Golden Apple October, 2018
by Diana Knudson
I know you are well into the new school year and all the procedures, rules, and cooperative work are becoming clear to students and staff. We too, have been working hard already on our second year curriculum revisions. The ELA and Visual and Media Arts’ groups met last week and are doing some great work. We are changing our curriculum format to a checklist that should be helpful to all teachers and for any schools looking at standards based report cards. The Reading and Math groups finished the initial format last spring. You can go to gtccmt.org, click on curricula, and look at the work. Email brianna@gtccmt.org if you need the password. The state standards are listed and then we broke those standards into their parts. Are you sure you are teaching what the standards tell us to teach in Montana? Viewing these documents will help you check yourself. We are working on the idea of assessments for each standard. Our discussions about this were so interesting. After we break down a standard to see what is really in it, we find most standards have many parts. To prepare high-level thinking assessments, it is a huge challenge to do one sample assessment for each standard. So if you have ideas, please come to a meeting and share. The dates and information are on the Calendar on our website. Thank you so much for all of you who participate and know you are always welcome to come or comment. The GTCC is for all of you. It is so helpful to have input from teachers who are in schools all over this giant coop. We will always find more answers together than on our own. Have a great Fall? Winter?
The Techies Annual Meeting is Tuesday October 9 at the 3D. All are welcome. 9:00-2:00. Lunch served.
The winner of our September contest is Les Meyer of Fairfield Public Schools. Keep reading the Golden Apple to see when our next drawing will be announced.
GET YOUR GTCC ENEWS HEADLINES EVERY MONTH IN YOUR MAILBOX!
Are you tired of being left out of the loop? Need reminding about those Committee meetings? Want to know more about Summer Institutes and other Professional Development? Then subscribe to the GTCC Headline enews. Every month you'll receive headlines from the GTCC enews in your mailbox. Just send an email to gtcc_enews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Be sure to tell your co-teachers too!
UPCOMING GTCC EVENTS…
October 9 - Technology Coordinators Meeting, 3D International, Great Falls
October 15 - Social Studies Curriculum Committee Meeting, 3D International, Great Falls
November 5 - English Language Arts Curriculum Committee Meeting, 3D International, Great Falls
November 6 - The Arts-Visual Arts & Media Arts Curriculum Committee Meeting, 3D International, Great Falls
November 19 - Social Studies Curriculum Committee Meeting, 3D International, Great Falls
WEB RESOURCES, GRANTS, & OTHER NEWS...
· $5,500 Grant Program to Recognize Teachers for Innovation in Data Collection in Science The 2019 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards program is now open, offering up to $5,500 for "the innovative use of data-collection technology using a computer, tablet, graphing calculator, or other handheld in the science classroom." This year's program will award up to $5,500 in cash, products and travel to seven educators, including one at the elementary level, two at the middle school level, three at the high school level and one at the post-secondary level. One grant will be awarded at each level per school.
· Edcamp Big Sky is Saturday, October 27, 2018, at Meadowlark Elementary in Bozeman. This free event is open to all educators from preK to higher education. 6 OPI renewal units will be offered to camp attendees. In 2017, 160 educators from across Montana and other states attended the event. Registration is required to attend. Visit the event's website below for registration details and more information. http://edcampbigsky.weebly.com/