The Spark
National Teacher Development Newsletter, September 2020
National Update
Welcome to School Year 20-21!
The Talent Development and Community team is so excited to continue serving our talented teachers, administrators, and support personnel this new school year.
The Spark is a monthly newsletter where we share important updates, useful trainings, highlight the exceptional practices of teachers within our K12 network of schools, and most importantly share ready-to-use tips and resources you can implement in your online classroom.
If you haven't already, please visit The Spark Archive to peruse handy online teaching resources shared in past issues.
In this month's back-to-school issue, we are proud to share:
Building Community- Sharing how to connect with other K12-powered educators
Teacher's Lounge- Resources and ideas to implement into your live online instruction
Teacher Toolbox- Tips and resources for setting up for success this school year
Learning Continuum- Helpful trainings, professional development, and learning opportunities
Products and Courses- Informative updates to the curriculum and platform tools you use
Growth and Recertification- Opportunities for ongoing education
We hope you enjoy this issue we curated just for you!
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Building Community
Did you know that TDC is building a library of teacher lesson decks to share across our network? Would you like to share some of the incredible lessons that you have created to empower and prepare our Teacher Community?
Share those incredible lesson contributions with us here and earn your "Expert Lesson Designer" Badge!
Brittany Churchill
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Teacher's Lounge
Digital Citizenship
Starting the school year by spending time teaching and reminding students of their role as a digital citizen sets the stage for a successful and safe online learning experience. Check out the following We the Digital Citizen video, Digital Citizenship lesson template and Digital Citizenship Lesson Outline resources to start the conversation and get your students thinking about their role in the online world.
Student Voice
Providing students with the necessary structure and guidelines to clarify and develop their own thinking is an effective strategy to engage students and impact achievement. As you consider setting the foundation for student-to-student collaboration this school year, take a look at this Supporting Student Voice with Sentence Stems resource to share with students in order to ease the stress associated with "finding the right words" when working with their peers.
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Teacher Toolbox
Lena Ruck, Talent Development Specialist, Teacher Trainer
Learning Continuum
Ongoing Training: Top 3 Opportunities for Growth!
1. Recording and Lesson Exchange
Enhance your own growth mindset and dive deeper into your abilities as an online educator by enrolling in our Lesson and Recording Exchange today!
2. Promising Practices
We are accepting proposals for the 2021 Promising Practices Conference on the theme “Ignite Transformation.” Interested participants submit proposals here. Email questions to TalentDevelopment@k12.com.
3. Book Studies
Participants will complete the work in the program Eduflow at their own pace through December. Click on the title below to enroll.
How to Teach Students Who Don't Look Like You by Bonnie M. Davis, Ph.D.
Participants will reflect on their identity, build knowledge of diverse learners, and find ways to create a supportive virtual learning environment.
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown, Ph.D. Participants will reflect on Brown's four skillsets of leadership: Rumbling with Vulnerability, Living into Our Values, Braving Trust, and Learning to Rise.
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Middle School English Teachers
The enhanced middle school English courses have excellent new features to increase engagement and support for students. Teachers will want to check out the new program guide to learn more about the exciting additions to the courses. The ELA 6–8 courses contain activities within several lessons per unit that link to Newsela. Once on Newsela, students will be able to choose an article they are interested in from a small collection of three to five articles. The articles in this Newsela activity are thematically or conceptually related to the lesson content.
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Growth and Re-certification Opportunities
Christine Spalding
Talent Development Specialist, Lead Teacher Trainer
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Newsletter Team
Adam Blaylock
Chelsea Wilson
Christine Spalding
Newsletter Organizer & Editor