Common Core State Standards

Who's ready for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? It's coming and will be here before we know it! Today I went to an all day workshop on the CCSS. I work for an awesome school district that brings in wonderful speakers. Today we had Jan Hoegh from the Marzano Research Lab do the presentation for those who chose to attend. She did a wonderful job of explaining the CCSS and the planning that will be needed in the next few years to get prepared for the new assessments. A great place to start is to unpack all of the standards and break them into the necessary teaching points. A great place to start is by looking to those who have already started the process. North Carolina has done so much work with unpacking the standards. Another great idea to hand out to all teachers is a CCSS flip book. Copy them and put them together with a metal ring or staple together so the standards are easily accessible for all. There are flip books created for grades K - 8.

I've also discovered a wonderful site full of formative assessments created for the CCSS. It's called Mastery Connect (in case you haven't heard of it). You can get the common assessments you need for free.

So, don't be stressed out over the CCSS. Just start preparing now and you'll be a pro by 2014-15.

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The Purple Parade

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