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Imagine a world where resources were limited to what was found in the classroom or the school closet known as the "Curriculum Materials Room." Picture a world where students wrote letters with pen and paper to communicate with other students and adults outside of the building. Due to postage costs, the teacher either sent the letters in bulk or paid for stamps out of his or her own pocket. Can you recall a time when student interests like skateboarding or video were never used as part of learning curriculum because the tools needed were either too expensive or not yet conceptualized? Do you remember a time when non-traditional learners struggled, and absenteeism meant a high likelihood of students doing poorly in school, and possibly having to retake the course?

The Instructional Practice Guide includes coaching and lesson planning tools to help teachers and those who support teachers to make the Key Shifts in instructional practice required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).   In order for teachers, colleagues, and instructional leaders to have meaningful and productive conversations about instructional goals and outcomes, there must be shared expectations regarding lesson planning and observation. These tools provide common criteria framed around the Key Shifts required by the CCSS that can be used to facilitate conversations between teachers and coaches about aligning content and instruction. By using these tools to reflect on practice, clear connections can be made between Common Core-aligned lesson planning and classroom instruction--conversations which can supplement information from other established observation protocols that focus on planning and preparation,  classroom management and environment, and professional responsibilities. 

The productivity and generosity of teachers on Twitter is inspiring and I have also become more efficient in creating and sharing resources.

Embrace new ideas

hange the conversation

Engagement:

Social Learning: 

Use time outside of class better, so you can use in-class time better

"It's a thing you do in the context of an overarching pedagogy," not the pedagogy itself, he said.

What's the best use of your face-to-face instruction time?" Mr. Bergmann said.

engaging reluctant learners continues to be a challenge

Use the image search. Type in your search word, then select Images to use the image search when trying to put a picture to your term. Get a definition. If you want a definition without having to track down an online (or a physical) dictionary, just type "definition:word" to find the definition of the word in your results (i.e.: "definition: serendipity" will track down the definition of the word "serendipity").

Collect research notes with Google Notebook. Use this simple note-taking tool to collect your research for a paper or project.

Study the oceans with Google Earth 5. Google Earth 5 provides information on the ocean floor and surface with data from marine experts, including shipwrecks in 3D.

EDpuzzle is a neat tool that allows you to add your voice and text questions to educational videos.

sign videos to studen

ck their progres

1. Hyperdocs

2. Gallery walk

posting QR codes

The primary purpose of education is to enable students to make a living as adults; without this capability, everything else falls away. Yet we still teach within a basic framework established in the 19th century. In today’s education environment, we seem to be slipping back from the future into the 19th century’s contextual emphasis on reading, writing, and math. The consequences could be dire, even propelling us back to a two-tiered education system: just reading, writing, and math for the disadvantaged in underresourced schools, alongside a richer 21st-century curriculum for the country’s productive employees and future decisionmakers.

• Generative Computation The ability to create a limitless variety of “expressions” from a generative catalyst of modest content. Think Beethoven’s four-note theme, which he spun into the Fifth Symphony. • Promiscuous Combination of Ideas Mingling of different domains of knowledge, thereby creating new products, relationships, techniques, and technologies. Think of a recipe that combines the chemistry of ingredients with knowledge of temperature and time, along with taste, feel, and smell. • Mental Symbols Encoding sensory experiences, both real and imagined, into complex systems of communication. Think metaphor or analogy. • Abstract Thought The ability to imagine what isn’t yet.