CEM Back to School News!

In January, I never quite get the inclination to write resolutions. After musing about the upcoming school year. I know why. For most of my life, the "new" year starts in August, from when I was a pre-K student through my master's program, to being a teacher, and now as a support for other educational programs and leaders.

This is the time of year that I make new resolutions! I will be more organized, patient, and forgiving, and remind myself that we are all still learning, no matter our age. Those are the resolutions I wrote for the 2024-2025 school year.

I encourage you to consider what new practices you want to implement in your classroom. What is your "new" year resolution? You know mine; I'd love to hear about yours and how CEM and I can support your goals!

Welcome back to another great year. I am so glad you are here with me, and I truly appreciate your dedication to the engagement of all children and their families.

Sincerely,

Karen Satre, CEM Content Lead

The NEW checklist can identify and implement essential classroom practices before children begin the school year to build engagement, independence, and friendship skills.

This tool provides a list of tangible, essential practices that teachers and classroom staff can implement to support all children in a classroom setting.

Visual schedules can be used to help children understand what's happening today, what they're doing next, and what to expect. They play a crucial role in setting a positive tone for the classroom at the beginning of the year when children are just learning the routines and expectations.

Take a minute to review the why and how of a visual schedule.

Districts, coaches, and classroom staff can use the CEM Top Ten to review CEM critical practices at the beginning of the school year when new team members join the classroom or during coaching sessions. The CEM Top Ten has the following resources for each essential practice:

1. Overview Video
2. Resources
3. Reflective Questions
4. PD Nuggets

Note: CEM Top Ten does not replace CEM training.

What percentage of your day is child directed time?

Challenge your team to increase your child directed time by 5%!

We have updated the CEM Training! There are now 3 full-day training modules instead of 1 full-day and 4 half-day modules.

We have documents on the share site to explain the change.

The CEM training calendar on the CEM Share Site includes in-person and virtual options.

• CEM training handouts are available at this link: Classroom Engagement Model training handouts on the CEM Share Site.
• In-person training: You can prepare by downloading and printing any handouts you wish to have during training. All handouts are available electronically; MNCoE will print only those materials necessary for activities.
• Virtual training: please be prepared to participate in breakout rooms during this training event. Each breakout room must self-identify a facilitator and notetaker for each conversation. Detailed directions will be available for all breakout room activities.

Each person will need to create an account to register. Once you have registered for a training, you will receive an email that includes location information (address for in-person and Zoom link for virtual events). You will also receive a reminder email containing the same information before the training.

• Please register at least 2 days before training to secure your spot and receive information regarding the training and/or the virtual training link.
• If requesting accommodations, please do so 2 weeks before training.

In August 2024, the CEM SIT met and determined their priorities for the current work. Those priorities include:

1. Development of 2023/2024 CEM Executive Summary
2. Create Demonstration Site recruitment and criteria.
3. Resources for embedding child goals into classroom routines, including considerations for children with low-incidence disabilities
4. Resources for writing functional child goals

The CEM SIT is continuously working on meeting needs that might arise in Minnesota. We would like to hear from you.

• Are there resources or materials we can develop?
• Would you like to see more examples of any of the practices?
• Does your program's implementation team have an area of need?

To share your thoughts, please complete the survey form on the CEM Share Site. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.