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Inside this issue
Important Upcoming Events/Meetings
September 4 ADSIS Teachers/Coaches PLC September 6 MDE Special Educators Forum September 11 RBEC Late Start September 12 Principals Meeting September 13 School Psych Cohort September 16 SPED Leadership Team Meeting September 18 Superintendent Council September 18 Coaches PLC September 26-27 MN DAPE Conference September 27 EL Cohort READ 180 Assessment Window
9.3.19 to 9.20.19 Contact Emily Grobe if you have any questions. |
The Progress, September 2019:
Volume 5, Issue 1 The Progress archive
Click here to view past issues. Comments? Suggestions for new articles?
Contact Jillynne Raymond, jraymond@gced.k12.mn.us 
Fall FAST Assessment Window
Open 8.26.19 to 9.22.19 |
See the good. Be inspired. Take action.
by Cherie Johnson
See the good.
Public education is a unique business in that we get to celebrate the new year twice a year. As we come back together for a new year of learning, the good is all around us. I encourage you to see the good now and all year long. The choices we make with how we view something impact our physical and mental health, as well as those around us.
Research tells us that the brain is more apt to see the negative, to dwell on things that annoy us or make us anxious. We can help our brains though when we are mindful about seeing the good. Notice the good intentions of those around you, notice the qualities that make a colleague or a student unique even if they are not the same as you; simply slow down to see the good.
During just this first week of school I have had the opportunity to notice just some of the good:
Research tells us that the brain is more apt to see the negative, to dwell on things that annoy us or make us anxious. We can help our brains though when we are mindful about seeing the good. Notice the good intentions of those around you, notice the qualities that make a colleague or a student unique even if they are not the same as you; simply slow down to see the good.
During just this first week of school I have had the opportunity to notice just some of the good:
- Colleagues supporting others informally, connecting on personal milestones, joys, and sorrows experienced over the summer
- Mentorship Programs beginning to bring veteran and new teachers together, easing the transition
- PBIS-related and other activities to build a positive culture for our staff and students
- One student served in a setting IV program announced to the class that she was going to work hard and graduate this year. Then she "asked" the other students in class to behave to help.
- Fresh attitudes and innovative learning experiences
- Good news of the day phone calls
Be inspired.
This year I am particularly inspired by my son as he begins his college career. As adults, we have gone through some similar major change ourselves but watching a child assert his independence is different. It is scary and incredibly inspiring. How trusting and adventurous of our young people to leap into this next stage of their journey.
Some of you this year are leaping into public education for the first time as employees. Some of you are leaping into a new grade level, or area of licensure. Some of you are returning to the classroom that you love. Whatever your own situation is for this new year, I encourage you to take care of yourselves first and foremost. Think about the safety discussion on an airplane. In the event of an emergency one should put his/her own life mask on before helping others. This is so that you are able to help others.
As an educator, we need you to be at your best. Please be inspired this year to take care of yourselves. On GCED Day your fellow colleagues generated ample ideas to do so:
Some of you this year are leaping into public education for the first time as employees. Some of you are leaping into a new grade level, or area of licensure. Some of you are returning to the classroom that you love. Whatever your own situation is for this new year, I encourage you to take care of yourselves first and foremost. Think about the safety discussion on an airplane. In the event of an emergency one should put his/her own life mask on before helping others. This is so that you are able to help others.
