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"Last spring, Susan Sluyter quit teaching kindergarten in the Cambridge Public Schools. She'd spent nearly two decades in the classroom, and her departure wasn't a happy one. In a resignation letter, Sluyter railed against a "disturbing era of testing and data" that had trickled down from the upper grades and was now assaulting kindergartners with a barrage of new academic demands that "smack of 1st or 2nd grade." The school district did not respond to a request for comment."

"This collection of blog posts highlights lesson plans, ideas, and other useful resources to help you bring Common Core-aligned lessons into your classroom. We're actively building this repository of ideas every week, so make sure to bookmark this page. You can also follow #CCSS or #CCSSChat on Twitter for the latest updates."

"So it's been a few years since the Common Core, and wow, has it been a wild ride! Some states have dropped the CCSS altogether and replaced them with similar standards. Some still have the CCSS, but have opted out of the tests related to them. Parents are also choosing to have their students opt out from these high-stakes tests. Some teachers are reporting the rigorous learning happening in their classrooms, while others are concerned about the appropriate level of the rigor. Textbook companies have been called out on their true lack of aligned materials, and great teachers have been creating their own lessons and units to meet their students' needs."

"Calls for shared curriculum for the common standards have triggered renewed debates about who decides what students learn, and even about varied meanings of the word "curriculum," adding layers of complexity to the job of translating the broad learning goals into classroom teaching."

"About the Mini-series This video mini-series has been designed to provide an efficient pathway for understanding and implementing the most significant shifts in English language arts and literacy instruction. Ranging from seven to ten minutes in length, each video tackles one important topic and then provides tools that educators can begin using in their classrooms immediately. The order in which the videos are watched is not critical, so please feel free to start with the one that seems the most intriguing."

"A video documentary on learning mathematics for K-8 teachers and administrators; 1 one-hour video program Many people - in and out of school - find mathematics frustrating, difficult, even impossible. This documentary uncovers a surprise: Mathematical creativity - expressed in art, architecture, and music and valued by industry - is built into the brain and can flourish under the right conditions. A remarkable 12-year study following students from first grade through high school demonstrates the brain's surprising natural abilities for learning math. The study, led by Professor Carolyn Maher of Rutgers University, brought results that are corroborated by new research from leading cognitive psychologists. Discover ways to unlock this natural human gift for mathematics in classrooms, workplaces, and homes. "

Grammar instruction may have waned in some classrooms starting in the early 2000s, largely because the high-stakes tests required by the No Child Left Behind law didn't assess grammar specifically. But with most states now using the Common Core State Standards, there's some thought that grammar is making a comeback-along with perennial debates about how best to teach it. "We are asking kids to dive into complex texts and understand them, so we need to teach them how to read complex sentences," said Chris Hayes, a veteran elementary teacher in Washoe County, Nev. And that requires deep knowledge of grammar.

"he chemistry students at Northwestern High School were not fiddling with Bunsen burners or studying the periodic table one recent weekday morning. They were sitting at their desks, reading an article about food coloring, underlining key ideas and preparing to analyze it in an essay. This is the beginning of what Prince George's County officials hope will be a significant shift in teaching and learning, one that mirrors a change taking hold in high schools nationwide as districts adjust to the Common Core State Standards. Literacy, long the responsibility of English teachers, is filtering into every other classroom - including math, science and even health class."

PD 360 thorough report on CCSS misconceptions - Excellent resource!

Great Find!

Most Americans aren't fluent in the language of money. Yet we're expected to make big financial decisions as early as our teens - Should I take on thousands of dollars of student debt? Should I buy a car? - even though most of us received no formal instruction on financial matters until it was too late.