NORDONIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development Report

Periodically, an update will be created covering aspects of instructional education. Please feel free to share your thoughts on how the newsletter can be improved to meet your particular needs.

August 3, 2012
Inside This Issue
Pages 2-4 Curriculum and Assessment Updates Page 5 Page 6 Race to the Top Continued Differentiation and Learning Centers

RACE TO THE TOP UPDATE

CCSS and Ohio Revised Standards This year will mark a very important and busy year in preparing our teachers for the Common Core and Ohio Revised Standards. Teachers in grades preschool-two will be prepared to rollout the new standards beginning this school year. Everyone else will need to be prepared to roll out at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. Work will still continue/start in developing curriculum maps. Ideally, the maps will come alive with rich details, resources, and assessments. In the near future, I will complete the set up of a new Nordonia Hills Resource Center and Live Binders online page, which contains hundreds of resources for your curriculum map development. Please remember that the curriculum maps will never be complete. They will change based on future successes as we transition to more rigorous standards. Help guide the development of next generation assessments with online pilot Students and educators now have an opportunity to take part in a pilot and experience how an online assessment might work as ODE develops the next generation of assessments for the 2014-2015 school year. Participation is voluntary to schools that participate in the Spring 2012 OAAs and eighth- grade students who have a Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) number. The Test Coordinator will work with other district and school personnel to determine if the district will participate, which schools will participate and which students should participate. Once this has been determined, the Pre-ID information for the participating students should be submitted to the online TIDE system. The online pilot contains both multiple choice and interactive questions. The content for the pilot test is eighth-grade social studies. Additional details related to the online assessment pilot, including an overview of procedures, technology requirements, schedules, documents, links and software is now available on the Online Pilot Portal. Questions concerning the online pilot may be directed to Denny Wagoner at (614) 466-0223 or dennis.wagoner@education.ohio.gov. Resident Educator Program Updated For the first time, Nordonia will have teachers participate in a four-year Resident Educator program, designed to provide support and mentoring for new teachers entering the profession. Successfully completing the program will be required to earn a five year professional educator license. Please see the Nordonia Hills Resource Center for future program documents and resources. RttT Continue Page 5

Pages 7-8 Technology Tools Page 9 Teach Thinking in CCSS

The Teaching Channel has come to the USA with funding from the Gates Foundation as a resource for teachers, school leaders, and other educators. It is both a virtual community and a repository of videos dedicated to supporting great teaching.
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Website of the Month

Curriculum and Assessment Update

Common Core State Standards positively compare with standards of top-achieving countries
On May 5, Dr. William Schmidt, codirector of the Education Policy Center (EPC) at Michigan State University, released conclusions from his research that indicate that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics, which Ohio and 47 other states and U.S. territories have adopted, potentially can improve student performance if the standards are implemented properly. Schmidts briefing was presented during an event co-sponsored by Achieve, Chiefs for Change and the Foundation for Excellence in Education. Schmidt explained that the CCSS for mathematics strongly resemble the standards of the highest- achieving nations. He also found states with standards most like the CCSS for mathematics have higher scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Their (the standards) consistency with the international benchmark set by topachieving countries shows that the CCSS are coherent, focused and rigorous, key attributes of math standards from countries that outperform the U.S. on international assessments. To view a video and Schmidts PowerPoint presentation, click here. For the news release issued concerning the research, click here. Please join in a Facebook conversation for educators Ohio Teachers Homeroom, the new Facebook page for educators from the Ohio Department of Education, is off to an exciting start. Within weeks of its launch, the page already has hundreds of fans and is receiving submissions from around Ohio. ODE invites you to Like the page so you can receive regular updates when news is posted. Ohio Teachers Homeroom will be another way for educators to connect and present ideas, so please share the page with friends and colleagues. ODE welcomes news and ideas, including:Lesson planning resources; Events, conferences, webinars or PD opportunities; and Teaching and learning topics that might stir conversation among Facebook readers. ODE addresses upcoming changes with Top Tips You hear this question frequently: What should educators and school leaders do right now to get ready for all of the changes taking place in Ohio education? To answer this question, ODE has developed a series of Top Tips that offer simple, practical advice for teachers, administrators and school board members who want to get on track today for the big changes set as Ohio transitions to the College- and Career-Ready standards and new assessments in 2014-2015. Please share these suggestions, accessible at toptips.education.ohio.gov, with members of your organization. ODE also invites comments and suggestions at this website. course examinations for American history and American government. These interim examinations are to be used until the state end-of-course examinations are selected, which are scheduled to be determined by July 1, 2014. At least 20 percent of the endof-course examination for American government is to be devoted to the identified documents as well as historical evidence of the role of documents such as the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers to firmly establish the historical background leading to the establishment of the provisions of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The legislation does not stipulate any percentage of content in American history for the end-ofcourse examination; however, it still must address the historical documents. High school graduation requirements now will consist of unit each of American history and American government, and two units of social studies. The legislation notes that a valid educator license for teaching social studies in the applicable grade shall be considered sufficient to teach the additional American history and American government content now required. ODE is in the process of amending the high school American History and American Government syllabi and model curricula to meet the legislative mandate. Staff members also are reviewing the same for fourth and eighth grade to see if any additional adjustments are necessary.

