Archive | Bigger Picture

The Challenge with PARCC

Last week our school completed their first round of PARCC testing. We were a pilot school for the new Common Core based exams last year, but the first full run proved to be quite different from the small scale practice version our AP English students undertook a year ago. Perhaps the biggest challenge we faced […]

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Home for the Holidays

Congratulations my fellow educators we’ve almost made it through half of the 2014-15 school year. Months of lesson planning, grading, assessing and forming connections with our students, have come down to a few more days of final exams. Next week we’ll be home enjoying a much deserved break with our family and friends. But first […]

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Democracy in Action

Today there are no students in my building or any school in my district. In their place hundreds of parents travel from class to class at the sound of the bells. This isn’t some form of freaky Friday or trading place, it is parent teacher conferences. Of course parent teacher conferences are a common occurrence, […]

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What Is Mastery?

mas·ter·y ˈmast(ə)rē/ :possession or display of great skill or technique The end of the 2013-14 school year and the start of the 2014-15 school year started off with discussions of the same difficult subject, mastery. The last institute day of school introduced the conversation to our building staff. What is mastery? What does it look […]

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Welcome Back To School

Welcome back to the start of another year here at Today In School. This year I want to bring a different voice to the blog. Last semester and over the summer, we focused primarily on the big picture or educational hot topics. This year I’m sure we’ll keep up with current research, educational reform and […]

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