Some days a student says something to you which strikes at your heart and affirms why we do what we do. Today was one of those days for me.
Let me go to the beginning. I believe in being transparent and explaining things to my students. Since I began teaching, I have stressed writing and critical thinking in my class- I'm not a "packet" teacher. My classroom is messy and loud- organized chaos I like to call it. Students need to be challenges and supported. After all, "a mind is a terrible thing to waste" I tell the students. Despite some teachers being apprehensive regarding CCSS, I say bring it- we have been doing it in my classroom already. I started the year of talking about the Common Core and our modified flip that we would engage in. It was a struggle at times. I was and still am constantly mentioning Common Core. Many students were used to what I often refer to as being "spoon fed" and "packet" teaching. I let them know in the beginning that WAS NOT this class. We would be exploring history, thinking, using our brain, integrate technology, and challenge our selves. Of course there were groans and some days it was a challenge.
At the semester, I had a substantial amount of movement and received new students. My students would say things like "she's cuckoo bananas for Common Core." They soon learned just what they meant. A couple of weeks back we had our WASC visit. One of the WASC members came into my sophomore World History class and chatted with a couple of table groups. The gentleman asked what they were working on. Noah responded and included "Common Core in his response." The WASC observer asked him more about Common Core. As I was helping another table group, I was eavesdropping....I was so proud of Noah's response. He had it down perfectly.
Noah was reluctant at the beginning with my chatting up the Common Core. Today, he touched my heart. As I was leaving work today, I came across Noah and a couple of friends walking across the parking lot. My school took the California STAR (state standardized test) test today for history. Noah came over and had this to say; "I hate to admit it but the Common Core works and I get it. We learned and the CST test was easy. Don't tell anyone I said it." I smiled and got in my car. I was proud of this realization, despite all of the griping and making fun of me for being so crazy and animated regarding the Common Core. This and a birthday drawing from Erick with John Lock (one of my favs), Common Core, an A on an essay, and the Cold War symbols from our current unit made my day! Great student gifts!!!
Let me go to the beginning. I believe in being transparent and explaining things to my students. Since I began teaching, I have stressed writing and critical thinking in my class- I'm not a "packet" teacher. My classroom is messy and loud- organized chaos I like to call it. Students need to be challenges and supported. After all, "a mind is a terrible thing to waste" I tell the students. Despite some teachers being apprehensive regarding CCSS, I say bring it- we have been doing it in my classroom already. I started the year of talking about the Common Core and our modified flip that we would engage in. It was a struggle at times. I was and still am constantly mentioning Common Core. Many students were used to what I often refer to as being "spoon fed" and "packet" teaching. I let them know in the beginning that WAS NOT this class. We would be exploring history, thinking, using our brain, integrate technology, and challenge our selves. Of course there were groans and some days it was a challenge.
At the semester, I had a substantial amount of movement and received new students. My students would say things like "she's cuckoo bananas for Common Core." They soon learned just what they meant. A couple of weeks back we had our WASC visit. One of the WASC members came into my sophomore World History class and chatted with a couple of table groups. The gentleman asked what they were working on. Noah responded and included "Common Core in his response." The WASC observer asked him more about Common Core. As I was helping another table group, I was eavesdropping....I was so proud of Noah's response. He had it down perfectly.
Noah was reluctant at the beginning with my chatting up the Common Core. Today, he touched my heart. As I was leaving work today, I came across Noah and a couple of friends walking across the parking lot. My school took the California STAR (state standardized test) test today for history. Noah came over and had this to say; "I hate to admit it but the Common Core works and I get it. We learned and the CST test was easy. Don't tell anyone I said it." I smiled and got in my car. I was proud of this realization, despite all of the griping and making fun of me for being so crazy and animated regarding the Common Core. This and a birthday drawing from Erick with John Lock (one of my favs), Common Core, an A on an essay, and the Cold War symbols from our current unit made my day! Great student gifts!!!
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