Am. Sub. Senate Bill 165 is enacted

In March 2012, the Ohio General Assembly passed Am. Sub. Senate Bill 165, which requires the State Board of Education to: ...incorporate into the social studies standards for grades four to twelve academic content regarding the original texts of the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, the Constitution of the United States and its amendments, with emphasis on the Bill of Rights, and the Ohio Constitution, and their original context. ODE will need to revise the model curricula and achievement assessments accordingly. This content must be incorporated into the American history and American government courses required for graduation. This affects the coursework for students who enter the ninth grade for the first time on or after July 1, 2012. The new legislation requires that no later than July 1, 2013, local boards of education adopt interim end- of[2]

Information on new gifted performance indicator posted

As you may know, the State Board of Education recently adopted an indicator for gifted performance that will appear on Local Report Cards. The indicator will include a measure reflecting the level of services provided to gifted students and a measure reflecting the performance of certain gifted students on the Ohio Achievement Assessments and the Ohio Graduation Tests. For more information, please click here.

Curriculum and Assessment Update Continued...

Online Assessment Pilot is underway Eighth-grade students in more than 250 Ohio school districts began online testing on May 15 through the Online Assessment Pilot (OAP) the Office of Curriculum and Assessment is conducting. The OAP is providing educators, administrators and students with an opportunity to experience what it will be like to participate in online assessments that include technologyenhanced test questions. The OAP went through May 25. To view more information about OAP (including a practice test, tutorials, monthly newsletters, an overview of procedures, technology requirements, schedules and software), please click here. Please direct any questions to Denny Wagoner at (614) 466-0223 or dennis.wagoner@education.ohio.gov. available here or by visiting education.ohio.gov and searching keywords: Alternative Pathway to a Diploma. Questions also can be directed to ODE at (877) 644-6338. Take 5 to get more from INFOhio Make sure you and yourstudents are getting all they can from INFOhios free resources. Take five minutes to watch the new What Is INFOhio video to learn about the digital resources, testtaking help, Core Curriculum support and professional development Getting opportunities Reading for available through 2012-2013 INFOhio.

