Common+Core+Content+Hub


 * Welcome to the Common Core Hub! We welcome you, your ideas, your experience, and your expertise. As you well know, knowledge is not static, and it is through a variety of connections that knowledge is navigated and new ideas evolve. We are counting on you to help us with the navigate the messy blur between learning and educating, and to share in the delights of knowledge that is very much alive. Again, welcome! **


 * Prompt ideas for Common Core Hub: **

Some critics of Common Core postulate that we are killing the love of reading with too many questions, that the narrative is best when uninterrupted. Advocates say it works well with informational texts to dig deeper and understand what could be otherwise be overlooked. Here’s what I wonder then: with the push for more reading at higher and higher levels of thought and analysis, where does the power of reading really come from? Does it come from an uninterrupted narrative—even when comprehension is not at 100%? From acquiring information and learning something new? From knowing they have the right not to like what they’re reading? What do you, the voices from the trenches, say about where that power comes from, how to nurture it, and importantly, how to release that power within our readers as we advance our use of CCSS? What are some of your successes in honoring the individual powers in the reading process—whether with struggling readers or successful readers?
 * Ah, the Buzzword: Text Complexity. Along with text complexity come expectations of text-dependent questions. These are questions that good readers internalize and guide their close reading of texts—questions about supporting evidence, particular details, contextual differences of words, and even the use of specific structures. These same questions might be used with newer readers and language learners as a comprehension scaffold.

(Stemming from the article: Warning! Close reading questions pose more problems than they appear http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/02/12/warning-close-reading-questions-pose-more-problems-than-they-appear/ )

How do we address the tug between fidelity to Common Core--when students may or may not have the foundations--and relying on older, more familiar curriculum when the going gets tough? There’s a LOT of instructional time at stake here. How do we fit it all in?
 * If you are in a school or district that has adopted CCSS full-on, you will have inevitably noticed some gaps in what your students know and the expectations of Core curriculum. The transition time means student will not have progressed sequentially through CCSS like future students will. So, at least for these next 2 years we will encounter a bit of a “skills gap.” (Assessments aside now---I’m just talking about the disconnect occurring in the classroom instruction.)


 * New teachers, please enlighten us! There are quite a few of us who have, ahem, been out of college for “awhile” now, and without a doubt, your teacher training programs differ greatly from what we experienced. What are some areas you wish you learned more about now that you’ve been in the classroom? (Or, if you’re still taking classes, where are some obvious gaps, in your opinion?) What insights can you share about your learning curve on CCSS from your teacher training? As a new teacher, do you feel comfortable with this CCSS “curriculum guide”? How is it the same or different than what you were taught in college or at university?


 * Calling all curriculum planners, lesson planners, and planners in general! Are there any particular lesson plan formats out there that lend themselves to CCSS ideas and expectations? Any you would like to share? Or perhaps we could use this space to design an ideal lesson plan? Would the lesson times differ for a typical lesson? How many domains would be covered? What kind of question prompts would be useful? (All grades please respond!) (Feel free to add/ answer your own questions here!)


 * PLCs: One of the greatest concerns that has come up with schools beginning to implement CCSS is time to gather/ create/ curate resources for new or different curriculum objectives. What are some ways you and your teams are countering the Time Crunch to create and gather materials with your PLC? Or, if your PLC is not involved, please share alternative successes. Additionally, how are you using this time to counter feelings of being overwhelmed with the many implementation changes?


 * Wanted: Tips for sifting through massive amounts of information in order to teach a completely new area of the curriculum in our Common Core! In your most lucid teacher “voice”, what are the top 3 sources of online information that you have used, or are using, to craft new lessons and collect resources for your newer Common Core units, ones that you have never taught before?

What are some ways you are nurturing creativity in your various subject areas? How do you think the CCSS reconceptualizes creativity? Better yet, what would the definition of creativity and innovation be according to the CCSS? How does it change among age groups?
 * Creativity and innovation have become hot topics within the realm of CCSS, with the concern that they need to be fostered explicitly in order to keep them alive in schools. Of course, resources vary immensely among schools, personnel, and grade levels. And in my experience, even the definition of creativity and/or innovation differs among colleagues within the same school.