TheMay 2012

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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May 2012

08NSSRS Workday

10 PowerSchool Sharing Session

14 NSSRS Workday

21 Special Education Summer Institute Day 1

22 Special Education Summer Institute Day 2

23 Special Education Summer Institute Day 3

24 Special Education Summer Institute Day 4

25 Special Education Summer Institute Day 5

June

04 Blending Technology and Improving Instruction

05 Structured Teaching - 2 Days

05 Teacher Evaluation Support - Technical Assistance 2 Days

08 NSSRS Workday

18 Advancing Literacy for English Language Learners - 5 Days

18 Introduction to English Lan-guage Learners for Mainstream Teacher - 2 Days

Upcoming Workshops

A Message from Dr. Bell

This is always a very interesting time in ESU 10 world. It is the time of year when focused thought and effort transform into a new and upgraded Program of Services. The words of Victor Hugo in his classic novel Les Miserables come to mind. He penned, “There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow.”

Many people have shared thoughts and opinions as to what the perfect ESU 10 Program of Services is to meet their needs. It is now our responsibility to “flesh” this all out to continue current successes and to vision for future needs. It is indeed a very humbling proposition as we attempt to best use

available resources to “partner with our customers to meet changing needs through professional expertise, training, and support.” With your help we hope to keep working at it until we get it right.

The ESU 10 Continuous Improvement Process continues to move forward. It is our hope that this process will also help define our purpose and create better learning opportunities for all who we serve. It appears that our focus is getting more refined as we examine how we do business.

The statewide ESU system is also becoming more focused in its efforts. The Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council has established four strategic plan priorities:

• Improve ESUCC Processes and Identify Additional Stakeholders• Develop the ESU System 24/7 Technology Learning to Meet the Present

and Emerging Needs of Nebraska’s Schools• Accountability and Communication• Collaborative Working Relationships with Stakeholders

Many different initiatives are in discussion or early action stages that will ad-dress these strategies to the benefit of all school districts in Nebraska. More will be shared on a variety of topics once plans are finalized and contracts secured.

So, rest assured that the wheels on the bus are always turning here at ESU 10. The bumps in the road are useful to jar us into clearer thinking from time to time to help guide us when we hit the forks in the road. Please feel free to share your thoughts with us at any time. This is one of those rare places where back seat drivers are actually encouraged.

Have a great summer.

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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You Could Be Nebraska’s Teacher of the Year for 2013!

Application forms for the 2013 Nebraska Teacher of the Year are available through your superintendent or prin-cipal or by clicking here. Applications must be com-pleted and postmarked by midnight, August 10, 2012. A selection panel will review the applications, and the four or five teachers receiving the highest scores will be advanced. Finalists will be interviewed during October, and the Teacher of the Year will be selected from those finalists. An awards luncheon will be held in November.

Begun in 1972, the Nebraska Teacher of the Year program recognizes outstanding Nebraska certified teachers who teach in a pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 classroom setting, and who plan to continue in an active teacher status in a state-approved or accredited school. Three letters of support must accompany the application. Questions on the application seek information on educational background and personal development, community involvement, phi-losophy of teaching and learning, and the teaching profes-sion from the viewpoint of the applicant.

Candidates must be:

• exceptionally dedicated• knowledgeable/skilled• respected/admired by parents, students, and peers• active in the community in which they teach• poised, articulate, and energetic• able to inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities

The Nebraska State Board of Education will provide a $1,000 grant to the Awards of Excellence winners and the Teacher of the Year to be used for a project of the teacher’s choice in his/her school. Additionally, the Nebraska State Education Association, Nebraska Association of School Boards, Nebraska Council of School Administrators, SMART Technologies, BlueCross BlueShield of Nebraska, Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), the Nebraska Parent Teacher Association, Dillard’s Department Store, Lincoln, and Nebraska Department of Education will present gifts, mementoes, and awards to the persons recognized.

