This past August, SEEC’s professional learning specialists, Brandie Ulland and Danette Brown, headed to SEEC’s southwestern most city, Ellendale, to host professional learning surrounding student engagement and standards-based learning for K-12 educators from Kulm and Ellendale.
Cindy Rall, high school principal from Ellendale, first approached the pair to lead training during their back-to-school workshops with the emphasis on supporting Ellendale’s strategic plan and their vision of “empowering ALL to succeed in a student-centered environment that fosters learning and growth by utilizing a standards-referenced curriculum.” After completing SEEC liaison visits, it was determined that Kulm principals, Amy Johnson and Tami Kramlich, had a similar idea and luckily, they were just down the road from Ellendale. So after a little bit of coordination, Kramlich was reworking and tweaking Kulm’s back-to-school schedule to match up with the back-to-school schedule of Ellendale so they too could participate in training that supported their strategic plan. The two districts came together over two days in August to engage in new learning surrounding student participation and engagement strategies and to collaborate with one another to ask and answer the question, “what do we want our students to know and be able to do?"
Educators developed their understanding of what it means to have every student actively involved, motivated, and achieving their full potential. They engaged in strategies that modeled how to captivate students’ attention, assess their understanding, and discover ways to make every moment in the classroom count.
They also spent time exploring the ND DPI’s standards; prioritizing their grade level standards; vertically aligning the standards; and developing a curriculum map to ensure all the standards that were prioritized are taught to a level of proficiency that ensures that ALL kids are meeting and/or exceeding expectations. Over the two days, the educators from both campuses shared ideas and resources, collaborated on best practices, and supported one other on their journeys towards educational excellence this school year.
Over the course of this training, the educators from Kulm and Ellendale reignited the passion of SEEC trainers, Ulland and Brown, for teaching and learning. They stated, "We were inspired by the expert educators and thoughtful leaders who are shaping the future of education for learners in the SEEC region; their dedication and willingness to collaborate will no doubt positively benefit learners across both districts this year." If you want to learn more about how SEEC plans to continue their support of Ellendale and Kulm throughout the 24-25 school year to ensure educators are supported and equipped with the tools and best practices that support learners, please reach out to Brandie Ulland or Danette Brown.