Into The Great Wide Open

(If you are a Tom Petty fan, you're welcome. You'll be singing that song all day now.)

We have been learning quite a bit of new technology as of lately. Many of you (us) have been working with Trish to learn Edmodo, SnagIt, and next up, Camtasia, and if you haven't, your day is coming soon.

Trish has done a great job of instructing in the use of these programs, and has shown great patience and enthusiasm all the while.

Now, it's our turn to put this information into action.

But...do you feel a bit lost? Overwhelmed? Like you have been thrown into the great wide open?

Let me tell you this: you are not alone. 

I know, I know, I sound like a broken record (pardon all the music reference today), but I will say it again: We are all in this together!

We are all experiencing these feelings of anxiety, confusion, and hopefully some excitement as we navigate these new waters. I encourage you to seek each other out, seek ME out, seek Trish out, and ask for help when you need it!

Remember, though - Edmodo can be a great tool for reaching your students, and even parents. We are going online this year with Gradebook in SchoolMaster, so hopefully our parents will be utilizing our web resources more than ever before. Edmodo can provide you that more personal gateway for parents to visualize your classroom content and activities.

Keep plugging away. I know you are all great professionals, great educators, and together we will make this all happen and better our school.

The Not-So-Common Core

Common Core. It's everywhere now. We talked about it nonstop. We see it in every publication, flyer for workshops, information from the state.

To me, it seems that just a few short (as in, three) years ago, we hadn't even heard of the Common Core. It wasn't so common then, was it?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I don't feel we as educators were given the proper introduction to the Core. Instead of a courtship, I felt like we went on a blind date and then were expected to marry the next day. Would that make you a little anxious about making a relationship last? Considering my husband and I dated for nearly three years before marriage, my answer is definitely "yes".

Once again, though, we are faced with something that is here to stay and that we must do. I, however, feel like the Core could be a really good thing. Doesn't it just make sense that we should all be teaching to some set of standards that are across-the-board? That we know students are all working towards a common goal?

Oh yes, I am well aware that there are numerous problems that can be hatched from this, and that just because we have a common set of standards doesn't mean that everyone will be taught the same. But at least the idea is there, and in theory we will all be better aligned with each other.

In the meantime, don't forget: read the standards, look at what you are doing already, check them off, then begin working to fill in the gaps. Don't try to reinvent the wheel - nobody said what we were doing was awful, we just need to work to be together.

Again, this work is for the betterment of students - and I really do believe it can work.

Below I have provided a link with some great resources for Common Core. The page may seem a bit much at first, but pick one area to go to and work from there. I think you'll find it has some great information.
Common Core Resources - Edutopia

RtI "Facelift"

Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of this thing we call "school", we might forgot why it is we are doing a particular thing. Now, ultimately, the fallback answer is always "for the students", even though sometimes I know you are thinking "it is because we have to, but I'm really not sure why."

Yes, there are sometimes things that we have to do. We may not like them. We may not even understand them. But we must do them, and try to perform to the best of our abilities.

I wanted to leave a note here about RtI. To me, RtI started as one of those "why are we doing this" things. As time has gone on and our RtI program has evolved, I have a better understanding of the "why", and I have seen positive results coming out of RtI in our building.

However, there is usually room for change, and this program has been no exception. To many of you, to this point RtI has probably seemed like it was someone else's responsibility, say, namely the Math and Reading teachers. Did you know, though, that RtI is supposed to be reaching all students?

I'll bet you do now. (Don't you just love "Ah-ha!" moments? Okay, excuse my sarcasm, moving on...)

This is why we are evolving our RtI program a bit. If you will recall from our meeting last Spring, the old Homeroom time will now become RtI time. Each teacher will be responsible for a group of students. Remember, these groups will probably change - much different from how we did Homeroom. Also, you will need to bring your "enrichment group" idea and/or curriculum idea to the RtI committee so we can be sure there are no repeats.

Please keep in your mind the central idea that this will reach ALL students. RtI does work - especially if the staff is committed to seeing success in students. That would include all of you folks, so I am looking forward to this change. Stick with us, and hopefully we will reap the rewards of our hard work soon! I feel like our RtI "glass" has been half full... let's fill it up!

Rigor In The Classroom

One of the ideas we keep hearing in regards to the Common Core is that there needs to be more academic rigor in the classroom.

So what exactly is rigor? Shouldn't we already be having rigorous lessons?

The answers to those questions:

Rigor is having high expectations for all students, allowing them to demonstrate what they know, and supporting them so that they may learn.

Yes. We should already be having rigor in the classroom. However, we may need to rethink what we consider rigor to be, and what we are doing to demonstrate rigor.

This is definitely a task that will take some time to consider and develop. As a humorous aside, watch the video I have posted below. This was shown to me in a class, and even though it is quite funny, there are some serious considerations that can be taken from the clip:

Are you demonstrating rigor in the classroom?

A resourceful link you might find helpful:
Rigor in the Classroom

Here a Wiki, There a Wiki....

Say WHAT?

What in the world is a Wiki?

In short, a wiki is an online workspace where you can view other's work and post your own.

Ever heard of Wikipedia? It is nothing more than an online space where people can add content about a specific topic. Yep, even you can contribute to an article on Wikipedia. Then again, so can anyone else...see why we don't let the students use this as a credible source?

I have created a wiki space for our building to use to share information we know/learn about the Common Core. Our space, unlike Wikipedia, will be limited to only staff in our building, with maybe a few exceptions. You will be invited to join the workspace via email.

Once you have joined, please take a few minutes to navigate the space and learn how it works. Then, go to town! Upload content onto the appropriate pages and put your knowledge to work. This might be a great place for your PLC group to upload any content you feel would be useful for everyone to see.

I know it is cliche,  but... Together Everyone Achieves More. Let's work together as much as possible!

*now that, my friends, is a great example of teamwork!*

Danielson Framework/Teacher Evaluation

As I am sure you are all aware of by now, teacher evaluation models have changed, and these changes will be implemented by the end of the 14-15 school year.

Many rumors are circulating about what these changes mean for teachers. I have heard everything from "no one will be rated at the top" to "they are going to use this to fire expensive teachers." I will acknowledge that I have seen some pretty negative stories floating around, and they make me cringe.

However, I will also tell you that I completed a 4 session training on the Danielson Framework this spring, and I see great potential for this to improve our performances and to help as grow as educators.

The glass is half full, remember?

What the Danielson Framework also does is attempt to make the job of evaluation more objective and actually more efficient for the evaluator.

Here is a video of Charlotte Danielson talking about evaluation:

Welcome!

Oh no, you say...not another thing to read. I realize that as educators we are inundated with new information, and we don't have the time to finish lesson plans let alone sort out all of the "new" that is thrown our way.

With that said, I want this blog to be a place that you can visit, read for a couple of minutes, and gain something valuable to use in your work. No mindless ramblings, no useless information. Just practical knowledge that I feel should be shared with you to enhance teaching practice in our building. It may be something serious, it may be something humorous, it might just be a piece of inspiration. Any way you put it, I will give you some insight from my viewpoint on the issues we are dealing with in the right here, right now of our building.

So, read away, enjoy, ponder, and feel free to give me suggestions on topics YOU might want to see here.

Always push forward,

M.R.