History

A few years ago, our school district developed the following goals:

1.  Achievement and graduation for all students, regardless of their circumstances and abilities.

2.  Refine and implement a quality supervision and evaluation program for all staff.

3.  Define and implement a quality professional development program that encompasses best practices and supports the needs of all staff.

4.  Restructure the organization to become more efficient, effective, and accountable to support the goals of the District.

5.  Cultivate and enhance staff, student, parent, business, and community involvement.

Last year our school district, with the help of an outside consulting firm, developed a framework for education in the 21st century.  This framework included a vision for 21st century teaching and learning:

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Missoula County Public Schools

Vision for 21st Century Teaching and Learning

We communicate; we collaborate; we think critically; and we create.

We are Missoula County Public Schools -- educational leaders in a global society -- fostering uncompromising excellence and empowering all learners.
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Lifelong learning skills, conceptual knowledge, community and citizenship and career development were determined to be the foundation of desired skills and competencies of students in the 21st century.

Expectations for student learning and instructor facilitation included the 4 C's:  Creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration.
 Increasing student engagement, transforming learning environments, support innovators, personalize professional growth, enhance communication and collaborate to make decisions are the six interdependent components that are enbedded and reflected in the action maps for a model of change for MCPS.

This blog will serve as my contributions and reflections in this model of change.  One of the ways I thought I could contribute to this was to become a Flat Classroom Certified Teacher.  The Flat Classroom project is a global collaborative project that joins together high school students, grades 9-12 (ages 14-18 years old). I feel it is important for Montana students to spend time with other students outside of Montana - to open their world a little more.  To really give them an opportunity to see that they can make a difference in the world.  To develop cultural understanding, skills with Web 2.0 and other software, experience in global collaboration and online learning, awareness of what it means to live and work in a flat world.