TheAugust 2013

ConnectorOur focus is on serving you!

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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August Workshops

06 HAL Consortium Coordinators Meeting

07 DIBELS Next Transition

20 Explicit Instruction (8 days)

27 SRS Update Training

September

06 CTE Fall Advisory Council & School Coordinators

18 Using Problem Solving to Support a Positive Learning Climate

October

14 Continuous Improvement Process Support for YEAR 5 Schools 16 NWEA Stepping Stones to Us-

ing Data

21 Continuous Improvement Process Support for YEAR 1 &

2 Schools

28 Continuous Improvement Process Support for YEAR 3 &

4 Schools

This summer has really flown by. It seems like it was one of those cases of too much to do and too little time to accomplish it all. The good news is that ESU 10 continues to evolve as we “partner with our customers to meet changing needs through professional expertise, training, and support.” We continue to sort through comments and suggestions as we attempt to better meet your needs. After reading and analyzing survey suggestions, it appears to be a big challenge for all of us here at ESU 10 to educate and inform as to the programs and services that are available. We’ll be discussing that fact when the entire staff

meets on August 19th. What good are great services if people do not use them?

By the time you read this article, the U.S. House of Representatives will have voted on the Student Success Act (HR 5). HR 5 represents the most progress Congress has made on ESEA reauthorization since it passed No Child Left Behind in 2001. What will this mean to all of us who work in the K-12 education industry? It’s too early to tell, but you might want to keep an eye on Washington D.C. Watchfulness is a good thing.

Well, this article has been way too serious so I’ll cite some things that I read this summer while travelling to and from a variety of places. Many of those trips provided extensive periods of reflection while delayed planes or lost luggage found their way to me. It was a good time to learn nuggets of wisdom. Here are just a few of the quotes I remember.

• Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest… -Mark Twain• Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it…

-Robert Heinlein• Always do what you are afraid to do … -Ralph Waldo Emerson• Always remember when going on stage – or in front of a large group of staff at an

annual ESU 10 staff meeting, wipe your nose and check your fly… -Alec Guinness• Always read stuff that will look good if you die in the middle of it… -P.J. O’Rourke

The last thought has been extremely helpful. Jeff Wooters, Technology Guru from ESU 6 located in Milford, Nebraska, loaned me a book written by Steven Pinker titled, “The Stuff of Thought”. I must admit that I have still not gotten all the way through this book, but if they clear the plane wreckage from an ill fated flight that I am on they are going to need to pry this book out of my hands. How much better can things look than to see that I am reading a book that shows how language is entwined with human life and is a window into human nature.

See what I mean? I love it when a plan comes together.

I guess I’ll just need to finish my Red Green book about the wit and wisdom of Possum Lodge when I get home.

Best wishes to all of you for a great school year.

A Message From Dr. Bell

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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Back to School News

REQUEST FOR UPDATED SCHOOL INFORMATION

The beginning of another school year has arrived and ESU 10 is updating our contact information in order to serve you better. In past years we have sent paper copies for you to update, but this year we are implementing a revised system where you share your district contact information and student enrollment numbers on-line.

Click here to access the pdf forms, and when you have completed the information, click the send button to return the information to Trina Shaw at ESU 10. If the document does not display correctly, please download and save it locally.

Complete one copy of the School Information Update Sheet and (if you have multiple buildings in your district) a Build-ing Information Update Sheet for each building. Please complete this process by September 13, 2013.

An email with this link will also be sent to superintendents during the first few days of August.

Thank you for your assistance. Have a great school year!

Congratulations on Your Retirement!!

Congratulations to Pat Beck, former Personel /Co-op Coordinator at ESU 10. Pat com-pleted her 33rd year at ESU 10 in May.

Pat is enjoying the extra time she now has with her grand-children and reading books on her Kindle.

Best wishes to you in your retirement and thank you for your many years of service!

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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New Faces at ESU 10

Stephanie DozlerCo-op Corrdinator/

Route Driver

I am originally from Atwood, Kansas (located in northwest Kansas) where I grew up on a farm and graduated from High School. I attended McCook Community College and earned an Associate of Science De-gree and then went on to

UNK where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Science Education.

My husband Mark and I were married in 2010. Mark is originally from Albion, Nebraska and works for Syngenta as a Sales Representative selling seed and chemical.

My hobbies include spending time with family, traveling, crafting and gardening. I look forward to meeting all the staff at ESU 10 and the staff at the schools as I deliver materials on the route!