within social studies or other middle or high school classes; Revised content standards ! Entrepreneurship, which will help Technology Readiness Tool Now Open adopted in five areas K-12 students understand At its June meeting, the State Board of entrepreneurships role in American Technology Readiness Tool is now Education adopted several sets of newly economics and identify the personal available. The tool was created by the two revised content standards that were interests, skills and abilities necessary to national consortia that are working on the developed over the past two years. Many become an entrepreneur; and Next Generation of Assessments: the stakeholders throughout Ohio representing ! Business Education, which outlines Partnership for Assessment of Readiness the education, business and professional learning expectations for traditional high for College and Careers (PARCC), with sectors actively contributed to the revision school instruction encompassing business which Ohio is aligned, and the Smarter process for these standards. Their law, accounting, international business, Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). participation informed the process and business communication, marketing, Others who are interested may review a resulted in instructional guidelines that will economics, business management, recording of the webcast, which explains better prepare students to contribute to a information technology and 21st century what the tool is and how it will help Ohio 21st century global community. Full skill development. transition to the assessments. If you have implementation of these revised standards any questions about the tool, please will take place during the 2014-2015 contact the State Resource Coordinator New Web page simplifies access to standards academic year. ODEs focus will turn Team at OhioTRT@education.ohio.gov. information now to the creation of a companion model curriculum for each area, with a Please note Alternative Pathway Eligibility completion target of summer 2013. The ODE has created new and easier-tofor a Diploma revised standards are: navigate Web resources to learn more ! Fine arts Four sets of K-12 revised about the academic content standards and Section 3313.615 of the Ohio Revised standards were adopted (in dance, drama/ model curriculum. To access these Code provides an alternative pathway to resources, please click here. Or, visit theatre, music and visual art) and are graduation for students in the Class of posted here, along with participants of the education.ohio.gov and click on Academic 2007 and beyond who have passed four of working groups; Content Standards under the Educators the five required Ohio Graduation Tests ! World languages These standards column at the bottom of the page. and meet certain other criteria. Among the will guide instruction in all languages The Academic Content Standards section criteria is maintaining at least a 2.5 gradetaught in Ohios K-12 settings, including has links to each content/subject area, and point average on a 4.0 scale in the OGT each subject area eventually will offer links modern, classical and American Sign subject not yet passed. The school district languages. Along with an introductory to Resources (supporting materials), evaluates student qualifications for the PowerPoint presentation, these K-12 Transition (tools) and Professional alternative pathway to a diploma, but the standards will be posted here in early July. Development (see English language arts and conversion of letter grades to point values must follow the scale set by the State Board Three sets of business/financial standards The new Transition Toolkit will assist districts in preparing for full of Education. Helpful worksheets, a posted here are those in: implementation of new standards in timeline, the State Board of Education ! Financial Literacy, which will guide 2014-2015. Also included are links to brief conversion scale for grades, forms, a the integration of economics and financial instructional videos that help guide users fictional student scenario sample and more literacy instruction through the transitioning steps. information about this process are [3]

Curriculum and Assessment Update Continued...

Third Grade Guarantee Update for Nordonia Hills City Schools
What are the Diagnostic Assessments? The Diagnostic Assessments are intended to support teachers in planning focused, standards-based instruction for their students. The Diagnostics are aligned with the Ohio Academic Content Standards. To date, the Diagnostic Assessments have been developed for reading (kindergartengrade 2), writing (kindergartengrade 3) and mathematics (kindergartengrade 2). Components of the Diagnostic Assessments The Diagnostic Assessments are made up of four components: screening measures, which provide an analysis of students understandings of fundamental concepts and skills and help identify those students who may be at risk and need intervention observational measures, which are embedded in daily instruction and provide you with mechanisms for collecting information for monitoring students' progress and their intervention needs diagnostic measures, which provide student profiles that you can use for formative or summative assessment at key checkpoints during the school year or as a gauge of the progress that your students have made as a result of instruction. Each diagnostic measure is divided into multiple sessions that do not have to be administered all at one time. You may administer these sessions over the school year as you provide instruction short screening measures, which quickly tell you whether students are clearly on track to meet standards or whether further assessment will be necessary to make such a determination Resources By going to the ODE Diagnostic Support webpage, teachers in grades K-3 can search for activities that are linked specifically to the grade-level indicators for each standard targeted by the Diagnostic Assessments. Each activity reflects best practices, effective instructional approaches and multiple learning styles. In many cases, an activity will appear in all three categories. However, you will see that it has been adapted for the various performance levels and can be modified to best suit you and your students. The activities are organized into three types of activities which are aligned to the student-performance categories from the assessments: Challenge activities are generally for use with students who are Clearly on Track for meeting the requirements of a standard. Practice activities are generally for use with students for whom Further Assessment May Be Needed . Strengthen activities are generally for use with students who Need Further Assessment and/or Intervention ODE is developing a Web page containing links to resources that districts can use to develop robust reading diagnostic and improvement programs to ensure reading issues are addressed well before fourth grade. While this page should be available in the next few weeks, you can begin to explore the following resources: For PARCC Model Content Frameworks, click here. For Common Core Standards in ELA, click here. For assistance for K-3 teachers to navigate and use the Ohio Diagnostic Assessment System, interpret student scores and select appropriate activities, click here. For reading resources geared to families, click here. For reading resources geared to educators, click here. For Get It, Got It, Go, a quick, efficient and repeatable tool that is useful in measuring childrens risk and progress in critical language and early literacy indicators, click here

