Check out our Awesome Math Department!!

The Algebra 2 teachers have taken real-life applications HEAD ON into their instruction and found an awesome project to demonstrate quadratic functions!

Here is the project they are doing!

What an awesome way to build connections to games that our students enjoy! All the while, discussing Math!!

We should be incredibly proud of all the great work our departments are doing to integrate Common Core. I know that at times, it can feel very difficult, but the passion and dedication of this staff is truly inspiring!

Great work, Math!

Calling All English Teachers!

Today, I found a really cool site for English teachers. It is full of pre-made worksheets and activities that were created by an English teacher. They cover all types of aspects from English, including point of view, purpose, modes, and all kinds of other stuff!

Check it out!

Some are a little redundant, but I think for occasional usage, they're pretty great!

A Foreign Language Resource!

While I was googling today, I stumbled across a great resource for Foreign Language Teachers!

I have already posted a LiveBinder for the English department, and now I have one for Foreign Language. A quick recap--a Livebinder is a collection of websites and handouts on one website, similar to a binder in real life.

This one is full of great information for Foreign Language teachers.

Here it is!

NMS.org

I have been trying to keep an eye out for Math and Science resources because I know that they are hard to keep track of. Today, I found a great one!

The National Math and Science Initiative has a TON of great information! You should really check it out!

If you click "Resources," you can select a page for Free Lessons! They are really professional and in-depth! You can also check out some forums and open resources that people are adding to.

Happy planning!

Newsela Non Fiction and Current Events

Looking to work in more non-fiction? Not sure where to find the material, or if they students will be able to understand it?

Enter Newsela NonFicition and Current Events

Mrs. Morales sent this on over, and it's amazing! The articles are really currently applicable. Plus, if you click the article, you can change the reading level!

What an amazing differentiation and ELD tool! The same material, only at various reading levels!

Check it out--you will be glad you did!

Great Math Resources!

I've said it before and I'll say it again--there are incredible resources out there, just WAITING for us to seize them! Here are two fabulous math resources.

Common Core Math Teachers has a ton of great goodies, from sample performance tasks to assessments, to lessons! If you click around, you will find some great info on Algebra 1!

This website has information about the standards, as well as downloadable lessons and worksheets for you!

October is already half over! How are YOU feeling about Common Core?!

Critical Thinking!

One of the major elements of the Common Core, and of the district/Wilson's vision is CRITICAL THINKING!

However, let's face it--it's hard!

This website, CriticalThinking.org, has a lot of wonderful information on how to build critical thinking in your classroom.

Check it out!

Math!

Here is a great website that really relates math to Real life concepts.

However, I do want to assume that there is NO RISK to eating bacon sandwiches. Because...yum.

There is also a fabulous section on cross curriculars! 

Click the link!

Free courses for your educational benefit!

If you are looking to become more educated on the Common Core, there are some free "courses" available for you to take and learn from!

Here is one ran by Stanford Online. The description reads: "This short course looks closely at student-to-student discourse and addresses how to facilitate student engagement in the types of interactions required by the new standards. It organizes a massive collaboration of educators who wish to support students, particularly English Language Learners, to co-create and build upon each other’s ideas as they interact with the content."

It has a 7 week duration and is completely free! 

More Video Resources

I know many of us learn really well by watching, and the Teacher Channel video website has a ton of great ideas, lesson plans and resources available through VIDEO.

Check it out!

The lessons on perseverance are especially interesting, considering one shift we ALL have to make is allowing our students a little more "struggle time."

TED Talks

Many of us have heard of the TED website--a website based on sharing videos that exemplify "ideas worth spreading."

While they aren't all focused or even related to Common Core, there are a lot of awesome videos related to education on the site.

Need a little inspiration today? Click here!

And remember that we are making a difference every single day!

Achieve the Core!

