Probably a subtitle more like: “Bravely going where no language arts teacher has gone before” might’ve been more appropriate. Our middle school language arts teachers have been on quite a journey this year, and we’re capping it off with our second joint meeting tomorrow (ALL 14 teachers from grades 6-8 at both MS buildings, plus an intervention ...

I’m stuck tonight unable to sleep.  It seems dumb, but I cannot stop thinking about those HB555 changes.  I’ve got this image in my head of what the end of the 2014-2015 school year will look like in Ohio, and it’s a little something like this: We’re a year into holding kids back in third grade for the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.  Elementary ...

In what must be the Common Core controversy flavor of the month, the most recent criticism of the Standards addresses the split of nonfiction to fiction texts at the secondary level.  Alarmist articles decrying the replacement of classic literature, such as The Catcher in the Rye, with instruction manuals are far off base from the language and ...

I’m working through the PD modules recently posted to the achievethecore.org website.  My notes from the 46 min introductory webinar are below (my thoughts included). Student Achievement Partners Claim no intellectual property to modules/materials—use them at will Receive no state/local funding Have no financial connections to textbook ...

Yesterday, ODE produced tip sheets for school boards, superintendents, and teachers about what they should be doing right now to continue (hopefully not “begin”!) implementing the common core. In summary, School Boards should be creating an implementation timeline reviewing curriculum crosswalks checking out these simulated letter grades for ...

The Ohio Resource Center offers free resources and lesson plans for teachers.  We are on the cusp of realigning ALL of these resources to be common core friendly, but in the meantime, I have pulled together a sample unit plan for 9-10 grade reading informational text. Using original materials created by ORC contributors, I realigned the original ...

In case you missed it, the state of Ohio is running a series of common core informational sessions throughout the state at various ESC’s over the next month.  Last night, I attended the Franklin county meeting.  As I’ve said before, I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about CCSS related issues, but every time I attend another conference or ...

Yesterday I attended “Embracing the Common Core” at the Hyatt in Columbus, and I want to try and summarize the presentations, address some issues, and pose some of my remaining questions in this post. But first, I have to address my own personal interests.  I am incredibly interested in the common core and its updated developments.  Why?  Because ...

I’ve been a little absent lately from my blog, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been keeping up with the lastest common core news.  Check out some of my recent reads: States wanting to leave the common core:   In Indiana, legislators recently voted down a bill that would have removed the state from adopting common core standards.  The bill argued ...

Each day, I arrive at work and spend the first couple hours of my day weeding through my common core blog roll on Google, reviewing all the Tweets from those I follow on Twitter, reading “Scoop It” collections, and surfing from article to article to article posted the previous day.   When it comes to the CCSS, I feel unbelievably informed and ...