Let Them Teach

Two weeks into this #IMMOOC challenge I prescribed myself, and not only am I surviving, I am fully engaged and ideas are pouring out of my ears. I can hardly contain my excitement, but I think my principal will help me with that, as I am sure she is really over my emails. :) I have rarely read a book DURING the school year. I found my spreadsheet soulmate in @alicekeeler. This is going on my must read list of books for sure. Validation. It is a bridge builder. It lowers the affective filter. It primes your heart and brain to take in new information and make the connection to ways you can use that information.  I have had countless conversations with my colleagues at various levels about our grading system. What does an 86 in math mean? I stopped taking points off for no name. That doesn't have anything to do with how well a student understands rounding. I've stopped averaging first and second attempts. The goal is mastery, right? Don't we have the whole year to...

There is absolutely nothing revolutionary about me starting a blog. In fact, this is not the first blog I have ever had. I had one in college, and one when my husband and I started our family. No, the creation of the blog itself is not revolutionary. The potential it has is.  Yesterday, I sat through my school district's Inaugural Learning Together Conference. It was the first of its kind because we had over 120 presenters, most of whom are teachers in our district. For the first time, the C&I department allowed our own to teach what they had learned about best practice. Also for the first time, the C&I department allowed the staff to choose what sessions we attended. Over the two day conference, we were able to choose where we spent 6 of those 12 hours. That was revolutionary for us.  A quick back story on me, I am a bit of a narcissist. Not because I had a privileged life and have a misplaced sense of entitlement. No, quite the opposite. Through the help of key ...