Jodi AndersenPersonnel

Coodinator

I grew up in the country about 15 miles southeast of Hastings. I graduated from Sandy Creek High School and then attended college at UNK. While attending college I worked part-time for Mount Carmel Home as a certified nursing as-sistant. During the summer

before my senior year of college I did an internship in the Business Office at Mount Carmel Home and when I was done with that was offered the Office Manager position. I graduated in May 2001 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. I worked for Mount Carmel Home for 14 years prior to coming here.

I’m married to my husband Brent and we have two children Brayden 9, and Bryce 6. We also have a dog named Buddy.

I enjoy going to all my children’s sporting events which takes up most of my time, but I wouldn’t trade it for any-thing else. I also like watching Husker football and enjoy walking and gardening.

I’m excited to become a part of ESU 10 and look forward to getting to know each one of you.

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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Media Routes will begin on August 13, 2013 and will run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday every week with the exception of Thanksgiving week. The route days will then be bumped one day that week and will run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, November 25, 26, & 27, 2013.

Our new route driver, Stephanie Dozler, is replacing Michael Miller who retired at the end of the last school year. She’s been very busy catching up on all that there is to learn this summer and is counting on you to keep her busy delivering items to your school every week. The routes have changed quite significantly this year. We are now using some of our larger schools as drop-off points and the items will be delivered within their system. Our hope is that this new system will work smoothly. Our first delivery route will begin August 6, 7, and 8, 2013 of repaired equipment and Co-op items. The Media route will begin the following week. If you do not receive items when they are expected, please contact Susan Sandoval 308-237-2280 or ssandova@esu10.org Read more about Stephanie and get to know her on page 3.

FREE Media Services: In-services for the ODIE online Media Catalog and Learn 360® are available to you. If you would like to know more about the media catalog, an instructional video clip can be streamed directly on your computer. Login to ODIE, on the left hand side of your screen click on Library. Click on Basic Instructions for us-ing Odie Library Catalog. Each clip is approximately three minutes in length.

Learn 360® Teacher Accounts: To attain a new account for Learn 360 streaming site, login to ODIE click on the Library link on the left side of page, put a word in the search box and click on a title that has this icon Learn 360. Once you click on that title an account will be created for you instantly. You can stay in the Learn 360 site and search more titles, or tab back to ODIE Library for items you won’t find in Learn 360, i.e. NROC streaming titles, models of body parts, etc.

Lamination Order Forms: Please be sure to fill out the order form when sending in your material to be laminated. Always use the large blue bag that is provided free to your school. If you do not have a bag, ask Stephanie or contact Susan.

ODIE Account: To place an order through the Media Cata-log, an ODIE account is required. Go to https://odie.esu10.org, click on “Logon” then click on “Create a ODIE account.

Media Library News

How do I extend my items for one more week? Go to the ODIE Library section and on the left side of the screen click on “My Reservations”. Find the title that you would like to extend for 1 more week by clicking on the blue “Extend” button. It’s that simple! A confir-mation email will be sent to you. Please extend the day before the route arrives at your school.

Did you know…

…we have eliminated all VHS titles that are older than the release year of 2003, except for the classics and the items with high usage. Our tangible library consists mostly of DVDs.

…there will be 75 new DVD titles added to our catalog and streaming server early this fall, including the Magic School Bus series!

Contact: Susan Sandoval 308-237-2280 or email ssandova@esu10.org for any Media questions.

Check Out the Star Lab“Thank you so much for letting us use the Star Lab.

Children in Gothenburg (124+), Cozad (50+) and Lexington (215+) loved it and loved learning about stars and space! It was so much fun to hear their reactions in the dark! The ‘ohhhs’ and ‘ahhhs’ were

great, especially the connected stars and globe cylinders. This is what learning should be all about!

We had three handicapped people in Gothenburg use the Star Lab. Two got out of their chair and crawled without crutches and one rolled in under the side of the dome. I was so glad they all had a chance to experience the star lab.

Note to teachers: If you are interested in using the por-table Star Lab Planetarium, please contact Susan Sandoval ssandova@esu10.org or 308-237-2280. Because of the technicalities and high value of the Star Lab, we ask that an experienced person, that has previously used Star Lab, be present during the set up and break down.

