Here's one thing I just don't have time for as a teacher: freaking out.
I teach freshmen. Two subjects: world history and English. There are papers to grade, quizzes to write, articles to prepare, parents to call, students to help, data to enter… (shudders at the mention of data.)
Notice the lack of time for freaking out.
And then came the Common Core
When I first started hearing rumblings about the CCSS a couple of years ago, I didn't think much of it. After all, I was a diehard standards avoider. But the more I heard about the CCSS, the more I sensed I should do something crazy. Like read them.
I know. I'm a freak. But not a freaking out freak, at least.
Step 1 to avoiding the Common Core freakout: actually understand what the Common Core State Standards say
So I read them. My goal was an overview of what the standards aimed at, so I focused on the 32 “anchor standards.” To help me slow down and process the information, I broke each of the anchors down into their core components and wrote about them on here on the blog. That was back in Summer 2012.
Yes, that's right. I did that. I wrote about them all. For you, dear reader. Because I wanted to share the learning journey with you.
And (being totally serious right now), writing through all of the anchor standards actually turned out to be rewarding, for a couple of reasons:
- The standards turned out to be a list of college- and career-readiness (CCR) goals. That's it. I was down with that. I want my students to be CCR. I want them to flourish.
- I started to meet all of these great teachers from around the USA who were, like me, trying to make sense of these standards. At first, I thought I was the only dog sniffing the big new dog in the park, but there turned out to be all of these others dogs, too. And all of us, together, were sniffing the Common Core. And these fellow sniffers became the Teaching the Core community — people who I love getting emails from and learning with.
(Note: The dog metaphor was meant to illustrate how awesome and friendly we are.)
Step 2 to avoiding the Common Core freakout:
Buy Dave Stuart a coffee.
Or a beer.
All right, so maybe I'm not too smooth at sales. (I feel like I'm in high school again, asking a girl to Homecoming an AOL Instant Messenger — fail.)
But here's the thing:
- I run this blog to give you swords in the battle against the dragon of poor Common Core implementation. You know what I'm talking about: “do them all” approaches, high-anxiety approaches, ignore-it-and-hope-it-goes-away approaches — they're all just shoddy implementation. Basically, I want to empower teachers with the knowledge and strategies they need to leverage Common Core for the good of our students.
- However, at the end of the day, I'm a husband first, a dad second, a teacher third, and an awkward-metaphor-creating teacher blogger last.
- Note that I'm not complaining — I like all of my jobs.
- And you buying my anchor standards ebook is… well, awesome. It let's me do things like date nights with my wife or mini-dates with my daughters or just get a great cup of a coffee while I'm writing the next post on Teaching the Core.
[button link=”https://gum.co/nfoccss1″ color=”silver”]I'm moved, Dave. Let me buy you a beverage while getting your ebook, brother.[/button]
How much does the book cost, Mr. Salesy Pants?
The book is priced as Pay What You Want, so it depends on what kind of beer / coffee you'd like to buy me:
- If you'd like to buy me a can of PBR or a cup of gas station coffee, spend $1.
- If you'd like to buy me a locally brewed IPA or a mocha latte at our town's coffee shop, spend $5.
- If you'd like to buy me a great beer and a great cup of coffee, spend $10 🙂
- And if you just want to knock my socks off, spend more than $10 (someone once bought this ebook for $100 — not kidding!)
[button link=”https://gum.co/nfoccss1″ color=”silver”]Dave, you look like you could use something special. Let me help.[/button]
What's in the ebook?
In short, 72 pages of awesome. Here's the table of contents:
- What in the Johnny Johnson are the CCSS?
- In which I introduce, among other things, the central question the CCSS aim to answer
- So What Exactly Does “College and Career Readiness” Look Like, According to these CCSS Characters?
- In which I examine the general traits and skills the CCSS ascribes to a CCR person
- The Anchor Standards in Reading
- In which I walk through all 10 anchor standards
- The Anchor Standards in Writing
- In which I walk through all 10 anchor standards
- The Anchor Standards in Speaking & Listening
- In which I walk through all 6 anchor standards
- The Anchor Standards in Language
- In which I walk through all 6 anchor standards
- Final Words from Dave
- In which I tell you that you are ready to dominate life.
So how do I buy this thing, Dave? C'mon man, I'm dying here!
Ah — I thought you would never ask. Just click the button below, and you'll be taken to my super-simple, ultra-secure checkout vendor.
[button link=”https://gum.co/nfoccss1″ color=”silver”]Dave, you've won me over. I'm ready to buy you a drink and get your sweet ebook.[/button]
And remember, if you're not 100% satisfied with your purchase, just contact me anytime–even in 14 years if you'd like–and I'll refund you 100%!