Entangled

This seems to be a lesson we all need to learn over and over (case in point). In the big picture, I think I'm somewhere in the middle of that particularly entangled mass in the middle. Small picture, I cycle through this trajectory fourteen times a day.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Demetri Martin, “This is a book“)

Freedom To vs. Freedom From

I'm incredibly intrigued by the concept of the "flipped classroom." Khan Academy doesn't have any great videos on crafting a thesis statement or the ideals and values of the British Romantic Poets, so I have to wait until I have the time to make my own videos. Until that time presents itself to me, this is good fuel for conceiving of how a flipped classroom may remove some constraints of the more traditional classroom to allow me to differentiate and embody a more constructivist approach. 

Best Practices for a Flipped Classroom: 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-best-practices-andrew-miller

Common Core Implementation

So, this blog is a place where I can be totally honest and not fear the ridicule of any nay-sayers, right? If you don't like my perspective and don't enjoy entertaining others' perspectives, I'm sure you can find one better suited to your own among the 455568291 other blogs out there.

That said, now I just have to be honest and say that I don't fear the Common Core State Standards. It was love at first sight, really. (I know, you're sick as you read...) They provide clear categories for standards that helped me to create some very valuable rubrics last summer. Rubrics I've used to guide a bulk of my instruction and assessment. I've had students goal-set based on their proficiency level on the rubrics. I've sent home reports of how students are performing based on these standards and suggestions for improvement in the coming semester. Like I said--I'm wholly in love! So much so that I may have rushed in too fast without really reflecting or processing the specific implications and intentions of the CCSS--not in a detrimental way--but in that I'm now really enjoying doing some ground-level thinking.

The Holy Grail of CCSS implementation framework:
http://pages.solution-tree.com/CCSSWebinarRecordingPart1.html?from=seriesregpage

Follow the Fear; Make It Count

A video worth sharing with your students or TAs:

What am I Currently Reading? Well, Since You Asked...

I know, I'm behind the times. I'm busy. Yadda, yadda, yadda, grading, grading, grading, writing papers, writing papers, writing papers, maintaining sanity (only just a little bit of that one).

I FINALLY started reading this last week. I already love Ms. Carol, yet I haven't even read her entire book yet. Don't you worry. I've had lackluster powerpoints about it delivered to me at a sticky August inservice day. I've even blindly directed others toward reading it.

Really and honestly, another reason I haven't read it this year is that I made a concerted effort to read a few novels (The Marriage Plot, for one) before I let myself start another (non-grad school related) book entirely on education. But now I'm baaaaack.

I haven't decided if I'll wait until I'm done to do a formal review (how fancy of me, eh? Going back to the book review days of my brief newsgirl career) or if I'll post some quotes and thoughts along the way. You and I will have to wait and see.

Finally.

This blog has been in the making for years. And....wait for it...here it is!

Really, this is a place for me to dump my thoughts on all things education. I read so many articles and studies and books on education on a weekly basis. Paired with new ideas I come across from my colleagues, classmates, and professors (and occasionally myself), I need a place to jot it all down. A placeholder, documenter, link dump, review space, anything really to keep it all safe and sound out of my inbox and head.

I reached my final straw when I read a solid, succinct article about teaching reading that I linked to through my daily ASCD e-newsletter. Then, I got distracted. I think I had to run to a NEASC meeting, actually. (Don't hide your jealousy. It's okay. I, too, love acronyms.) I didn't bookmark this golden nugget of information; it's not in my history. Now it is lost forever. I can't find that week-old email (but, don't you worry, I can find all of the other emails from ASCD, all 2467 of them). So, next time I will pop the link into a blog draft and come back to it to reflect and share.

I know, you can hardly wait, Internet. I can't either. Let's do this.