Friday Matinee: New KDE Website Multi-Tiered System of Supports

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has launched a new website, KyMTSS.org, to support Kentucky educators in the implementation, improvement and sustainability of an integrated Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). 

KyMTSS is a multi-level prevention system to support student achievement and social-emotional behavioral competencies through an integration of differentiated core instruction, assessment and intervention. 

Information and resources are available for each of the six essential elements of the KyMTSS framework:  

• Equitable Access and Opportunity; 
• Tiered Delivery System with a Continuum of Supports; 
• Collaborative Problem-Solving Teams; 
• Data-Based Decision Making with Comprehensive Screening and Assessment;  
• Evidence-Based Instruction; 
• Intervention and Supports and Family; and 
• School and Community Partnerships. 

KyMTSS expands the framework for Response to Intervention (RtI) and promotes the integration of systems-level approaches and state/district/school initiatives under one comprehensive framework to more efficiently use resources while focusing on improving outcomes for every student. 

You can provide feedback about what future resources might serve you best by completing the KyMTSS feedback survey, and you can sign up for the KyMTSS newsletter by entering your contact information on the form available on the KyMTSS.org homepage. 

	The Standards Team
	Division of Program Standards Office of Teaching and Learning Kentucky Department of Education  300 Sower Blvd. Frankfort, KY 40601
Email: standards@education.ky.gov

 

Did You Know? Must-Have Google Chrome Skills

Kasey Bell from Shake Up Learning has begun a series of blog posts on Must-Have Google Skills for Teachers with her first post focusing on Google Chrome.  Chrome is more than just a browser and it allows you to customize it in a number of ways.  Check out her blog post to learn more about Google Chrome.

Do you have a Chrome tip, favorite extension, or way you customize Chrome that is helpful?  Please share!

If you need help with customizing or using Chrome, just let KATE know.  We'll be glad to help! 

Friday Matinee: Google Gmail Compose Button Change

We've noticed that the compose button in Gmail is changing.  Yours may still be the rainbow compose button like the one below.  Be prepared to say "goodbye" to this button soon if you haven't already!

Unfortunately, the change is not the same for everyone.  You may see it look like any of the images below:  

Say "hello" to the new Gmail compose button!  Note, your background color may vary and your settings will affect which button you see.  If you have questions, let us know.   

Did You Know? - Add more fonts to Google!

In recent years, fonts and sayings on signs have become very popular, along with cutout words to add to walls.  When looking at your choice of fonts in Google Doc, Slides, and other Google apps, you might be disappointed.  Don't be!  Here's how to add more fonts!!

Have fun playing with fonts!

Friday Matinee: The Power of a PLN

Recently, KATE hosted a PLN Challenge for both students and faculty (staff was welcome too!) to help anyone who is not using social media and specifically Twitter to see the value in developing a professional learning network (PLN) to learn from others.

A PLN is an ever growing and changing group of educators and researchers that you connect with on social media to learn and share ideas, reflections, and resources. How much you share is up to you. You may want to just stay in the background and check out what people are saying - or you may jump in and start sharing and interacting immediately.  It's up to you when and how you interact with your PLN.

This is NOT just for educators! There are people sharing ideas and research for social work, speech pathology, and criminal justice, just to name a few areas.

To learn more and take our challenge, click here. If you complete the challenge, let us know and we'll not only add you to our PLN, but we'll send you a PLN badge to add to your email. Please let us know that you've completed it or if you need help finding people to connect with.

Check out our blog to find previous Friday Matinee and Did You Know? posts.

Friday Matinee: The Hybrid Teacher Survival Guide

Emma Pass is a language arts teacher who was teaching in a hybrid classroom even before COVID hit and many schools went virtual or hybrid.  She is in the process of writing a book entitled, "The Hybrid Teacher", but has shared a lot of the information that is in the book as she realized that teachers needed it now.  I'm sharing this with you so that you have the opportunity to both use anything that would work in your classes and so that you can share this with your students if you are training teachers.  I've attended several webinars with Emma and she is amazing!

bit.ly/hybridteacher

Over the last several months I've sent out several apps and ideas for remote learning.  This PDF really pulls all of that and more together in one document.

Need help with integrating tech?  Contact KATE!

Did You Know? 13 Tips to Organize Your Google Drive

I really hope that your Google Drive doesn't look like mine!  If it does, then this article is for you!  Learn how to organize your Google Drive like a pro.  And be sure to check out workspaces.  They help you organize files that you are using for a specific project you are working on.  They are mentioned in the attached article, but I've included the KATE video on how to use them as well.

13 Tips to Organize Your Google Drive

Priority Page and Workspaces in Google Drive

Did You Know? Autofit Text in Textboxes and Shapes in Google Slides

Have you ever gotten frustrated trying to make your text fit inside a textbox or shape in Slides?  It won't happen again!  Slides will now autofit your text for you.  Check out this tip from Kasey Bell.

Need help with Slides or other edtech tools?  Just let a member of the KATE team know and we'll be there to help!

Friday Matinee: Engaging a New Generation of Learners

 

Learn about new findings from a Chronicle survey of high-school and college students around the country about how the pandemic has changed their expectations of how they learn. The findings will be presented by best-selling author Jeff Selingo, as part of a special 75-minute virtual forum examining how college presidents, provosts, and senior administrators can help their faculty best prepare for a very different kind of learner.

How has the pandemic’s shift to remote learning changed students’ expectations for the in-classroom experience? What lessons do the new research results reveal? How are these students unlike those from previous generations? Click here to watch the recording.  You will have to register to view it.