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August 2012

Introduction to the Common Core

In July 2010, the NH Department of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Come learn about three aspects relating to implementation of the CCSS.  First, we will explore the background to the development of the standards and spend some time looking at the standards (structure and content).  Second, we will look at the instructional and assessment shifts that are needed in literacy and mathematics. Three shifts are required in literacy and three in math.  These shifts are necessary to ensure a change in the learning of students.  Finally, we will explore the NH DOE Implementation Framework as a strategic planning tool for schools and districts to support transitions to the Common Core.
 
Participants will leave this session with: (1) being able to describe the background and structure of the standards, (2) explain the shifts that will be required to effectively implement the standards and what these look like in the classroom, and (3) be able to identify some first steps for their school or district to take in the implementation of the standards. 
 
Presenter: Joe Miller
Who Should Attend: Teachers, principals, and superintendents
Level: Beginning (very little background on CCSS and have not yet attended any sessions by NHDOE on CCSS)
Date/Time: Tuesday October 2, 2012 from 9:00 to 3:00
Cost: Member school staff $125, associates $135, others $140
Register: Online, or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

Common Core Strategic Planning

This session is designed to guide school and district-level instructional leaders in the work of leading the understanding and implementation of the Common Core. This session is designed to support teams of district and school personnel (e.g. superintendents, principals, content supervisors, central office leaders, and coaches) in the work of planning and carrying out the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.  The session is designed in three parts:
  • Key shifts in the CCSS
  • Strategic planning using the NHDOE implementation framework
    • Leadership
    • Curriculum and Assessment
    • Accountability
    • Measuring implementation
    • Engaging stakeholders
Participating teams that attend this session will leave with a written plan that includes priority objectives, measurements for implementation, and a strategic communications plan for addressing the "transition". 
 
Presenter: Joe Miller
Who Should Attend: Teams from schools or districts that are developing Common Core State Standard implementation plans.
Level: Intermediate (some background on the standards will be shared, but the majority of the time will be spent developing a plan for implementing the standards in your system).
Date/Time: Wednesday October 24, 2012 from 9:00 to 3:00
Cost: Member school staff $125, associates $135, others $140
Register: Online, or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

Developing Local Assessment Aligned with CCSS

With the transition to the Common Core State Standards comes new assessments aligned with these standards.  New Hampshire is a governering state in the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).  SBAC assessments will be rolled out in Spring 2015 and they represent a significant change in assessment approach (computer adaptive and include performance tasks) and also content (aligned with new standards).  This session will address two content areas:
  • Update on SBAC
    • What is it?
    • How is development progressing? How are items being developed?
    • Developing local assessments aligned with SBAC
Participants that attend this session will leave with a good understanding of the current state of the SBAC assessment development and with several aligned assessments items and a protocol for developing new items in their school or district.
 
Presenter: Joe Miller
Who Should Attend: Teachers, principals, and central administration staff.
Level: Intermediate (some background on the standards will be shared, but the majority of the time will be spent on assessments).
Date/Time: Wednesday October 31, 2012 from 9:00 to 3:00
Cost: Member school staff $125, associates $135, others $140
Register: Online, or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

Planning Differentiated Units Using the Common Core

 
The Common Core (CC) is here. And with it comes the opportunity for teachers to see what they teach with new eyes. All aspects of Differentiated Instruction (DI) are now expected as the standard for “best practice.” DI offers teachers effective ways to plan for how they teach.
 
Certainly a marriage between CC and DI is in order! Come to this interactive, highly personalized two-day workshop with your curriculum and, if possible, your team! Come prepared to plan units, lessons and routines that are both grounded in the Common Core and full of differentiation.
 
Trish will explain aspects of DI, share models, and then participants will create their own incarnation of that aspect of DI using the CC for their grade level and subjects. From formative assessments to needs-based flexible groups…from anchoring activities to differentiated homework…from Tiering to menus… we will do it all.
 
You must come with your curriculum, units, textbooks (if you use them) and materials! Bringing a laptop would be wise. And finally, attending with a grade-level team (elementary) or department (middle/high) will net you the best, most cohesive experience.
 
