I spent Thursday and Friday in Boston at a conference on Balanced Assessment. It was good to clearly define and work with: formative assessment, summative assessments, checklists for kids, and rubrics for kids/teachers.
The presenter was a high-energy woman with a lot of experience. She had us compete some tasks that are excellent activities for teachers to do when they are "unpacking" and "repacking" the Common Core Standards.
I attended with a math teacher, a science teacher & our AP (soon to be principal). It was great to engage them in professional conversations (and get to know them a little better personally too!). Chris, our new principal, is taking all of the charts & sticky notes we worked on back to school. We're going to do some PD for the staff next fall, and that is great. I'm excited for it.
Finally, the 2 days let me spend some time looking at the "Common Core Standards." These are a national set of standards that spell out what is "core" to each discipline. Though I do like them (they've been revised), I am hesitant to fully embrace them because they are HUGE... So if the "CORE" is SO BIG...what about kids who struggle struggle struggle in school. We're going to need to work really hard to differentiated within this common core. I need to do a little more work looking at them deeply and carefully and seeing if they are truly do-able for ALL of the kids I teach.
The presenter was a high-energy woman with a lot of experience. She had us compete some tasks that are excellent activities for teachers to do when they are "unpacking" and "repacking" the Common Core Standards.
I attended with a math teacher, a science teacher & our AP (soon to be principal). It was great to engage them in professional conversations (and get to know them a little better personally too!). Chris, our new principal, is taking all of the charts & sticky notes we worked on back to school. We're going to do some PD for the staff next fall, and that is great. I'm excited for it.
Finally, the 2 days let me spend some time looking at the "Common Core Standards." These are a national set of standards that spell out what is "core" to each discipline. Though I do like them (they've been revised), I am hesitant to fully embrace them because they are HUGE... So if the "CORE" is SO BIG...what about kids who struggle struggle struggle in school. We're going to need to work really hard to differentiated within this common core. I need to do a little more work looking at them deeply and carefully and seeing if they are truly do-able for ALL of the kids I teach.