As an educator, we need you to be at your best. Please be inspired this year to take care of yourselves. On GCED Day your fellow colleagues generated ample ideas to do so:
- ANIMALS: Pet time/snuggles, animal therapy, horseback riding
- BREATHE/COMMUNICATE: Breathe, Practice deep breathing, communicate calmly, Better communication with colleagues
- FOOD: Eat well, practice good nutrition AND/OR Yummy food, chocolate, ice cream, more chocolate
- MISC: Delegate, Drive slower, Vent appropriately, Organize/To do list, Ask for help, Travel/Vacation/Look forward to Vacation, Watch feel good movie, TV/Netflix/PBS/Technology
- MUSIC: Music/Karaoke - sing it, play it, dance to it, enjoy it
- PAMPERING: Facials, manis, pedis, long bath, massages, spa day, retreats, shop for something special for yourself
- PASSIONS: Baking, Cooking, Hobbies, Reading, Volunteer
- PHYSICAL: Mindful walking, Yogo, Exercise; Outdoor activities: Fishing, Kayaking, Boating, Golfing, Horseback riding, Gardening, Connecting with nature, Enjoy the seasons, Soak in the sunshine; Give/receive hugs/snuggles
- RANDOM FUN: First Fridays, Coach Purse Bingo, Laughter, Send jokes to your team, Happy hour, Wine of the Month Club, Beer, Taco night, Watch cat videos in the shower with someone you love, Small indulgences,
- SLEEP: After school naps, Weekend nap, Good sleep at night, Enough
- SOCIAL: Team gatherings, Social gatherings, Go to support person, Collaboration time
- SOLITUDE: Solitude at times, Rest, Chill, Zone out, "Me time"
- SPIRITUALITY: Spirituality - feed your soul, affirmations, devotionals, reflect and learn
- TIME: Find and practice work/home balance; Time for Family/Friends/Date night; Invest in healthy relationships
Take action.
We will continue to take action building our capacity with problem solving. I encourage you to stop and reflect on your own mindset with problem solving on the job. When I do, I cannot help but to automatically go back to the first decade of teaching. In those years I wanted so much to solve whatever it was that created a barrier for my students' learning. In that eagerness to fix, I wonder about lost opportunities to get to the root cause of a problem.
Last year we began a journey of improvement with our problem solving. A small team from each member district engaged in problem solving team professional development. This year we need to take action to expand that learning in two ways. The first is for those trained to apply their learning during problem solving team meetings. The second is for districts to identify ways to extend the training to others.
This investment in our adult learners is important for our system. We are on the right path with our continued implementation and improvement of our Multi-Tiered System of Support or MTSS. This message is clear as we collaborate with others in the region, state, and even the country. MTSS is the framework of ALL the work that we do in education. To review, MTSS has 3 essential components:
Last year we began a journey of improvement with our problem solving. A small team from each member district engaged in problem solving team professional development. This year we need to take action to expand that learning in two ways. The first is for those trained to apply their learning during problem solving team meetings. The second is for districts to identify ways to extend the training to others.
This investment in our adult learners is important for our system. We are on the right path with our continued implementation and improvement of our Multi-Tiered System of Support or MTSS. This message is clear as we collaborate with others in the region, state, and even the country. MTSS is the framework of ALL the work that we do in education. To review, MTSS has 3 essential components:
- Multi-Tiered Supports
- Our continuum of support begins with our viable and guaranteed core curriculum and progresses to our classroom wide interventions, tier 2, and tier 3 interventions. See Tier Characteristics as needed.
- Our continuum of support includes academics and behaviors, or Social Emotional Learning
- Assessment Framework
- We are continuing to assess our K - 8 students in reading and math. This year we all have the same assessment windows for fall, winter, and spring.
- Some districts are using MySAEBERS (Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener)
- Remember that there are different purposes for assessment; the purpose of the assessment drives the adults’ use of the data. The primary use of data is to improve instruction (core/intervention) in order to improve students’ proficiency.
- School wide Problem Solving
- We will continue to build our capacity with problem solving.
- We will stay committed to the process in order to correctly identify the problem, including its root cause.
- Our school psychologists will use a tool to help us with our problem solving, which is EduCLIMBER - an interactive data warehouse.
August 2019 - Adult Learners Hard at Work
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The learning is not just for our students. It is the adult learning and the adult collaboration that can greatly impact our student outcomes. As with most years, August was a busy month for learning. GCED staff members and member districts staff members engaged in:
CPI De-escalation Tips
Just a friendly reminder of these tips for those trained in CPI. If not, you may still find these de-escalation tips from Crisis Prevention Institute helpful:
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PBIS Refresher Training/Collaboration
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Did you know?
