Articles from the Core Connections blog
My Dual-Language fifth grade students recently started blogging on our Kidblog site. When Success at the Core Fellow Heather Byington suggested I show my class her recent Core Connections blog post, English Language Learners Will Succeed in This Classroom, and the SaC video that she references in it, I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to interact with a “real” blog post about a topic they could relate to: ELL students learning math. Kids would see the “form” a professional blog could take and learn how to respond appropriately in the comment field. Little did I know … Read more
I’ve spent a lot of time learning about the Common Core State Standards as I worked with a team to develop new curriculum for our school district in Decatur, Illinois. We’ve spent all kinds of time analyzing, discussing, and brainstorming as we contemplated the instructional shifts for ourselves and our students. But when it comes to assessment, I’ve noticed that everyone seems to be focused on one thing: the standardized Common Core assessments. In a way, it’s understandable. With all the discussion of teachers being evaluated, paid, fired, and hired based on student performance, these tests loom larger than ever. But … Read more
Friday Forum is a bi-weekly advice column for educators seeking guidance on educations issues. Please join the discussion – we want to hear your stories and suggestions, too! Q: As a classroom teacher, we are often encouraged to be “teacher leaders”. This, however, is really difficult to do without seeming pushy or threatening. Although I have seen direct payoffs in my teaching from using Success at the Core materials, I struggle with how to share it with my colleagues. We have a fair bit of time for professional development: late starts and teaming time. Often though, that time is used … Read more
Why do we make the choices we do? When we smell popcorn, why do we want to eat it even if we know it may not be the healthiest option? If we as educators know how kids learn best, why don’t we use best practices all the time? I have a side job as a receptionist at Weight Watchers, and when I recently read the book Switch – How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath, I gained insight on these questions (as well as a better understanding as to why weight loss companies make … Read more
Sometimes professional development just works. The pieces come together, and “meaning making” happens. That was the case recently when I was working with a few teachers in my district. For this PD session, I had planned to spend time on Washington State’s Teacher Principal Evaluation Protocol (TPEP) and classroom-based formative assessments. TPEP has been a big deal in my neck of the woods. Many teachers feel concerned and overwhelmed about the protocol’s requirements, including concrete evidence of learning, teacher-administrator dialogue, and the use of multiple data sources. To address these concerns, I hoped to devote one hour of the session … Read more
