The Common Core State Standards for literacy were intentionally designed with a “less is more” ethos. Despite that, there’s still too many of them for average teachers like me to implement effectively. That’s why I cut them, choosing to achieve excellence with a few skills and strategies rather than achieve mediocrity with them all. My list is what you […]
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Don’t You Dare Forget These Truths about Teaching
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n my last post (you know, the one from two months ago), I shared some similarities between the Common Core’s list of college- and career-readiness skills in literacy with the skills listed in Bill Coplin’s book 10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College. In my next post, I’m going to give that post’s teeter-totter […]
Why I Will and Won’t Care if Michigan Legislators Block Funding for CCSS Implementation
If you’re in a Common Core state, chances are there is a raucous coalition of folks desperately seeking to abandon ship. I can’t even begin to fully explain this phenomenon (I’m hoping you, the awesome community of Teaching the Core, will help fill in my gaps), but I can tell you that the actors in […]
Non-Freaked Out Common Core — Part 4 — Argument and Debate
If there is one way that you can begin implementing the writing and speaking/listening portions of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in a simplified, manageable, high bang-for-your-buck fashion, it’s simply this: have students argue. Frequently. Whether you teach science, social studies, technical subjects, ELA, even math, argument is a dependable path to enlivening your […]
What’s YOUR Common Core Story?
I’m switching it up with this post; I want the bulk of the content to come from you, the intrepid readers. I hear what so many of you are saying on Twitter or Facebook or your own blogs or in newspapers and books or at workshops and conferences, and I’m just like, “Dude, there’s a lot […]