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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Big 5 of Reading Workshop

Sixteen teachers from the ESU 10 area attended a five-day course on the Big 5 of Reading. The 5 components of effective Reading instruction include phonemic aware-ness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This course was designed to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the research behind the components, how to evaluate the core read-ing series to determine if enhancement of a component is necessary, and to effectively teach these components. The following responses were submitted by the participants on the final day of class:

My biggest “A-HA” moment was….

• how simple it is to plan interventions that aren’t “canned” or belong to anyone else.

• learning the process of how students acquire comprehension.• knowing that I actually do some of these things already.• language origins-where our words come from and why.• explicit vocabulary instruction is essential.• phoneme blending and phoneme segmentation are the

most important.

One thing I will take back to my classroom….

• how to incorporate vocabulary notebooks.• more vocabulary games, strategies, and teaching techniques.• are all the fluency strategies.• is the gradual release of responsibility teaching strategy

(I do, We do, You do).• explicit instruction for vocabulary. The best part about this week was….

• learning about how to access the Florida Center of Reading Research.

• learning new strategies in each area; different strate-gies to implement in my class for the coming year.

• quality time with other professionals and gaining lots of ideas.

• learning different ways to do fluency activities and the numerous resources and ideas especially in the areas of fluency and vocabulary.

• meeting new people, laughter and great company.• getting together with other teachers enriching my

knowledge of the Big 5.

by Dallas Lewandowski, Professional Dev.Coordinator

The Big 5 of Reading

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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Distance Learning Teacher Workshop

Jeff Paige, Northwest High School teacher, spent two weeks of his summer working aboard the JOIDES Resolution, a research vessel that was stationed about 120 miles off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia. JOIDES stands for Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling.

Paige said that he found out about the opportunity to sail with the Resolution through ESU 10. He applied last November and then was notified in late January that he had been accept-ed. To read more about Jeff’s adventure click here for the full story from The Grand Island Independent News.

Summer Includes Deep Sea Expedition

by John Stritt, Distance Education Coordinator

Nebraska’s Distance learning directors and the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council sponsored the second annual statewide distance learning teacher workshop. The conference was delivered over video conference to 9 different locations with over 50 distance learning teachers in attendance.

Improvement of instruction served as the focus of the workshop. The new statewide BlendEd initia-tive, statewide distance learning manual, new educa-tion and technology resources, and special guest presenter Tim Devlin from Pennsylvania sharing about collaboration provided materials in support of the improvement instruction focus.

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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We’ve been cleaning up in the storage room at ESU 10 and found some treasures that need to leave the building. If interested in any of these items contact Susan Sandoval at 308-237-2280 or email ssandova@esu10.org

FREE Overheads

3M 9060 (2 available) Eclipse A1-2001 EIKI

FREE Carts

Free Televisions

20” JVC 20” Philco Panasonic VHS

Brother Intellifax 2920 Super G3 33.6 Kbps (fax machine also makes copies) --- $20.00 or best offer.

HP Color Laser Jet Printer 3800 dn $20.00 or best offer

Office Equipment Give aways!!

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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Nebraska Teacher of the Year

Awards of Excellence Program

Nebraska Teacher of the Year

The program serves to recognize the contributions of the classroom teacher. Candidates must be: Exceptionally dedicated.

Knowledgeable/skilled teachers.

Respected/admired by parents, colleagues and students.

Active in the community.

Active in the school.

Poised, articulate and energetic.

Persons of superior ability who inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn.

Applications are available from principals, superintendents and the Nebraska Department of Education. Each candidate personally completes the application form. Self-nominations are welcome.

Applications must be postmarked by midnight August 9, 2013.

Send completed application to: Nebraska Teacher of the Year Program

Nebraska Department of Education 301 Centennial Mall South, 6th Floor

P.O. Box 94987 Lincoln, NE 68509-4987

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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Nebraska NEST Financial Scholars

The Nebraska NEST Financial Scholars is an award-winning program that teaches, assesses and certifies students in Financial Literacy using the latest new media tools including 3D gaming, Twitter-like messaging tools, animations, video, adaptive-pathing and other technologies. The platform will be used in over 3,500 high schools across 50 states this year.

EverFi, Inc. has been featured on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Fox News, Fortune, CNN, Entrepreneur, and other media outlets. It was recently named one of the Top 250 Technology Global Technology Companies along with Facebook, Twitter and other leading tech firms.

. What Teachers Are Saying About EverFi

96% of teacher respondents would like EverFi to be part of the curriculum for future students in their high school

98% of teachers would recommend the EverFi platform to fellow teachers.

