Among the main points of this presentation were:

• The Common Core standards offer a unique opportunity for schools to examine the interconnected realms of standards, curriculum, assessment, and professional development, and hopefully, to improve learning.
• Common Core represents a significant change. If you think you have implemented Common Core and your classrooms don’t look substantially different than they did before, you haven’t really implemented Common Core. (Related points: Cross-walk documents and superficial alignments are not the best tools to realize the benefits of this change.)
• New assessments are coming in 2014. They too will be very different. We need to explore how students are being prepared for these assessments and, of course, for the real world.

I feel a certain amount of sadness that most educators seem to view Common Core as yet another worthless series of hoops they are being asked to jump through, rather than as an opportunity to do the kind of deeper learning that many of us feel is missing from classrooms.

One of my concerns about Common Core is that many districts seem to be implementing the new standards very quickly, possibly without considering all the opportunities and ramifications. New instructional materials are being purchased hastily. Professional development and planning is inadequate.

In the audience of school board members I spoke with, approximately two-thirds said that they have already implemented or are well into implementing these new standards. Many are doing this without being aware of the forthcoming new assessments and without thorough thought about related curriculum and instructional materials issues.

For example, at a time in which many districts are making large curriculum purchases, might it be a good time to think about digital content? New ways to involve teachers? Etc.

As we discussed these issues, there was a fair amount of discontent in the audience about the current state of assessment. Teachers are not afforded the professionalism to do what they know is best for students. Charter schools are often lauded without being held to the same standards. Deeper learning is not happening in many classrooms. Many new mandates are unfunded. There was plenty of unhappiness and blame to go around.

But perhaps it is time to put aside the blame and start doing some things that we all believe are best for our students.

This point in time might be the best opportunity in decades to look deeply at standards, curriculum, assessment, and the professional role of our teachers — it is simply too important to rush through or not do to the best of our abilities.

The post Common Core: The good, the bad, and the ugly appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

The P2PU School of Ed pilot opened sign-up today for seven free, online, open-licensed professional development courses for K-12 teachers.

This program is about peer learning, openness, and deeper learning. It’s hands-on learning driven by each educator’s particular needs and classroom situations. It’s about connecting, collaborating, and creating, not just reading or studying.

These courses are all open licensed under a CC BY license, which means anyone can repurpose the content for whatever purpose they like as long as they attribute the source.

Here are the courses now open for sign-up:

• Differentiating Instruction – description, sign-up open until Sept. 19 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)
• Student Engagement – description, sign-up open until Sept. 12 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)
• OER in the K-12 Classroom – description, sign-up open until Sept. 19 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)
• Teaching in Online and Blended Classrooms – description, sign-up open until Sept. 12 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)
• Multimedia and Graphics to Facilitate Deeper Learning – description, sign-up open until Oct. 3 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)
• Writing & Common Core: Deeper Learning for All – description, sign-up open until Sept. 26 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)
• Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to Encourage Deeper Learning – description, sign-up open until Sept 19 (click PARTICIPATE to apply)

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