3FamilyTree3
Positive-Proactive-Professional
New Kitchen...New Year
Have you ever remodeled or changed your kitchen? Have you ever as an adult gone home to your parents' house and they have changed something? I remodeled our kitchen twenty years ago. This past summer we remodeled our kitchen and family room into our dream kitchen. Gutted it down to the studs, put in an island, new appliances, new lighting, new cabinets, flooring, sink, and faucet. We made our old pantry into a closet, and now have a pantry of cabinets. Sounds great right? Well now both My wife and I can't find anything! Everything is still in our kitchen. All the tools are there. We just have been used to where everything was for the past twenty years. It is taking us time to get all the old memory patterns rewired.
This is very similar to what happened when the federal and state governments started changing the standards and the test that we encounter as educators. It is like someone came in and remodeled our kitchen. It has been two years of confusion and frustration. We reach for a dishtowel in the drawer to open it and find kitchen utensils! No- we look at a subject we have taught, and things are reworded, or locations have been changed. I think when we look at the big picture, I mean back out away from our view of education, and use more of a bird's eye view, we see that everything is still there. It may have changed location or been updated in some way, but ultimately we have the tools, we have our talents, we have the students, we have our desire to teach, and we have our drive to help students grow.
As we settle into the year, get our feet planted more firmly, and look at what we want to achieve, remember to step back, remember what you have a passion to teach, and we can figure it out together.
Be Intentional
Essential Questions
One essential question that I have asked myself for several years now is, "Should we get the Skills Navigator from NWEA?" In talking to others using it, and others that have tested the product I have come to the conclusion that it is not in our best interest to buy the product. On the other hand, another question I had was, "Should we continue to use Achieve3000?" After looking at the growth data from the product, talking with our fifth and sixth grade teachers, and talking with students, the answer was, "Yes!" Dr. Brisco saw the strength of the product, and now we have it for this next year.
How can we use the DOK questioning in subject areas like math, science, social studies, digital citizenship, art, music, physical education, writing, and reading? We know that our students are being ask to make higher level connections; how do we model this process in our instruction?
We have ALL the talent right here!
Continue to, "Teach Like a Pirate!"
Our book study this year will be, "Ditch That Textbook." It is all about the journey to being fully self-dependent on creation and curation of materials. We have the resources in our building to become a model of what a balanced 1:1 approach can accomplish for our students.
Alexandria-Monroe Intermediate School
Website: Alex.k12.in.us
Location: 308 W 11th St, Alexandria, IN, United States
Phone: 765-724-4166
Facebook: facebook.com/Alexandria-MonroeIntermediate
Twitter: @AMIS_tigers