Welcome to Core Connections, a blog by Success at the Core. You'll find stories of best practices, inspiring experiences, and effective strategies related to leadership development, classroom instruction, and student engagement.
Last week, we had the opportunity to participate in the Learning Forward Annual Conference in Boston. Success at the Core (SaC) was featured as part of the conference’s “iPD track,” which highlighted innovative, technology-enhanced professional development solutions. Members of the SaC team offered two conference presentations – “Maximizing the Use of Video in Professional Learning” and “Using Online Tools to Support New Program Implementation” – and participated in a third, “Technology Tools to Enhance Professional Learning,” led by Joellen Killion, a senior advisor with Learning Forward.
In addition to sharing Success at the Core, we attended conference …
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Icicle River Middle School in Leavenworth, WA, where I used to teach, was one of six schools to pilot Success at the Core during the 2009-2010 school year. SaC materials quickly became my go-to source for instructional strategy ideas. I was particularly excited about the Teacher Development videos, which allowed me to show my students in 3-6 minutes how a strategy we would be using worked. After showing the video, my class understood the goal of the exercise and I could usually implement the strategy quickly. I was hugely pleased with the results: so pleased, in fact, that SaC …
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I teach in a dual language elementary class where students learn in a language that is not their first. Teaching language and literacy—while simultaneously teaching content knowledge—is my daily reality. I know that I need to incorporate listening, speaking, reading, writing, and viewing into every lesson.
A few years ago, while training middle school teachers on highly effective teaching strategies for Language Learners, I stated, “We are all literacy teachers, no matter what subject we teach.” I could see surprise on some of the content teachers’ faces when they considered that idea. Now, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are asking …
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As we approach the day where Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are embedded in all we do, I wonder, “What, really, will be different?” My answer? A LOT!
Remember the show “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” I hated that show because the content had a bunch of facts that only showed how well you could memorize things. The assessment for the CCSS will require much more than fact memorization. Students will have to prove their capability, competence, and efficiency when given a task.
I recently read an Edutopia article, “Rethinking Assessment,” that talked about the future assessments of our …
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