Teaching & Learning Today: August 2024
August 14, 2024
August 14, 2024
Welcome to Teaching and Learning TODAY. It is our goal to provide high-quality professional learning for teachers and ESPs as a value of membership in your Union. Thank you for being a member during this crucial time for educators. Please let us know how we can help!
Some of you have commenced the new school year and others are preparing to do so. We wish you the best year yet. Let us know how we can help!
Check out this article from Edutopia for ideas to use at the start and throughout the year to strengthen relationships with students.
6 Exercises to Get to Know Your Students Better—and Increase Their Engagement | Edutopia
Want to Know More About National Board Certification? VEA, as an affiliate network of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, provides support for candidates pursuing certification. One-on-one mentors and/or monthly cohort meetings are facilitated by trained professional learning facilitators. To apply for support in the 2024-2025 cycle, click here before August 31 to get started in September.
Southeast Virginia (SEVA) NBCT Regional Network, a partner of VEA NBCT Network, will hold the Annual Fall Conference on Saturday, October 5, 2024. This year it will be totally virtual.
There will be two strands: one for those new to the National Board process and another for those who have submitted a component before or are familiar with it.
Sessions for new candidates will be early in the day and focus on how to get started, an overview of each component, and an exploration of the types of writing needed to complete the written components.
Sessions for experienced candidates and MOC candidates will begin midday with participation in the Writing session to set the stage for two sessions of breakouts rooms. There will be a room for each component and MOC during which a facilitator will work with a small group unpacking component questions and examining the rubrics. Each participant will have the opportunity to attend two breakout rooms.
Anyone may attend all day, which will be from 8:15 am until 3:45 pm.
Cost:
$50 for someone who is a paying member of VEA, the Virginia NBCT Network, or SEVA
$65 for someone NOT a member of one of these networks
To register: SEVA Oct 2024 Registration
If you have questions, please contact Nancy at 2ndVP@sevanbct.org
To learn more about National Board Certification, visit our website or go to www.nbpts.org.
The work of the Department of Teaching and Learning extends out of headquarters and works directly with members. This month, we will be featuring 2 of our mini grant recipients:
Name: Johna Vasquez
Local: Petersburg Education Association
Summary of the mini grant: Johna Vasquez, an Instructional Resource Teacher, used her grant funding to purchase Drawbots for her elementary school. Johna’s students explored the fundamentals of Engineering by building and designing a robot body to draw art designs. The Drawbots enhanced student learning by enabling them to apply concepts they learned in Science, Technology,and Mathematics. Students also strengthened their collaboration skills through working in groups to troubleshoot and debug the Drawbots.
Name: Catherine Marchetti
Local: Richmond City Education Association
Summary of the mini grant: Special Education Teacher Catherine Marchetti used her grant funding to buy a Toniebox and Tonies for her preschool. A Toniebox is a screen-free device that helps build a child’s listening skills, comprehension skills, and language development. Tonies are characters that play audiobooks when placed on top of the Toniebox. Since introducing the Toniebox to her class, Catherine has noticed a significant increase in student engagement with the classroom library. The larger size of the Tonies enabled students of varying fine motor skills to utilize the Toniebox.
Virginia Literacy Act Update
VDOE has released an extensive update on the Virginia Literacy Act. Read more from Article 2024-30-289 August Virginia Literacy Act Updates. Details are in the Professional Development section of the update.
High School Voter Registration
In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that requires all Virginia public high schools to provide to any enrolled student who is of voting age or otherwise eligible to register to vote access to Virginia voter registration information and applications, or access to the Virginia online voter registration system on a school-owned computing device, and the opportunity to complete such application during the normal course of the school day. VDOE history and social science program has an informational presentation to provide additional information for schools.
The average pay of Virginia public school teachers in 2023-24 was $65,830. That is $4,260 below the national average of $70,090.
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