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Race to the Top Continued...

Successful Turnout at the Statewide Educator Evaluation Symposium Educator Evaluation Systems in Ohio
OTES MODEL POSTED The 2011-2012 pilot year for the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) is completed, and based upon feedback from pilot participants, surveys, case studies, and an external evaluator, the newly refined and revised model and resource packets are posted on the ODE website. Click here to view. The newly designed web page contains current information and includes: -Principal Evaluation -Teacher Evaluation -District Resources -Student Growth Measures -FAQs -Monthly Updates (newsletters); March and April issues feature details about the Credentialing training and the electronic eTPES system available to LEAs in September 2012. Contacts: For information about Value-Added measures: Christopher.Woolard@education.ohio.go v For questions about the *ODE-approved list of assessments: Larry.Early@education.ohio.gov *For questions about the actual assessments, please contact the respective vendors directly. For questions about developing local measures, including student learning objectives: Kathy.Harper@education.ohio.gov. For questions or additional information about the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System: Julia.Simmerer@education.ohio.gov, Kathy.Harper@education.ohio.gov, or Carol.King@education.ohio.gov For additional information about the Ohio Principal Evaluation System: Kathy.Harper@education.ohio.gov (614) 752-1473 1. Teachers who receive Value-Added data; 2. Teachers who do not receive ValueAdded data but receive assessment data from the ODE approved list (which will be updated annually); 3. Teachers who receive neither ValueAdded data nor assessment data from the ODE approved list. These teachers SGMs will focus on Student Learning Objectives (SLO) and other locally determined measures. Guidelines have been created for LEAs to develop SLOs and more guidance is forthcoming. There are two documents for writing an SLO and for developing/ approving SLOs that were recently posted on the ODE webpage. In addition, the ODE will be posting an FAQ regarding SLOs in the near future. Lastly, the ODE has granted 16 summer work grants for individuals to come together to design examples of SLOs (which will be posted fall of 2012). With this being said, it is recommended that LEAs complete a needs assessment in regard to which teachers receive (or do not receive) specific assessment data. In addition, it is recommended that LEAs work collaboratively with administration and teachers to determine the percentages of VA data to be used as well as to encourage LEAs to phase in percentage increases for VA scores as a part of SGM (for example: year one of data available VA=10%; two years VA=15%, etc.). Also, LEAs do not have to purchase assessments that are on the list, but must use them for SGM if LEAs are administering them throughout the year.

Race to the Top Ohio in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Education hosted the Statewide Educator Evaluation Symposium on May 25, 2012 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Over 2,000 principals, teachers, superintendents and educators attended the event. The Symposium was designed to meet the needs of educators committed to understanding how professional practice will be documented and thereby assessed. Opening Session The Symposium began with an opening session by Michael Sawyers, Deputy Superintendent, Stan Heffner, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ohio Department of Education, and featured guest speaker Joanne Weiss, Chief of Staff to U.S Secretary of Education. With a unique opening to the event, Deputy Superintendent Sawyers conducted a real- time poll of the Symposium attendees knowledge of the new evaluation system. Attendees surveyed had either some familiarity or were very familiar with the framework for the evaluation system and the Ohio Principal/Teacher Evaluation System (OPES/OTES) pilot. The opening session also included a panel of educator experts focusing on educator evaluation. Click here to view polling results. (PDF) Click here to view panel video, photos, and details of the opening session. Breakout Sessions The second half of the Symposium presented over 40 breakout sessions that informed education staff statewide on the new educator evaluation system being developed through the states Race to the Top grant. Educators, principals and leaders engaged in the systems development shared best practices and lessons learned from districts currently piloting the evaluation system. Click here to view breakout summaries and download presentations. Click here to view the Presenter Directory. Download the full conference program. (PDF)