A researcher of relationships and marriage used foundational research of PBIS to build on his research. PBIS is built on the research that it takes 5 positive comments to overcome the impact of 1 negative comment. 
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One of the discussions that took place during the PBIS training focused on the aspects of traditional discipline. The conversation then continued with a look at how to use discipline as a way of teaching, a foundation of PBIS.
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by Brian Cashman
Since 1917, there has been federal language and funding for Career and Technical Education. In 1984, federal legislation for vocational education was named after Carl D. Perkins, a representative from Kentucky who was a strong education advocate (source: “A Brief History of CTE”, Association for Career and Technical Education). This is where we have gotten the “Perkins” funding language. For the last number of years, we have operated under Perkins IV legislation. With Perkins V legislation passed, we have an opportunity to “re-set” and move forward under Perkins V legislation.
Each state is required to move from Perkins IV to Perkins V. In Minnesota, as a state, we are using the 2019-2020 school year as a transition year with full implementation of Perkins V slated for the 2020-2021 school year. Likewise, our consortium is in a transition year for the 2019-2020 school year. Our consortium plan will carry similarities from the last few years and also offer some new strategies for our region. It is also important to note that we are forming a consortium Perkins V Transition Team to assist in developing an approach and programming that fits under Perkins V and best meets the needs of our consortium students, schools, and communities. Please see page 2 for a quick update on what to expect in our 2019-2020 Southeast Perkins Consortium plan.
One final note – there have been five broad goal areas for which our consortium plan has needed to address. They are listed below. These goal areas will continue to be of focus in the 2019-2020 transition year from Perkins IV to Perkins V.
Five Goal Areas:
Since 1917, there has been federal language and funding for Career and Technical Education. In 1984, federal legislation for vocational education was named after Carl D. Perkins, a representative from Kentucky who was a strong education advocate (source: “A Brief History of CTE”, Association for Career and Technical Education). This is where we have gotten the “Perkins” funding language. For the last number of years, we have operated under Perkins IV legislation. With Perkins V legislation passed, we have an opportunity to “re-set” and move forward under Perkins V legislation.
Each state is required to move from Perkins IV to Perkins V. In Minnesota, as a state, we are using the 2019-2020 school year as a transition year with full implementation of Perkins V slated for the 2020-2021 school year. Likewise, our consortium is in a transition year for the 2019-2020 school year. Our consortium plan will carry similarities from the last few years and also offer some new strategies for our region. It is also important to note that we are forming a consortium Perkins V Transition Team to assist in developing an approach and programming that fits under Perkins V and best meets the needs of our consortium students, schools, and communities. Please see page 2 for a quick update on what to expect in our 2019-2020 Southeast Perkins Consortium plan.
One final note – there have been five broad goal areas for which our consortium plan has needed to address. They are listed below. These goal areas will continue to be of focus in the 2019-2020 transition year from Perkins IV to Perkins V.
Five Goal Areas:
- Designing and Implementing Rigorous Programs of Study
- Effectively utilize employer, community, and education partnerships
- Improve service to Special Populations
- Provide a continuum of service for enabling student transitions
- Sustain the new consortium structure of secondary and postsecondary institutions
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Strategies continuing from 2018-2019
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Strategies added for 2019-2020
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Celebrate READ 180 Learners
There is ample learning to celebrate. Our Read 180 data reveals great news to celebrate. Read 180 Universal is used as a Tier 2 or Tier 3 reading intervention throughout our member districts. In the 2018-09 school year, GCED wide there were 37 students that made one year worth of reading growth or more. One RBEC student made 4 years worth of reading growth!
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Jeff Samspon, CF Superintendent
Jeff Sampson Rapid Round
School subject that you excelled in? Math School subject that you did not excell in? English (Not a hatred, just challenging grammar rules.) Vikings or Packers? Vikings Superpower of/if choice? Healing - physical and mental Favorite Cartoon Character? Bugs Bunny If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where? With the work-list done, to a beach somewhere in the Caribbean Who do you most admire? One of my two parents, equally. Favorite summer time activity? Boating and Golfing A favorite book? Who Moved My Cheese? |
As we all know we are the sum of our life experiences with one experience shaping another. There are also times in our life when we need to take a good hard look and evaluate our direction. Both true for Jeff Sampson, whom we welcome to GCED as the new superintendent for Cannon Falls Area Schools.