Presenter: Trish Walton, M.A.T.
Now One Day Only: Monday, August 20 & Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Time: 8:30 to 5:00 (check-in begins at 8:00)
Price Reduced: Full member staff $200, Associate $225, Others $250
Register: Online at http://bit.ly/plan_di_cc or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

Differentiated Instruction in Your Middle and High School Science Classroom

A short overview of differentiation and two useful strategies will be introduced and demonstrated in the morning. In the afternoon you'll have an chance to work on a lesson plan based on the morning activity and discuss how DI looks in practice in a science classroom.
 
Presenter: Sandy Kent
Audience: Middle–High School Science Teachers
Date/Time: Thursday, August 23, 2012 from 8:00 to 2:30
Location: North Country Education Services, Gorham, NH
Cost: $20 (includes lunch)
Registration:  Online, calling 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between 8:00 and 3:00 or emailing lisa@ncedservices.org.  Fax purchase orders to: 603-466-2907.

Flipping Your Classroom with an iPad

Teachers across the country are starting to ‘flip’ their classroom. With increased internet access at home, teachers can provide instructional content that students can access when not in class and then use class time to work through problems using the content they learned at home. This allows students who need to see content more than once to have that opportunity, while class time can be used for deeper understanding or application of what was learned. Before coming, select a curriculum topic, gather and bring resources to the workshop to start working on flipping some of your content.
 
Instructor: Paula Churchill
Designed for: Grades K-12, all subjects, with basic iPad skill level
Date: Thursday, August 23, 2012
Time: 12:30 - 4:00
Cost: Member school staff $30, associates $35, others $40
Register:  Online or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

iPads in the K-8 Classroom

Whether you have one iPad or a 1:1 iPad classroom, learn what applications provide an environment where students can create projects that support the common Core Standards, require students to problem solve, and provide collaboration. Student projects can be created on the iPad and exported to portfolios, web sites, PCs, or other devices to share with others. Three apps will be used to illustrate how to target specific curricular objectives in different grade levels.
 
Instructor: Paula Churchill
Designed for: Grades K-12 All subjects, with basic iPad skill level
Date:  Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Time: 12:30 - 4:00
Cost: Member school staff $30, associates $35, others $40
Register: Online or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

iPads, Google Docs, DropBox and Photostream

Learn how iPads can be set up for students to access common resources (no more worksheets!), to complete tasks and then to save them back to a common folder for assessment. Once this system is implemented, teachers can stop the ‘paper chase’ and focus on student proficiency.
 
Instructor: Paula Churchill
Designed for: All teachers with strong basic to intermediate iPad skills
Dates: Friday, August 24, 2012
Times: 8:30-12:00
Cost: Member school staff $30, associates $35, others $40
Register: Online or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

APPropriate?

So many apps, too many apps—the number of apps for the iPad is overwhelming. Let’s look at what makes a great app for use in the classroom. This workshop will cover how to evaluate iPad apps for students, how to use apps to support problem solving, collaboration, creativity. Bring your list of favorite apps you use in the classroom to share, and leave with new ones.
 
Instructor: Paula Churchill
Designed for: Grades K-12, all subjects, with basic iPad skill level
Date: Thursday, August 23, 2012 
Time: 8:30 - 12:00
Cost: Member school staff $30, associates $35, others $40
Register: Online or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

Preparing Students to Successfully Tackle Science Inquiry Tasks

Using pH sensors, we will test both brought in water samples as well as those collected in a short fieldtrip to nearby water sources. This is a pilot workshop and we will be asking participants to critique their experience in the session as we aim to demonstrate what a quality science inquiry process looks like in practice. In addition to collected data, we will make use of Hubbard Brook Research Foundation's data sets (much like in the NECAP, how to make sense of the findings of others).  
 
Date: Monday, August 13, 2012
Time: 12:30 to 5:00
Instructors:  Bill Church, Steve Roberts and Sarah Turtle
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH with fieldtrip to locations in Randolph area.
Cost: $25 (includes light refreshments, no lunch)
Participation: Limited to 12 participants.