FIP
Formative Instructional Practices (FIP) Your School in Ohio, powered by Race to the Top (RttT), is a program that provides professional development resources that support RttT application area C. The research is clear: Using high-impact formative instructional practices can lead to significant gains in student achievement. To truly see the difference that formative instructional practices can make on student learning, these practices need to be embraced as part of a schools culture. That means that teachers, principals, students and parents all understand the importance of these approaches and use them to guide student learning.

Student Growth Measures

There have been several questions about Student Growth Measures (SGM). For clarification purposes: The teacher evaluation system allows for three categories for teachers (in regard to SGM):

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Differentiate Instruction with Learning Centers

What does "differentiated" look like in practice? What should we do for students who complete their work ahead of the pack? Assign a towering stack of word problems to keep them busy until everyone is finished? Busywork is not the answer. Instead, establish learning centers to provide an enriching math experience for all of your students. Below are three key strategies for creating effective differentiated learning centers to extend and enrich learning.

Know your students

Be cognizant of the range of abilities among your students and plan activities accordingly. For example,

when reinforcing estimation and measurement skills, include hands-on activities such as having students plan a vacation by estimating travel distances on a map and calculating and measuring the actual distances using scale and proportion. Differentiate this activity by asking students to research the destination and create a brochure using appropriate software tools. Expanded further, students read about the culture of their destination and create a sample menu complete with prices of unique foods offered at their vacation destination. Students interested in becoming a travel agent or chef can present how this type of career involves math. Provide concrete and varied examples of acceptable work. Every student should be able to look at an activity and say to themselves, "Hey, I can do that!" Scaffold reading support for struggling students by providing instruction in a variety of wayswritten and verbal. Work with the reading specialist if you need help.

Involve your students

Give students structured choices. Allow them to choose the center they want to complete first. Organize

center activities based on students' expressed interest as well as their ability levels.
Ask students to establish goals for each center. For example, students who want to learn PowerPoint may

want to have a center activity that calls on them to create a PowerPoint presentation to teach a skill to or share information with classmates.

Consider time frames and assessments

Encourage students to monitor and assess their own time on task. Some students may be able to finish only

one center activity; others may be able to finish more than one center in the time frame allowed. Include formative assessment tools, such as portfolios and rubrics. For example, when students learn about calculating averages, they design paper airplanes in small groups, fly the planes, and average the distances. With this activity, students create a portfolio that includes identifying basic geometric concepts, drawing and calculating area of an ideal landing strip for their planes, and self-assessing their own designs. The scoring rubric is presented before students begin the project so that they know what is expected. Always share the accomplishments of the students! Establishing differentiated learning centers can be challenging. If it's early in the school year, teachers are not yet familiar with the pace at which the students work or their learning strengths and weaknesses. But wellplanned learning centers developed with student input offer students an opportunity to reinforce, enrich, and enhance learning. They also help establish a strong foundation for instruction throughout the year.

