Let Them Teach

 In Texas, we have not adopted Common Core. Instead, we have the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). I am sure there are many similarities in both the standards and the critics of those standards. I'm not here to try and convince anyone how great the standards are. I'm not opening a debate. I'll start by saying, I love my standards. The more I get to know them, through continuous analysis and reflection, the more I am quite impressed by the thoughtful way they were put together. Yes, there are moments when I would love to have a Help Desk line directly to one of the authors to answer and clarify a few things. For the most part, however, I find the better I know my standards the more meaningful my lessons are and the more successful my students are at learning the knowledge and skills. Credit: http://www.houseofstudy.com/common-core/ I personally think people are upset by the way the standards are interpreted by publishers. It seems that is typically the mo

Well, that was quite the hiatus. I truly wanted to start this blog and get some steam behind it. Then life happened. One year and one divorce later. I'm ready to come back to my plan. I'm getting up, brushing off my knees, adjusting my helmet, and getting back on this bike. I have jotted down some of the ideas I hope to write about it-no, I WILL write about- in the near future. I'm trying to reflect on the things that have had the biggest impact on my teaching, and this is what I've come up with so far: Unpacking the standards Project Based Learning Performance Task Assessment Creating a YAG (Year at a Glance document) Creating a Scope and Sequence (more detailed, with resources) Team Teaching and Planning and How it Saved my Life! Book Review! First up: Mindset by Carol Dweck PLC ideas I have for my own campus What is Differentiated PD? How and Why I set up my classroom Peer Coaching-the dream job A review of an online Math class from Stanford professor