Iowa Core Discussion

Does this jettisoning of time-honored titles mean that the paperless classroom is also lacking a creator, controller and grader?  Is the paperless classroom also a teacherless paradigm?  The answer is in some regards, yes.  I have removed myself from center stage.  I have relinquished the need to control every class.  I have stopped seeing work as stagnant…completed and submitted by students and then graded by me.  I have let go of my need to pre-plan months at a time, in favor of following the path that unfolds as we learn together.  My classes are not, however, teacherless, just less about the teaching and more about the learning.  The students know that I am ready and willing to be student to their insights, that they can teach, create, control and even evaluate their own learning.  This shift has inspired a true spirit of collaboration, critical thinking, and communication in B304–it has been an amazing semester and has changed the course of my career for good!

For those visiting, this online community is right now in the developmental stage.  Some of what you see is only there to test the different features of the ning. 

In schoolhouse lingo, I could only declare teachers and students 'absent' from the board of P21. And until that absence is rectified, the board will only symbolize the top-down old-fashioned 20th century style of management that's gotten us into so many of the problems that as a nation we currently face.

building collaborative partnerships between families, communities, and educators independent of any proprietary business interests.

I like to say, "let's talk about it later..." It gives students a chance to cool down and me a chance to think about it...as well as keeps the class moving forward.

In turn, it allows the educator to amend their instruction and content before they administer the summative assessment.

Formative assessment has been described as the systematic process of gathering student evidence and providing feedback about how learning is progressing while instruction is underway

This keynote will provide a framework for the rationale and development of formative assessment practices that will make instruction in Iowa secondary settings more focused and effective.