The Nebraska Teacher of the Year Program has received financial support from The Sherwood Foundation, Union Bank & Trust Company, The Nebraska Academy of Sci-ences, Inc., and ConAgra Foods Foundation.

If you have need for additional information, please call (402) 471-5059 or email lora.sypal@nebraska.gov.

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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Technology Tips for Teachers by Jamey Boelhower, Remote Learning Speciialist

As the school year comes to a close, you may have come across a new end-of-the-year dilemma: what to do with all this digital content. I am going to bet that I am like many of you and have most of my stuff on my computer. I write a new lesson, or a student hands in an iMovie and I put those in the appropriate folder on my computer. It is important to back up your digital files, and I do, just not as much as I should. I will cover three basic ways to back up or store your content.

The first option is to burn the content on to a DVD or CD. This is a great way to keep homework files from the past year. Burning to a disc is also a great option for photographs. You can use the disc in kiosks to make prints, or use in DVD players to watch slideshows of photos. If the class has done some iMovies, you can create DVDs of the projects for the students to keep.

A second option is external hard drives and USB drives. Today, the cost of storage is greatly reduced. The silver USB drive in the photo is my first pen drive I bought (years ago) and it is 64 MB. It cost me about $64 at that time. The blue USB drive is 1 GB and it cost me $5 (and that was a couple of years ago). Most external hard drives are just as portable as USB drives today. I use my external hard drive to back up my digital components for my classes: lesson plans, movie and music files, and presentations. USB drives are great for daily use in the classroom or small file transfers. Also, many Blu-Ray players have USB ports to play your digital movies. (As a father of five, a great way to take movies with us when we visit grandma and grandpa for Christmas.)

And then there is the cloud. The cloud has many options. On April 24, Google announced their cloud storage option, Google Drive. Apple has the iCloud, Microsoft has SkyDrive, and I bet your Internet provider has a cloud storage option. These options allow you to store your everyday digital files: documents, photos, videos, and music on the providers “cloud.” The benefit of cloud storage is accessing files from anywhere and on almost any device.

Computers do crash, servers go down, and devices do run out of power. It is important to backup your digital work. And yes, I will be taking my own advice; I have some blank discs sitting on my desk just waiting for student work to be handed in.

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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by Emily Jameson, Professional Development CoordinatorConservation and Inquiry Camp

Conference for teachers

The first ever Conservation and Inquiry Camp will be held at Rowe Crane Sanctuary located at 44450 Elm Island Road, Gibbon, from 9:00 a.m. July 10, 2012 to 12:30 p.m. on July 11. This is a unique and exciting opportunity for all teachers. We will experience the benefits of teaching through outdoor exploration. Our adventure will include studies of water, weather and wildlife as they relate to the standards for physical, earth, and life sciences. Participants will leave with ready-to-use lessons, increased confidence in taking students out of the classroom, and a deeper knowledge of how to connect the standards to real-life applications in their own regions.

Our experience will include a late evening and an early morning, so participants are invited to spend the night in the Iain Nicholson Audubon Center free of charge. Participants will need to bring a sleeping bag, cot, and/or small air mattress. There will not be shower facilities available. Meals provided during the camp will include Tuesday’s breakfast and supper, and Wednesday’s breakfast and lunch. Participants will need to bring a no-trash lunch for Tuesday.

If you have questions, contact Deanna Stall or Emily Jameson. For more information, pricing information, or to register, visit odie.

Pre Conference Speaker is Dr. Kristen French: Affirming Diversity:“Skills for teachers to help their students build bridges”

Pre Conference: Wednesday, June 6, 2012Conference: Thursday-Friday, June 7-8, 2012

Lexington Middle School 1100 N Washington Street Click here to registerLexington, NE 68850

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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Special Education Department Striving for Consistency

by Bethany Hyatt, ESU 10 School Psychologist

The ESU 10 Special Education Department consists of 43 employees serving 31 districts across approximately 9,325 square miles. These distances can make interaction between staff members challenging. As a new member of the ESU 10 team, Special Education Director John Street, is taking steps to assure that distance does not decrease the quality and continuity of the services being pro-vided to districts, staff, and students. He is addressing consistency by providing a summer institute for staff development, hosting special education staff meet-ings throughout the academic school year, and encouraging the further develop-ment of best practice guidelines.