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20 MUST SEE TEACHING TOOLS COMING TO YOUR CLASSROOM

Its hard to find a field that hasnt been radically changed by technology, and education is no exception. Few classrooms these days operate without digital tools, gadgets, or applications that have made it easier for teachers to track student progress and tailor lessons to student needs and interests. While the tools of today are great, there are even more great technological teaching tools and practices on the horizon, many of which are just starting to be adopted in the classroom or are just making it out of the developmental stages. These tools offer new and often very promising ways to connect with students and improve the quality of education offered in schools. Read on to learn about just a few of the websites, programs, and amazing technologies of the future teachers and students alike will soon be using. 1. Class Connect: ClassConnect is a startup founded by teen entrepreneur Eric Simons (who spent months living on AOLs campus while he worked on the project). Inspired by his own difficulties finding interesting lessons in high school, Simons wanted to create a place where teachers could more easily mix up their instruction. ClassConnect does just that, making it easy for teachers to build, store, and share lessons with colleagues, students, or parents, which may just help teachers grab the interest of bright young minds like Simons. 2. 19 Pencils: 19Pencils is another great up-and-coming tool for teachers that allows them to more easily manage and share class content. Through the site, which is still in beta testing, teachers can build a class website to which they can post lessons, links to other class sites, quizzes, and even fun educational content for students. 3. Augmented Reality Glasses: Some laughed when Google announced it was working on a pair of augmented reality smart glasses, hopefully for release in 2013. Yet the device is incredibly impressive and could eventually become a common sight in classrooms, just like the once much maligned iPad. The glasses have incredible potential as a learning tool, and its only a matter of time before teachers are using the cutting-edge gadget in classrooms around the nation. 4. Online Learning Exchange: Educational publisher Pearson is taking the future of educational content development into their own hands, through amazing resources like the Online Learning Exchange. The site is still in its first stages but has already been part of pilot programs in states like Texas, where teachers can use resources offered by Pearson to build, share, and discuss their lesson plans. Even better, its easy for teachers to enrich lessons with videos, documents, and even games. 5. Prentice Hall Writing Coach: Writing coach is another pilot program by Pearson, which is also getting a lot of use in Texas classrooms. With writing being a skill that many students need to hone, the timing couldnt be better for an educational tool like this to emerge. The PHWC is an online curriculum that guides teachers and students through a series of activities and projects designed to bolster writing skills in grades six through 12. Its flexible, personalizable, and will likely inspire many similar programs in the coming years. 6. Three Ring: More and more modern classroom interactions are taking place online, and programs like Three Ring can help to make that process a whole lot more streamlined. Through Three Ring, teachers can easily digitize student work, create online portfolios, and even assess student progress. Even better, it can all be done right from a smart phone. 7. Class Dojo: Recently launched education startup ClassDojo is a really great tool for teachers who need a little help with behavior management. Through the site, teachers can offer students real-time feedback on their behavior and can print out daily reports for students and parents. It could quickly become a popular way for teachers to spend less time on classroom management and more time on actually teaching lessons. 8. CAVE Technology: While many of the tools on this list are already pretty accessible to teachers, those like Virginia Techs CAVE facility arent. CAVE, or Computer Augmented Virtual Environments, allows students to strap on VR glasses and enter a 3-D, immersive, multi-person environment, where students can quite literally become immersed in their lessons. So far, the school has developed a virtual Jamestown, entomology projects, and a virtual dandelion. While the technology isnt widespread now, with so many amazing and highly futuristic applications, more schools, museums, and science centers could be building their own CAVE tools in the future. 9. Cognitive Tutoring Program: Another amazing high-tech tool for education being developed by a top university is cognitive tutoring. Programmers and educators at Carnegie Mellon have teamed to build customizable software that adapts to student needs and abilities, increasing or decreasing difficulty as the student needs it. This sort of AI-based educational program offers some great possibilities for students who are struggling or those who just want to test their skills, and could prove to be a valuable educational tool for any school willing to develop their own versions of the software. 10. Fast ForWord: One of the best benefits about future teaching tools is their ability to help students who have learning disabilities. Fast ForWord is one example of a new product, designed around neuroscience research on dyslexia, that helps students with difficulty reading and writing improve their skills and reach grade-level standards. Even better, the new program is designed to mesh with No Child Left Behind mandates, which can make it easier on teachers to incorporate it into the classroom. 11. EEG: While you might think of EEGs as something you only use in a hospital, in the future they might become a more common sight in the classroom as well. EEG is short for electroencephalography, and is a method of recording electrical activity along the scalp to measure brain activity. Currently, there are only a few educational companies working with EEGs for educational purposes, like NeuroSky, the company weve linked to here. Yet EEG technology offers teachers unprecedented insights into the minds of students, and as neuroscience research exerts greater influence over classroom practices, teachers could find themselves administering their own brain wave analysis to check student learning. Continue on Page 9

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Technology Tools Continued...

