wayne Goodwin invites allsecond and third grade students to participate in a poster contest to promote fire safety and the needfor smoke detectors in places where we sleep. Winning poster designs will be displayed on the Office of State Fire Marshal’s website, and every childwho participates will receive a personal thank you for helping keep North Carolina fire safe. The deadlineto submit a poster is Sept. 30. Contest details are available on the Office of State Fire Marshal website.If you have any questions, please contact Colin Day, assistant director of Public Information, Office ofState Fire Marshal.

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