MassCUE News: February 2023                                                

MassCUE Community,

A whole month of 2023 is in our rearview mirror! In that time, we sure have been busy. I am excited to update you on our equity journey. Our January action steps were a huge success! We have incorporated equity as a theme in our Spring Leadership Conference and received some incredible proposals for presentations! We are excited to share the schedule with you soon. In the meantime, you can register for this incredible event here. We reached out to several equity consultant groups and met with a potential equity auditor. We are in the process of getting a quote for those services and hope to announce our progress next month. Lastly, we recruited the services of our first ever intern, Laura Lopez Garcia (a BPS graduate currently in her sophomore year at Bucknell University) to analyze member feedback from our fall survey. Those results should be available soon!

We know that equity requires action, and as such have planned a year’s worth of action steps to ensure we are progressing in our campaign. Our February action steps are as follows:

1. Switching platform to Google for easier access and translations
2. Get a quote for our equity audit to start planning for funding
3. Create action steps from the results of our fall survey results

We will continue to update our community on our progress toward a more equitable future. As the days get colder, but also longer, we hope you are staying warm and safe.  

Onward!

Savvy Demers
Executive Director

Friday, March 3, 2023
7:30am-3:30pm
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester

Register Now

Please join us for the MassCUE/MASCD Spring Leadership Conference, a full day of presentations, workshops and opportunities to network with other educators who are working to take a personalized approach to equity in their schools and districts. 

Our morning Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Kandice Sumner, who has been a teacher, leader and administrator. She is the sole facilitator for the RACE (Race Achievement Culture and Equity) professional development series and the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the non-profit Educators for AntiRacism. 

Our afternoon Keynote Speaker will be Kristina Ishmael, Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology for the U. S. Department of Education. As the leader of the Office of Ed Tech, Ishmael executes the office mission of developing national edtech policy that enables everywhere, all-the-time learning and supports digital equity and opportunity.

Register by February 27, 2023, to take advantage of early bird pricing. 

Learn more. 

MassCUE is currently in the process of migrating all our organizational data along with organizing our users in our Google Domain.  

In the past, if you took a professional development course through MassCUE, you may have been given a MassCUE Google ID (@masscue.org).  On March 1, 2023, these IDs will be removed from our domain and you will no longer have access.  If you are currently using the MassCUE Google ID, please transfer your data to your own personal account by February 28, 2023.  After that date, these accounts will no longer be accessible.

For helpful resources by one of our MassCUE Members for using Google Takeout, click here.                                                

February Featured Educator: Ritamarie Benoit                                           

February's Featured Educator, Ritamarie Benoit is a Curriculum Supervisor for the Duxbury Public Schools. Read about how she manages the many tasks that come with her role, while keeping the students at the center of all she does. Read More

CDW, as a provider of information technology solutions to education, brings together the services and technologies. Their products and services range from hardware and software to integrated IT solutions such as security, cloud, hybrid infrastructure and digital experience. 

Forget blackboards — the classroom of today is a student-centered, collaborative environment that supports a wide range of abilities and learning activities. Get the right classroom technology and layout in your schools to motivate your students and enable better educational outcomes. 

More info on our Corporate Partner CDW can be found on our website.

ClassLink works with over 2,600 districts and includes these solutions and more, all in one. 

• LaunchPad – Single Sign-On with multi-factor options  
• Analytics 
• Roster Server — Deliver class rosters to all of your digital learning resources instantly and securely using open data standards.  
• OneSync — ID Management: reduce the time required to create and manage student and staff accounts with secure, automated account provisioning.  
• Parent Portal 

More info on our Corporate Partner ClassLink can be found on our website.  

Imagine Learning is a PreK–12 digital learning solutions company that ignites learning breakthroughs by designing forward-thinking solutions at the intersection of people, curricula, and technology to drive student growth.  We serve more than 10 million students and partners with more than 7,500 school districts nationwide. 

Imagine Learning’s flagship brands include Imagine Edgenuity, Imagine Learning, LearnZillion, StudySync, Twig Education, and Imagine Robotify. 

More info on our Corporate Partner Imagine Learning can be found on our website.

The Influence and Advocacy Committee would like to share the following resources:

When advocating for issues in educational technology, the first step is to know who to contact. The Influence & Advocacy Committee suggests using these tools for contact information, committee assignments and other information about your legislators. 

• Find My Legislator (193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts). 
• Massachusetts US Senators 
• Find Your Member Congress in the US House of Representatives

To learn more about the Influence and Advocacy Committee, visit our website. 

Email Heidi MacGregor or Colleen Terrill for information on how to share your voice in advocacy and get involved with the MassCUE I&A Committee.

MassCUE SIGs offer educators opportunities to connect and support one another in an area of interest or region. 

Coaching in Schools - Will hold a virtual meeting on February 2nd from 1-2pm. Discussion will center around exploring various coaching models.

Technology Integration - Will hold a virtual meeting on February 8th from 10-11am.

Learn more about our SIGs

Receive PDPs and fulfill MA re-certification requirements for FREE with your MassCUE Membership using Infobase Learning Cloud. 

Infobase Learning Cloud is an online professional learning system designed to meet the needs of today's schools. The resources include short videos as well as self-paced workshops. 

All learning can be done on your own time from anywhere, and you receive your certificate upon completion of the Infobase Learning Cloud module. Infobase offers a wide range of training webinars. Be sure to check their library of archived webinars.

Please note new members are added to Infobase the first week of each month. New MassCUE members will receive an email with information on accessing and setting up your account.

Learn More

Big Deal Book of Technology Newsletter

MassCUE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you the Big Deal Book of Technology Newsletter, featuring contests, resources, and information designed to bring the power of the web to your classroom.

The Big Deal Book newsletter will give you great ideas for your classroom.

Read the newsletter

For more information about MassCUE, go to MassCUE.org.