This day of professional development including a keynote presentation, breakouts, and networking is dedicated to current topics in the field of early childhood education. Topics presented are relevant for individuals, partners, and teams.

Sourcewell is excited to host our annual Sourcewell Adult Foster Care Conference in partnership with the counties we serve which include: Becker, Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Hubbard, Todd, Wadena, Otter Tail, and Douglas Counties. This virtual conference will give you an opportunity to learn about the evolving changes around family adult foster care and community residential settings and provide you with relevant professional development. Each participant will receive 5 hours of professional development.

You will have an opportunity to ask questions from the Regional Licensing Specialists from Sourcewell, the Department of Human Services, and the Fire Marshal prior to the event. Please e-mail any questions to licensing@sourcewell-mn.gov by Friday, April 18th, 2025.

Beyond New Teacher Academy is designed to support teachers in years 2, 3, and beyond! The sessions will be structured around standards, procedures, and fostering collaboration with other regional teachers. There will be four professional development days at Sourcewell and three individual coaching days in their classroom. Content will be presented, collaboratively discussed and applied to lesson planning for use in their classrooms. Attendees will have the opportunity to take Catalyst Whole Group Classroom Leadership Day 1 and attend Catalyst Live.

This cohort is for districts who are participating in the Career Consultant program. District identified career committees will attend to engage in professional learning, collaboration, and program planning. Development of career pathways is based on the nationally recognized Redefining Ready metrics and professional learning will include outside expertise and exemplars to guide district teams in design. Cohort sessions may take place at Sourcewell or another location dependent on content of the session.

The New Teacher Academy is designed to increase confidence and capacity in novice educators by combining relevant training with growth-focused coaching support. Support throughout the year includes five full-day trainings at Sourcewell, four individual in-classroom coaching sessions, Catalyst Whole Group Leadership, and Catalyst Live.

The New Teacher Academy is designed to increase confidence and capacity in novice educators by combining relevant training with growth-focused coaching support. Support throughout the year includes five full-day trainings at Chase on the Lake, five individual in-classroom coaching sessions, Catalyst Whole Group Leadership, and Catalyst Live.

This introductory workshop will offer you ways for your students to be thinkers beyond rote memorization and repetitive calculations. Jessica Strom, mathematics educator in a small rural Minnesota school, will introduce you to 14 teaching practices for enhancing learning, engagement, and discourse in your math classroom. Learn how to apply these practices to engage your students in learning mathematics.

This workshop is designed for teachers who are current users of Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics. We will be learning with Jessica Strom on grading, assessment, reporting in the morning. In the afternoon, we will be focusing on closing a lesson through consolidating, notes, and CYUs (check your understanding).

This cohort is for districts who are participating in the Career Consultant program. District identified career committees will attend to engage in professional learning, collaboration, and program planning. Development of career pathways is based on the nationally recognized Redefining Ready metrics and professional learning will include outside expertise and exemplars to guide district teams in design. 

Learn to create environments that support all children in engaging thoughtfully through room layout and design by understanding how a student’s physical surroundings impact their ability to function, learn, and thrive at school. Students who learn in a predictable, safe, and purposeful environment are able to spend more of their energy on the content and less on navigating their space.

Dig deeper into the Catalyst Whole Group Leadership foundation skills as well as additional strategies and refinements to impact the learning in your classroom even more. Collaborate and practice with other educators who are committed to preserving relationships, increasing engagement, and have more curriculum time for their students.

At the core of strong classroom management is how the adults manage themselves. In this class, participants learn strategies (based on observations and field-testing in more than 50,000 classrooms) that allow them to strengthen relationships, increase equity, reduce frustration, and foster independence in the classroom.

This event is offered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation and the Performance Excellence Network.

This training is an introduction to continuous improvement methods/tools to equip nonprofit and governmental leaders and staff to improve and sustain their organizations’ missions and operations. The training sessions will be highly interactive to leverage peer-to-peer learning and sharing. Each team will select a “capstone” improvement project to work on throughout the course of the program, putting the new information and tools into immediate application.

Sourcewell strives to bring the highest-quality resources, information, and training opportunities to our members. We’re honored to team up with the Initiative Foundation and the Performance Excellence Network to bring this opportunity to our central Minnesota region.

The Minnesota Service Cooperatives have collaborated to bring you a virtual, asynchronous option to meeting your Cultural Competency licensure requirement. This course provides video learning, personal reflection time, an opportunity to hear from educators in the field, and many additional resources to explore as you continue your journey to be an even more culturally competent educator.

Minnesota statute requires Cultural Competency training for educators to renew their teaching license with PELSB (Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board). Sourcewell has developed a PELSB-approved training that meets all components of PELSB's definition.