Jeff Sampson was born in SE Kansas and greatly influenced by both of his parents growing up. His father worked on large farms, which meant moving where the work was so in 2nd grade they moved to Iowa. In 7th grade his father lost his hand in a farm accident, which brought them to Rochester for medical care. Then in 8th grade they settled in Mantorville; he would graduate from Kasson-Mantorville High School. Later on these experiences moving provided him insight working with students that moved around frequently. Growing up, Jeff loved math and excelled in it. When he was thinking of college, it was natural for him to focus on math and computer science when he went to Winona State. All was well and good until the higher level calculus courses challenged his skills and his career choice. He had a good hard talk with himself and discovered there were other options if he opted to not go further with calculus. He realized that he loved history and he loved working with young people and always did. In fact a woman in his church community once mentioned to him that he’d “make a good minister” because of how he worked with others. For him it was a thought that was left to percolate for years. When the time was right for soul searching, he remembered the comment and how others saw him made sense. All was as it should be and he transitioned from math to secondary social studies major. Before long Jeff began his teaching career in Hinckley, Minnesota and stayed for 6 years. In addition to teaching social studies, Jeff served as a School to Work Coordinator, Head Football Coach, and Head Softball Coach. Wanting to get closer to “home” he moved to GFW ISD 2365 and moved into a quasi-administrative role as Dean of Students. Jeff was in GFW during the 2001-02 school year. His principal at the time was called into active duty following September 11, 2001. Jeff had his administrative license at the time so he stepped in as Interim Principal. This gave Jeff a good understanding of the 30,000 foot view lens of an education. He liked it and got hooked on strategic planning. From there he was a an Assistant Principal at Winona Senior High School (WSHS). This was a transition that required a mindset shift: GFW had roughly 100 students per class whereas Winona had 1400 students in grades 9 through 12. Jeff was the only Assistant Principal doing supervision, which helped him see the gravity of the position. Imagine transition time, at WSHW it is like the entire town of Lewistown changing classes at one time. He learned a lot with different perspectives and different cultures during his two years in Winona. All of the learning stayed with him as he applied as the Medford High School Principal for 7 years and then superintendent for Southland and LeRoy-Ostrander Public School Districts.. Now Jeff Sampson is leading the Cannon Falls Area Schools superintendent. We all know that superintendents are responsible for the system, including policy and funding. For Jeff that means that “it is my job to provide tools for the principals to implement the strategic plan. Not to micromanage but rather to support.” The principals have their boots on the ground while implementing the strategic plan; he is their support system. The work is all about collaboration. Funding and human resources are those challenges. Jeff is an advocate for appropriate funding for public education, but acknowledges that we do not need an endless pot of money to be successful. The more that the years go on, Jeff believes that the lack of people going into education will strain the system; he sees it becoming a bigger and bigger concern. There is hope though. “The people that are currently in the system have hearts of gold – helping kids learn, helping others understand the importance of it.” Our educators that are making education work now are out there recruiting people to go into education. He sees a “rash of recruiting going on now to get more into education but through non-traditional pathways.” For now Jeff’s overall plan is to continue the good educational work that is being done in Cannon Falls while facing the challenges in public education. He is excited to get to know more people in the community, to get to know the history of Cannon Falls. One of his roles is to represent the school as a whole; to help others see the overall picture of the community. In addition to the school community, Jeff and his family are immersing themselves in the Cannon Falls Community. His wife Nicole works at Mayo in Rochester, so she has a manageable commute. Their daughter Libby is in 4th grade, which means Jeff and Nicole follow her around with her sports and other activities. She may only be one child, but “she seems like 3.” Finally you should know that Jeff is excited to be here and in this role. He will give “120% to the district; together we’ll accomplish great things.” |
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