Summer Learning

Image source Gerd Altmann

I just finished signing up for the American Indian Studies Summer Institute. I am pretty excited about learning how to be more culturally responsive and also learning more about the tribes here in Wisconsin. I will spend five days in Greshom, WI (better find out where that is) and then finish the course online.

Signing up for that class made me start thinking about all of the things I am doing this summer as a student in life. I am participating in Teachers Write throughout July and into August. I am having a wonderful time sharing and learning with a whole passel of educators as we stretch ourselves as writers.

Of course #Titletalk hosted by the fabulous duo of Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp is still going on during the summer and I can't wait to talk about fantasy books this coming Sunday.

I am over the moon excited about nErDCampBC next week! I will get to meet so many Nerdybookclub members in person! Of course we will also get to share about literature and technology too.

It's not as flashy, but I am also learning about the Common Core this summer. I am part of a district team working on curriculum and resource choices. It is a lot of responsibility and work, but we are also becoming better teachers as we go.

I am also getting to READ! I love that part of summer. I am reading for blogging at Rich in Color, for #summerthrowdown and even for #bookbootcamp (though I don't teach at a middle school).

What learning opportunities are you a part of this summer?

Ready or Not - Here Come the Common Core State Standards

This week I was lucky enough to be part of a group of educators preparing to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). I am lucky because we have a little time to accustom ourselves to the standards before we have to jump in and help the students meet them. We will be working all of next week on  curriculum development and planning for training the rest of the teachers in the district. This is a huge undertaking, but it is pretty exciting too.

As part of the preparation, I have been reading Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, & Christopher Lehman. Teaching with the Common Core is not a choice that we have. It has already been decided, so the only choice at this point is the attitude that we will have as we go forward. In Pathways to the Common Core they write, "We can regard the Common Core State Standards as the worst thing in the world" (p 3). Another choice is to "see hope and opportunity" (p 8). I believe we have the choice to approach this task looking for all of the negatives or to approach it with an eye to the possibilities and the benefits that we hope for in the coming years. We may not have personally made the choice to adopt the Common Core, but we will be on the front lines implementing them. I am not a fan of every single thing in the CCSS, but there are a lot of positives tucked away in there. I am choosing to move forward with a positive mindset and while I don't look forward to the chaos that might ensue as we work through the changes, I do look forward to the teamwork and creative thinking that will emerge in the coming months. I also look forward to seeing the learning as a result of what we do. Here's to the future!