...what's this about "Common Core", anyway?
That's the exact question I was asking at the beginning of summer.
I'm Mrs.H--teacher, writer, artist, swimmer, life-long learner--trying to embrace West Virginia's NxG/Common Core movement. I teach ninth and tenth grade English at a rural school and I am one of the go-tos in our county for questions regarding the implementation of Next Generation Standards.
As I got to thinking about the challenging/exciting task I am about to take on, I thought...hmm...I can guarantee there are other West Virginia teachers (and teachers in other states also practicing Common Core!) wondering what this new educational movement is going to bring to our students (and ultimately our future). I know other teachers out there are asking the same questions I am about Common Core: How will this change testing? Is this a trend or something that will last much longer? How do I implement it into my classroom? How "personal" can this type of teaching really become?
The truth is, I don't have all of those answers. So, as both a means to document my own experience with implementing the standards (both my successes and failures) I thought I'd create a website and blog to document the challenges I face, the a-ha moments, and the moments that we as educators eternally remember.
The first few entries will simply be a series of guidelines about West Virginia's NxG standards. I'll provide links to the standards, try to explain their meaning to the best of my ability, and will explain what the Common Core movement means for the teacher, the student, and the administrator. Later, I'll provide links to resources I have found, discuss my own journey through planning units that are NxG/Common Core based, and will discuss what works and what doesn't. Perhaps I'll even include some teacher humor once in a while...I'm not sure where this will go. All I know is that I'm excited to start this new journey into a totally different realm of education. It's a great time to be a teacher!
I'm Mrs.H--teacher, writer, artist, swimmer, life-long learner--trying to embrace West Virginia's NxG/Common Core movement. I teach ninth and tenth grade English at a rural school and I am one of the go-tos in our county for questions regarding the implementation of Next Generation Standards.
As I got to thinking about the challenging/exciting task I am about to take on, I thought...hmm...I can guarantee there are other West Virginia teachers (and teachers in other states also practicing Common Core!) wondering what this new educational movement is going to bring to our students (and ultimately our future). I know other teachers out there are asking the same questions I am about Common Core: How will this change testing? Is this a trend or something that will last much longer? How do I implement it into my classroom? How "personal" can this type of teaching really become?
The truth is, I don't have all of those answers. So, as both a means to document my own experience with implementing the standards (both my successes and failures) I thought I'd create a website and blog to document the challenges I face, the a-ha moments, and the moments that we as educators eternally remember.
The first few entries will simply be a series of guidelines about West Virginia's NxG standards. I'll provide links to the standards, try to explain their meaning to the best of my ability, and will explain what the Common Core movement means for the teacher, the student, and the administrator. Later, I'll provide links to resources I have found, discuss my own journey through planning units that are NxG/Common Core based, and will discuss what works and what doesn't. Perhaps I'll even include some teacher humor once in a while...I'm not sure where this will go. All I know is that I'm excited to start this new journey into a totally different realm of education. It's a great time to be a teacher!