76% of students who took EverFi felt that all students should be required to take the EverFi program.

"I think this is an exciting time for our students. This program is top notch and I look forward to more and more of our students participating. Thank you and all involved in putting this together.”

-Randi Richards-LutzCareer and Technical Administrator

Culpeper County Public Schools

continued on next page

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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The 10-module, 6-hour program is integrated into the school curriculum and covers over 600 topics including banking, credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401k’s and other critical concepts. The system tracks student progress and reports the unique score of each user. Upon completion of the course, students are provided with Certification in Financial Literacy.

Certification can be a valuable mark of distinction on resumes and college applications. This has proven to create lasting effects as a community development tool by graduating entire classes of students who are financially capable and literate.

Getting Started at Your SchoolImplementing EverFi in your school is incredibly easy. The EverFi Schools Team is available to train and support teachers and ensure that they have a good experience. Your teachers can start using the program after a brief 30-minute training.

• Empower students (and parents) with financial literacy for a lifetime.

• Expand the reach of teachers by instantly providing all students with access to platform curriculum that meets detailed national standards.

• Gain visibility on student knowledge gains, using platform data.

• Engage in a public-private partnership at no cost to the school.

Course Background

School Benefits

Jessica Feimer, Schools Manager

JFeimer@EverFi.com

402-651-7171

For more information, visit WWW.EVERFI.COM

76 Plaza Blvd • PO Box 850 • Kearney, NE 68848-0850 • Ph: 308.237.5927 • Fax: 308.237.5920 • www.esu10.org

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BMIT Fall WorkshopsBusiness, Marketing and Information Technology Standards

October2013

Last year’s participants at the BMIT Standards Workshops learned about the new middle-level and secondary-level course standards for business, marketing and in-formation technology. The 2013 BMIT workshops will focus on the implementation of these new course standards within the NCE programs of study. Jessica Feimer, Schools Manager for EverFi, will do a short training session on the financial educa-tion simulation called EverFi.

New this year during the afternoon is Bizz Buzz: Idea Sharing. You will hear from several BMIT teachers during three rotational sessions designed to share their curri-cula, lesson plans, program offerings and/or best practice strategies. There will even be a session for FBLA and/or DECA advisers. Area Business Academy directors will also provide updates on dual credit courses and their academy course offerings. You will leave the workshop with new ideas and strategies being used by several of the BMIT teachers in your area.

Please bring two copies of your business, marketing and information tech-nology course offerings (course title and description and syllabi/outcomes). During the morning session, teachers will be asked to share their offerings in a group setting with one copy being submitted for use by the Nebraska Department of Education.

All secondary and postsecondary business, marketing and information technology teachers as well as preservice business education college students and student teach-ers are encouraged to register for a date and location that works best for you. Guid-ance counselors, administrators and/or curriculum specialists are welcome to attend.

In order to plan for enough resources and meals, please register online two weeks in advance at www.education.ne.gov/nce/ConferencesWorkshops.html — select BMIT FALL WORKSHOPS after reviewing FOR DETAILS. Select from the dropdown menu for BMIT FALL WORKSHOPS by selecting date and location of preferred workshop.

The six October 2013 workshops offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. will be facilitated by Bonnie Sibert and Bev Newton of the Nebraska Department of Education who are partnering with Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) and postsecondary educators to offer these top-notch professional development opportunities.

BMIT Standards Workshops

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at all locations

• Northeast Community College-Norfolk – Oct. 2, Norfolk Lifelong Learning Center, Room C & D, 601 East Benjamin Avenue, Norfolk

• Western Nebraska Community College-Scottsbluff – Oct. 8, Harms Advanced Tech-nology Center, The Plex Room, 2620 College Park, Scottsbluff,

• North Platte Community College, South Campus – Oct. 9, McDonald-Belton Bldg., Room 122, North Platte (located south of interstate at 601 West State Farm Road)

• Central Community College-Grand Island – Oct. 16, Room 210-211-212, 3134 West Hwy. 34, Grand Island

• ESU 3, Omaha – Oct. 22, Calamus/Platte Room, 6949 S. 110th Street, Omaha

• Country Inns and Suite, Lincoln – Oct. 23, Nebraska Room, 5353 N. 27th Street (1.3 miles south of Exit 403 from I-80)

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BMIT Standards Workshops