Baby Steps with CCSS

CCSS, or Common Core State Standards, is proving to be a challenge for me even before they are officially implemented. I am grateful, however, that this is a positive challenge.

I hope to do my action research next year on literature circles with use of CCSS. The head of my department has been very helpful in helping me find and choose good YA literature to possibly work with. I knew though that I should figure out what I was going to do with these books before I started reading them.

You must understand how hard this has been for me. I have a lovely pile of brand new YA books waiting for me and I can't read them! Torture! But doing the research first has really paid off.

Shiny New Toy

So, iPads have been a big deal for more than a little while now. I've pretty much always had iPad envy. However, I just couldn't justify the expense. My laptop never quit, I had both a work and a home desktop, and when my mobile phone contract came up for renewal I upgraded to my pretty, pretty iPhone. With all at, what use does a high school teacher have for an iPad. Of course I would use and love it, but it was far from a need. So I always joked that I was waiting for someone to give me one. Guess what, folks? It finally happened. Last Friday, the faculty's last day before summer, the IT department handed out our district-provided iPads. It had been in the works for a while, but I was a skeptic on this particular promise. It was a huge purchase obviously. Their word was their bond however and Friday afternoon the high school library was buzzing with teachers from all generations finding their ways around their shiny new devices. I couldn't wait to spend the first few days of summer personalizing and playing. Then my home Internet gave up the ghost. Needless to say I didn't exactly handle this like a grown-up, but now that I'm at my wonderful boyfriend's apartment, where the Internet works just fine, I'm a much happier camper. My entire point here is two things: 1) I GOT AN IPAD!!! 2) I now have extra motivation, reason, and platform from which to be a better blogger.

Semester Two, Semester Anew

After last semester, I feel as though I've learned a lot about learning, teaching, and 21st century skills. Thus, even just the first three days of 21st CC this semester have gone smoother. Last semester I offered students a very open-ended project about this course, what they hoped to learn in it, and what 21st century skills are. The projects were as loose as my instructions. This semester, I introduced the students to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills right off the bat, and we began discussing and working with the related buzzwords. Students are creating a variety of projects now to discuss what they think those skills mean and might look like. The projects are due tomorrow and I can't wait to see and upload some of them.

Sites You Said Were Interesting (Class Post)

Dearest 21st Century Students,

I've finally looked through your website research and pulled out the websites you found and included on the lists you turned in to me. So, if you're struggling with your Social Bookmarking and Blogging project, you might want to turn to some of these sites for inspiration.

Organization Sites

Linkable - social bookmarking

Evernote - it's like an online notebook where anything of any medium can go

SpringPad - very similar to evernote

Chore Buster - create lists to organize your chores and other tasks

Hassle Me - this site will nag you until you complete the task it's nagging you to do

Trip It - useful for organizing travel plans

Interesting Sites

StumbleUpon - a random search engine that directs you to websites fitted to your interets

Youth Noise - where young people have a voice on world issues

Pinterest - photo sharing and organizing

Epicurious - food

Personal Sites

iGoogle - a personalized homepage

Tumblr - microblogging

Academically Useful Sites

EasyBib - use for creating bibliographies

My Favorite Websites (Example for Class)

To my faithful readers: Herein lie many of my favorite websites, ready for you to browse and enjoy. Even if you're familiar with them, maybe I've included some ideas of how that website can be useful to you that you haven't yet thought of.

Setting an Example

Last night I wrote the Social Bookmarking and Blogging Project for my 21st Century class to complete over the next week and a half or so. Guess that means I better get back to blogging to set a good example. Overall, the students' reactions to the class have been largely positive. Though I know they're often being patient with me and with the technology as we grow and build upon the curriculum. I'm blessed to be teaching such patient, flexible students. And as much as I'm enjoying this semester, I'm even more excited for next semester when the curriculum has already had a trial run and I can begin making adjustments. I just wish the same group of kids would be with me in the spring.

A Fresh Start

I began this blog because there was chatter around school about me possible teaching a new class in the fall, but nothing was official yet. That new class was supposed to be called "21st Century Communications." Well, the chatter was right and starting in August I'll be piloting this semester-long, elective class for sophomores through seniors. Here's the catch - there's no curriculum. Thankfully, a somewhat-local high school already has this class in place and their leader is of the sharing disposition. I have a copy of their year-long, required class curriculum, ready and waiting my adaptations. Quite the project.