Important links and resources for our 11/6/12 PD Day:

• District-wide Key Documents folder
• Common Core State Standards (CCSS) - Home page
• CCSS for language arts
• CCSS for mathematics
• CCSS for integration across all other subject areas
• Standards/Frameworks for all other subject areas (not to be used for LA or math)
• CCSS resources for the Arts

Key Documents for Teachers

Hello again,

In an effort to help all teachers understand our district-wide projects - but especially those who are new to Ansonia - I'm compiling a "cloud" folder which contains important guidance, communications, and directives.  This public folder can be accessed over the web without login.  I believe that you'll find the file names to be self-explanatory.  Topics include our assessment calendar and the purposes of our various assessments, Effective Teaching Strategies, differentiated instruction, and how to use our AAA software.

LINK to the online folder.

August 2012 PD Activities

Welcome back, All!

I hope that you had a fun and relaxing vacation.  We've spent the summer making important updates to curriculum documents and getting ready for the PD activities this week.  The three days that we have together this week (8/29, 8/30, 8/31) represent the most varied and complex schedule of activities that Ansonia has had in quite some time.  I hope that you will view this complexity as our effort to provide you with development activities that are relevant and directly tied to your work.  Each district administrator has played a contributory role in the development of these offerings and most will also be serving as presenters at some point during the three days.

An important change from past practice, you will be signing in within the rooms where you will have your workshops...not in the AHS lobby.  Workshops will begin promptly at 8:00, so please be sure to report to your rooms by 7:55 for sign-in.  If you wish to partake in Coffee &..., it will be available from 7:30 to 7:55.  All faculty will start each day at AHS.

By now, you've already received a communication from Superintendent Merlone regarding our activities on Wednesday, 8/29.  The following details pertain to 8/30 and 8/31.

Please note that several faculty members will be attending sessions organized by Kathie Gabrielson or Bridget Calabrese.  Please refer to communications you've received directly from them for more detail.  If, by chance, you were accidentally included on a district-wide activity and also one from either Kathie or Bridget, please follow the instructions issued to you by one of them rather than the district-wide option.  Thank you.

The grid found at this LINK gives you a general overview of the activities for this week.

The following details are most pertinent for Thursday and Friday for faculty members in Grades 6-12 who have not received specific directions from Kathie or Bridget.

You will start your day in one of five rooms; the same room on both Thursday and Friday. Room assignments will be posted in the AHS lobby, but can also be viewed HERE.

On Thursday, our topic will be Looking Deeply at the Core Standards, Looking Deeply at Instruction.  This is a continuation of the "adult curriculum" found one post lower on this blog.  And on Friday the topic will be Understanding the Kim Marshall Rubrics for Teacher Observation.  One both mornings, you will have five short workshops through which you will rotate.  In each workshop you will work with colleagues and videos showing real teachers in real classrooms.  Administrators will be your facilitators.

For those who would like to preview the activities and/or have the handouts with them on a mobile device, the handouts can be downloaded below.  You will also receive hard copies of these documents.

Thursday's activity packet:  Looking Deeply at the Core Standards

Friday's activity packet:  Understanding the Kim Marshall Rubrics for Teacher Observation

Important resources for both days:

• Increasing the Impact of ETS
• Tomlinson's 5 Non-negotiables Defined

An Adult Learning Curriculum for the Common Core State Standards

This post is a basic introduction to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for teachers.  What is found below is not an exhaustive list.  As our level of knowledge about the CCSS expands, we’ll continue to edit this resource.

What are the Common Core State Standards?

• An excellent video overview explaining the roots of the CCSS

 

• Another video with more depth on how/why the standards were formed  

 

• The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.  (from www.corestandards.org)
•  Download the standards for Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and the Technical Subjects
•  Download the Mathematics standards.
• What is new about the English Language Arts standards from previous approaches?

• What is new about the Mathematics standards from previous approaches?

 

What are the primary changes from the current standards to the CCSS?

•  The Connecticut State Department of Education has produced crosswalk documents comparing the current state standards with the incoming CCSS.
• In New York, they have done an excellent job of planning this transition.  Here is an excellent explanation of "shifts" in Mathematics and Language Arts

More excellent videos on changes for English Language Arts:

• Writing to inform and make arguments
• Text-dependent questions: a major shift!
• The balance of informational and literary texts in K-5
• Literary non-fiction in grades 6-12
• Conventions of standard English writing and speaking
• Speaking and listening: the key role of evidence
• More available here

More excellent videos on changes for Mathematics:

• The big picture:  The importance of coherence in mathematics  
• The importance of mathematical practice
• Gathering momentum for algebra
• More available here

This concludes this entry.  Future posts will provide you with resources to help us have a more in-depth understanding of what changes will take place in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Thanks for reading,

Tony