Some High Points After 7 School Days

Most of my students and I have had a great start to our school year! Some of the contributing factors are:

• The attitude and energy we bring to class every day enables us to learn and communicate effectively.
• The respect and appreciation we share helps us to listen and value everyone's contributions.
• The effort my students and I put into learning outside the classroom makes our time together in the classroom more productive,
• My acquisition and understanding of Standards-Based Grading (SBG) from my Personal Learning Network (PLN) along with the willingness of my students to try this new approach will set the stage for an increase in learning and retention with excitement! 
• My PLN and my students are already communicating well in class and outside the class with the help of Twitter.
• Somehow I was blessed with an amazing group of students again this year! 
• I know I can reach out to my PLN for support at any time. I'm grateful to be on a team with such dedicated educators, even if they reside in different states! 
• Many of our students have already expressed the excitement they have for our school year! We will accomplish great things and have fun learning together!

The Case Against Percentage Grades

Tom R. Guskey created an exceptional read on why educators might want to leave behind traditional percentage grading.

Video Series to Support Standards-Based Grading (SBG)

Standards-Based Grading: A Video Series “Explainer”

Click here to view the first video (#1) in the series on the purpose of Standards-Based Grading (SBG). The video series is by Nathan Wear, Principal of Solon High School, and Shawn Cornally (@ThinkThankThunk), teacher at Solon High School and a lead practitioner of Standards-Based Grading. 

#2 No Credit for Effort?  (1:23)
#3 Won’t Grades Go Down? (2:20)
#4 How can an F become an A?  (1:21)
#5 Getting Into AND Through College  (2:07)
#6 Communicating this to Colleges  (1:11)
#7 Why not just get rid of fluff instead of all points?  (1:14)
#8 Does this Affect Eligibility  (2:40)
#9 Focus Exposes the Grading Farce  (1:34)
#10 Dealing w/the Implementation Dip  (4:03)
#11 No credit for Unproductive Work  (1:23)
#12 Bad Grades Early Aren’t Bad Grades  (2:05)
#13 Where Does It Go From Here?  (2:39)
#14 Timelines & SBG  (3:01)
#15 Teacher Struggles & Support for Them  (1:56)
#16 Paradigm Shift Required to Make This Work  (4:31)
#17 Won’t Kids Game This System Too?  (1:23)
#18 Isn’t this Experimenting on Kids?  (3:34)
#19 Is College & HS Different?  (2:20)
#20 Which Students Struggle Most/Least?  (3:51)

Let's Roll Our Six-Sided Skills Die

I'm planning to focus our learning through these six skills during our 2013-2014 school year. These are a combination of skills from Tony Wagner and Greg Miller.

1. Communication - Oral and Written
2. Collaboration / Networking / Influence / Leadership 
3. Critical Thinking / Problem-Solving
4. Creativity / Innovation / Imagination / Curiosity 
5. Digital Literacy / Access and Analyze Information 
6. Initiative / Entrepreneurialism / Adaptability

16 Habits of Mind

These are from Art Cost's 16 Habits of Mind:

1. Persistency
2. Managing Impulsivity
3. Listening to Others
4. Thinking Flexibly
5. Thinking About Our Thinking (Metacognition)
6. Striving for Accuracy and Precision
7. Questioning and Posing Problems
8. Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
9. Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision
10. Gathering Data Through All Senses
11. Creating, Imaging and Innovating
12. Responding with Wonderment and Awe
13. Taking Responsible Risks
14. Finding Humor
15. Thinking Interdependently
16. Learning Continuously 

The 7 Most Powerful Idea Shifts in Learning Today

See the link for details behind these 7 idea shifts by Terry Heick:

1. From Physical to Digital
2. From Standards to Habits
3. From Compliance to Play
4. From Schools to Communities 
5. From Reaction to Interaction
6. From Isolation to Connectivism
7. From Privacy to Transparency

Curriculum for Our Algebra 1 and 2 Summer Session

7:45am to 10:15am Monday through Friday - Algebra 2 Units:

1. Linear, Quadratic, Complex Numbers (6 standards) - DONE
2. Polynomial (5 standards) - DONE
3. Rational, Radical, Exponential, Logarithm (6 standards) - DONE
4. Functions I (4 standards) - DONE
5. Function II (6 standards) - DONE 
6. Trigonometry (4 standards) - DONE
7. Statistics (7 standards) - DONE

10:15am to 12:45pm Monday through Friday - Algebra 1 Units:

1. Linear Equations/Inequalities (9 standards) - DONE
2. Linear Functions (13 standards) - DONE
3. Functions (7 standards) - DONE
4. Systems (6 standards) - DONE 
5. Polynomials (3 standards) - DONE
6. Quadratics (3 standards) - DONE