Document Camera 2 Go: Touch-It, Take-It

ziggyA document camera is a simple but powerful technology tool that quickly becomes indispensible in the classroom. When attached to a projector, students all get a close up common view of whatever is under the camera.
 
Older model doc cameras are expensive, bulky and worked independently from a computer. They also require a separate power supply and it is unwieldy to capture images from the document camera to use in Interactive white software or on your computer. New versions of document cameras run directly from a port on the computer, require no additional power, easily capture pictures and are small and lightweight. Best of all, it is possible to purchase between 3 and 5 newer version document cameras for the price of a single older version.
 
In this hands on training with the document camera you learn
  • How to project a live image
  • How to take pictures with the document camera
  • How to annotate over those pictures with Smartboard or Mobi software
  • How to use those images to check students understanding (by using whiteboard software or MovieMaker or Power Point)
Instructor: Paula Churchill
Designed for: K-12, all subjects
Date: Thursday, August 22, 2012
Time: 8:30 to 12:00
Cost: Member school staff $130, associates $135, others $140 (includes camera)
Register: Online or by calling Lisa at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00.

Integrating Land Use into the Upper Elementary/Middle School Classroom

Participants will learn a wide range of developmentally-appropriate, inquiry-oriented teaching methods for the field, laboratory, and classroom, by using the assessment of the health of the forest as a learning context.  Activities for 5-8th grade students will be presented on detecting, quantifying, monitoring and mapping a range of forest conditions.  The activities are designed to allow students to learn the process of science through asking (and answering) self-generated questions.  In addition, ways to motivate students to engage in inquiry-based learning will be discussed.
 
Workshop leaders are:
  • Eleanor Abrams, UNH Education Department
  • Michael Middleton, UNH Education Department
  • Martha Carlson, UNH Institute of the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space
Dates: August 16 & 17, 2012 
Time: 9:00 - 4:00
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Cost: Free for teachers holding a valid NH Educator Certification for upper elementary and middle school levels. 
Stipend: $150 stipend awarded to teachers who successfully complete the course and the course assignments.
 
Registration:  Class full, but you may add your name to a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Language Arts Community of Practice

In light of the transition to the Common Core State Standards, NCES plans to convene elementary and middle level language arts teachers one evening per month during the next school year. Though not solely focused on the CC, as we delve into the standards, much of our conversation will connect to the implications that the CC will have on our practice. We will take a deeper at look the expectations at each grade level for English Languages Arts and how to address those changes through instruction. Reading Specialist Beth Richards will facilitate the elementary group and Jean Mann the upper level group. Watch for additional details in future newsletters or contact lori@ncedservices.org for more information.

Interested in an Introduction to Autism Course?

NCES would like to assess the interest in an autism course with CarolAnn Edscorn for the fall of 2012. Topics would include Sensory Integration, Cognitive Processing Differences, Theories supporting Autism, Functional Behavioral Analysis, Adaptions to the Environment (classroom & school), Inclusion and Person-centered Planning, and IEP goals. This would be for regular and special education teachers and paraprofessionals. The course would likely be a full day Saturday session followed by 6 bi-weekly evening sessions. Please contact Lori Langlois if you are potentially interested in this course at lori@ncedservices.org.

In This Issue

Introduction to the Common Core

Common Core Strategic Planning

Developing Local Assessment Aligned with CCSS

Planning Differentiated Units Using the Common Core

Differentiated Instruction in Your Middle and High School Science Classroom

Flipping Your Classroom with an iPad

iPads in the K-8 Classroom

iPads, Google Docs, DropBox and Photostream

APPropriate?

Preparing Students to Successfully Tackle Science Inquiry Tasks

Document Camera 2 Go: Touch-It, Take-It

Integrating Land Use into the Upper Elementary/Middle School Classroom

Language Arts Community of Practice

Interested in an Introduction to Autism Course?

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Contact Info
For more information:
North Country Education Services
300 Gorham Hill Road
Gorham, NH 03581
nces@ncedservices.org
800-268-5437
603-466-5437
www.ncedservices.org
 
Directions to NCES
North Country Education Services • 300 Gorham Hill Road • Gorham • NH • 03581