When Mr. Street began working with the special education staff at the begin-ning of the 2011-2012 academic year he quickly began to inquire about common practices. Thus began a process headed by the ESU 10 Special Education Staff and School Psychologists to formalize ESU 10 verification practices. Through-out the current academic year, discussions centered on current practice at ESU 10 as well as determination of best practices. This project will continue into the

summer with days devoted to de-veloping ESU 10 Verification and Problem Solving Guidelines.

The expertise of school psycholo-gists, speech/language patholo-gists, special education teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing and the ESU 10 professional development depart-ment will be utilized to collaborate on this project. The special educa-tion department plans to have these guidelines ready to present to mem-ber districts in the fall of 2012.

School’s Out

For the Summer!

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 Media Streaming Service

The ESU Coordinating Council (ESUCC) through its participating Educational Service Units (ESU) has sponsored PowerMediaPlus for the past six years. The original sponsor-ship, PowerMediaPlus was purchased by Discovery Education and will eventually be phased out as a product offering by Discovery Education in favor of their other products. Due to these changes, ESUCC and the ESU Instructional Materials affiliate group (IMat) conducted a review of media streaming products over the course of the fall and winter. On March 7, 2012, with a recommendation from the IMat affiliate group, ESUCC selected Learn360 as the successor product to

replace PowerMediaPlus effective July 1, 2012. On June 30, 2012, the Nebraska license agreement with PowerMedi-aPlus will expire. Under the terms of the agreement, at the expiration of the license, Nebraska ESUs and affili-ated school districts are required to delete or destroy any and all copies of content from all storage devices (servers, personal comput-ers, mobile devices, DVDs, tape back-up, etc.) by every user except students who have permission to retain product developed as part of a course assignment. All ESU and school district staff members must comply with these terms as part of the

user agreement. It is the responsibility of each ESU to notify their affiliated school districts.

The new service, Learn360, will be officially launched for Nebraska in the summer of 2012 and is be-ing provided by the IMAT affiliate. ESUCC and IMat will work together to establish professional development opportunities. At this point, training sessions for ESU staff will occur over the summer followed by training ses-sions for area schools as provided by their local ESU.

We look forward to rolling out the new Learn360 tool for participating ESUs and their local school districts!

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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Invention Convention 2012

ESU 10 held the 12th Annual Regional Invention Conven-tion on Thursday, April 12, 2012 for area students in grades three through eight. The Invention Convention is an event that gives students an opportunity to solve problems, think creatively, experiment, and work with data independently as they invent a new product or process.

Participants are encouraged to identify a need or to solve a problem by following the same steps and patent applica-tion procedures that an inventor would follow in patenting an invention. Once a need or a problem has been identi-fied, students are directed to use problem-solving and

creative-thinking skills to invent a product or process that would fill the need or overcome the problem. Commu-nication skills are also greatly enhanced throughout the invention procedure as students will be present to answer questions about their inventions.

Kelly Clapp, Professional Development Coordinator at ESU 10, says, “Through these experiences we hope to see the youth of our schools gain the positive attitude and problem-solving skills which are so crucial to future success in the work force.”

1st Place Winners of Grades 1-3Whitney Bauer & Alex Worth Worthing of Elm CreekHot & Cold Lunch to Go!

1st Place Winner of Grades 4-5Christopher Mercer of GibbonZoo Keeper

1st Place Winners of Grade 6Kalen Dockweiler & Marshall Still of CallawayThe Trainer

1st Place Winner of Grades 7-8Seth Pearson of CallawayThe Handy Holder