In case you haven't noticed, there are SO MANY resources out in the intrawebs that we can use to implement Common Core. In fact, there are too many to properly share! But we are trying our best to bring you as many as we can!

Achieve the Core is another fabulous website full of complete and comprehensive lesson plans/guides for teachers to use for FREE.

Simply specify your position and grade level, and Achieve the core will lead you to a ton of great information.

For instance, I just downloaded a 22-page unit on close reading a piece by Frederick Douglass. It goes step by step, and shows me exactly what to do over a series of days within my classroom. It's awesome!

The PTA Is on board, too!

Have you been wondering where parents stand on Common Core? Well, the national PTA is on board and doing all they can to help support teachers and the education world as we shift our standards.

CLICK HERE for some comprehensive resources on Common core, including literature and information that parents themselves need to know!

Way to go, PTA!

Socrative Student Response System

Have you wanted to use automatic feedback in your classroom, but don't have those handy little devices to do so? Well, then SOCRATIVE is for you!

It is a super easy way to use laptops, cell phones, tablets, or any kind of device with mobile access.

Basically, you sign up and are assigned a classroom number. You write the link and the number on the board, and have students sign in. Then, as they respond, their responses will show up on the screen.

Pretty sweet, right?

Common Core in the news

The LA times published an article today about the clashing views of not testing this year.

Read the article here.

Edutopia

Edutopia is an awesome website ran by The George Lucas Educational Foundation (I mean, does it get any cooler than that?!)

Here is a link to Edutopia.

It is a wealth of educationally related resources, videos, blogs, and exemplary schools. It even has resources on SEL curriculum, Project-based learning and technology integration!

Right below the main header, you can click Common Core Resources and it will direct you to solely common core stuff. 

Just playing around for a few minutes, I found a link to 21 common core aligned Math apps!

Math (and everyone) resource!

There are so many great websites out there where talented teachers are sharing what they are doing!


Sharemylesson.com is a great place to find pre-written lesson plans.

Here is a subsection of the website devoted to Common Core Math Lessons

Incredible ELA resource

The wealth of information out there in cyberspace is limitless! I can't tell you fun it is to come across incredible resources and share them with you.

Click here for an excellent ELA resource!

A LiveBinder is kind of like a real-life hard-copy binder, where people can compile information and articles and lessons and who knows what!

This ELA livebinder has a ton of great information, from text complexity to unpacking documents to graphic organizers to rubrics!

Happy planning!

Social Science's turn!

There are a lot of resources out there for all disciplines, but they can be difficult to sort through and assess.

Here is a website, Literacy Design Collaborative, that has a bunch of history and social science lessons aligned to the Common Core.

(note: some downloads also include other state standards, but also include Common Core).

Click here for LDC

Science Resources!

Incorporating literacy into all of our subjects is a vital aspect of Common Core.

Here is a website that has some lesson plan ideas for Science lessons that increase emphasis on literacy.

Click here for Science Common Core.

Awesome Math Resource

This website, Illuminations, has a ton of awesome resources for teaching Math in the Common Core!

Click here for Illuminations.

 There are pre-made lessons for each subject, as well as various activities.

Each lesson has additional questions for students, assessment options, extensions, and teacher reflection questions.

Click Here for a  sample on Law of Sines and Cosines

Their "Web Links" page is also reviewed by an editorial board, so the resources they offer are exemplary.

Happy Lesson Planning! 

New York Times Article about Math

Good morning!

We know that the focus of Common Core is DEPTH over breadth. Here is a great article from the New York Times about how this will alter current Math Instruction.

View the article here!

Wildcats ROAR! Common Core!

Before we know it, Common Core will no longer be a shift--it will be the REAL deal. This year, we will prepare as a staff, and as an entire community, to be the best we can be using Common Core.

This page will have specific information for each discipline, as long as any new or interesting chatter about Common Core. There is a tab for parents and for students, as they are equal partners in this shift.

Please check back often, and feel free to send in any information you would like included.