De-escalating mental health crises means responding in specific ways to keep stress levels low. Severe mental health symptoms can be upsetting and stressful for the helper so it’s important to stay focused on not contributing more conflict and dysregulation. By paying careful attention to what the person reveals in their actions and words, interventions can be crafted to reduce agitation. The key objective of the class is to practice responses that accord with best practices from the behavioral health field and are designed to calm the situation as quickly as possible.

*This activity has been designed to meet the Minnesota Board of Nursing continuing education requirements. However, the nurse is responsible for determining whether this activity meets the requirements for acceptable continuing education.

*Note: This class is also offered on Friday, May 2 from 9:00am to 12:00 pm. Attendees only need to register for one class.

De-escalating mental health crises means responding in specific ways to keep stress levels low. Severe mental health symptoms can be upsetting and stressful for the helper so it’s important to stay focused on not contributing more conflict and dysregulation. By paying careful attention to what the person reveals in their actions and words, interventions can be crafted to reduce agitation. The key objective of the class is to practice responses that accord with best practices from the behavioral health field and are designed to calm the situation as quickly as possible.

*This activity has been designed to meet the Minnesota Board of Nursing continuing education requirements. However, the nurse is responsible for determining whether this activity meets the requirements for acceptable continuing education.

*Note: This class is also offered on Thursday, May 1 from 5:30pm-8:30pm. Attendees only need to register for one class.

Based on Dr. Marzano’s 50 years of education research, The New Art and Science of Teaching is an instructional framework that comprehensively addresses the most alterable effect on student achievement—quality instruction. Explore instructional strategies carefully designed to maximize student engagement and ensure high levels of learning for all. Learn the instructional framework components, which include: 3 categories, 10 design questions, and 43 elements. Experience many of the 43 elements through hundreds of modeled instructional strategies. Use reflective guides as a means of enhancing instructional practices.

Join us for a transformative speaker series designed to empower educators with the knowledge and tools to create inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments. Our series focuses on three timely topics in education. Register for a single day session that fits your professional learning goals or all three with access to the Open Windows Books Cohort.

This on-demand course will define formative assessment and explore the benefits of utilization. Participants will learn about various formative assessment techniques for both virtual and in-person learning, and will leave the session ready to implement and achieve some formative assessment quick wins.

Using formative assessments regularly and consistently can give both educators and learners an even clearer picture around what learners know. Formative assessments also provide educators with a guide to developing learning experiences and lesson planning that can meet the needs of all learners. By using formative assessments with purpose, educators can maximize student learning and increase the effectiveness of their lesson design and delivery.

The Foundational Skills (for short-call subs): Learn the most impactful strategies to successfully engage students while also helping the adults save their energy. Based on the ongoing applied research in over 50,000 classrooms and school settings, The Catalyst Approach is committed to finding relevant and practical solutions to the most common school challenges. This course introduces the roots of The Catalyst Approach and the 12 Foundational Skills to help every adult working with students know where to focus their efforts. Hopefully you’ll finish the course with a renewed sense of hope, joy, and confidence in your work.

The Foundational Skills (for student teachers): Learn the most impactful strategies to successfully engage students while also helping the adults save their energy. Based on the ongoing applied research in over 50,000 classrooms and school settings, The Catalyst Approach is committed to finding relevant and practical solutions to the most common school challenges. This course introduces the roots of The Catalyst Approach and the 12 Foundational Skills to help every adult working with students know where to focus their efforts. Hopefully you’ll finish the course with a renewed sense of hope, joy, and confidence in your work.

Quick Start to Coaching Adult Learners (for those mentoring teachers): Gain insights about the important role of mentoring adult learners. Whether you’re working with a student teacher, a new colleague, or a school leader who supports ongoing professional development for teachers, the strategies in this brief learning experience will sharpen your mentoring skills. Even if you have previous experience in this kind of role, you’ll get to reflect and refine your skills to gain confidence and make your work even more effective!

This event is offered in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

Your nonprofit needs grants to sustain operation and local government departments need grant to provide programming, but how do you identify and apply for the right grants? In this workshop, learn from an expert about the basics of preparing for and writing a high-quality grant application.

Sourcewell strives to bring the highest-quality resources, information, and training opportunities to our members. We're honored to team up with the Initiative Foundation to bring this opportunity to our central Minnesota region.

Presented by Hinge Health, this webinar will explore how physical therapy can enhance your overall health and well-being. You'll gain valuable insights into who Hinge Health serves, how they approach pain treatment, and what to expect from their services. Plus, earn 15 WellRight wellness points for attending live or watching on-demand. 

We invite K-8 social studies educators to a workshop that will provide an overview of the new 2021 Minnesota social studies standards. This workshop includes time for teachers to work together to bundle benchmarks into cohesive, interdisciplinary instructional units. Participants will also have worktime to start aligning these units with existing resources and primary sources.

This is a beginner training session. This workshop is intended to help build capacity for city leaders, zoning administrators, and Planning Commission members when it comes to a foundational understanding of land use. This training will help cities to approach zoning questions with increased confidence.