12. Lore: Blackboard not working for you? Startup program Lore makes it simple to manage your course, using a social media-like format to help students turn in assignments, have discussions, and share ideas. While it could work for any type of class, Lore and other sites like it could be a big help for teachers working in distance learning. 13. GlobalScholar: GlobalScholar isnt new, the company has been around since 2006 and is a division of the education giant Scantron. But it is part of a growing number of tools designed to help teachers meet district standards, organize records, develop lessons, and even engage in professional development. Used in 1,000 school districts nationwide, GlobalScholars Pinnacle Suite and other similar software are fast becoming requirements in the modern teachers repertoire, which may not be a bad thing as districts tighten belts and demand bigger and better increases in test scores from teachers. 14. HMH Fuse: Pearson isnt the only educational publisher looking to think outside the usual textbook box. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is also working on their own high-tech educational tools, one of which is the very impressive pilot program HMH Fuse. Fuse isnt computer-based, instead operating exclusively on the iPad. The platform offers Common Core lessons in interactive form for Algebra and Geometry, though others may be rolled out in the coming months. Its designed to help keep students motivated and to raise their test scores, boasting in-app homework help for students and tracking capabilities for teachers as well. 15. Integrated Applications: A pilot program in Arkansas that blends a custom-curriculum with iPad applications is one among many such programs being developed in the United States for use in the K-12 classroom. Educational applications are increasingly playing a major role in teaching, and as new programs are developed and refined, few teachers can expect to stay untouched by the growing trend. Students in the Arkansas classroom got a chance to read iPad based books, Skype with the author in class, and design and built their own adventure stories, an experience that will undoubtedly become more common in the future. 16. Social Media-Based Learning: While many schools still ban YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, the reality is that social media offers so many interactive features to students and professors on their laptops and mobile devices. While the site first launched in 2009, it hasnt seen widespread use until fairly recently, as more teachers look for ways to shake up the traditional university model of education. Results are promising, as professors report an average increase of 3% to 5% in grades. 18. Socrative: These days, it isnt enough to reach out to students just over a laptop. Tools like Socrative understand that, engaging students through educational games and exercises via smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Teachers simply choose activities for students that relate to their lessons, students interact with the content, and teachers can then measure how much students are taking away from a lesson. Its simple and could be a quick and easy way for teachers to gauge student progress. 19. Late Nite Labs: With school districts around the nation fretting about STEM education, tools like Late Nite Labs could become an ever more important asset in a teachers arsenal. Schools that cannot afford lab equipment or who just want to give students extra practice can use the program to complete virtual labs, enhancing STEM education in chemistry and biology without substantial increasing school budgets or requiring a large amount of new resources. 20. Simulation Technology: From middle school frog dissections to medical school surgical practice, simulation technology is helping to give students at all levels a better biological education. While tools like these have been in use for almost a decade, new, more advanced versions of simulation software are being produced that more adequately replicate real-life scenarios for learners. These kinds of programs can be useful in teaching a wide range of subjects, from medicine to drivers ed to engineering.

opportunities for learning that it will be increasingly difficult to justify prohibiting students from using it for educational purposes. Already, many students are using sites like Evernote, Skitch, Blogger, and YouTube to develop amazing projects, even in early elementary school. While many social media tools for learning already exist, there will likely be an explosion of new sites in the coming years and new ways for teachers to use existing sites that will make social media an indispensable tool in the classroom. 17. Top Hat Monocle: K-12 classrooms arent the only places getting a boost from educational startups. Top Hat Monocle is working to bring disruptive technologies into the college classroom as well, bringing polls, quizzes, and

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Teach Thinking in the Common Core State Standards

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are designed with the overriding goal of preparing students to be college and career ready in reading, writing, speaking and listening, in language, as well as in mathematics. It is all about literacy and being literate. That means, according to the CCSS introductions (which ELA will be reviewing October 10th), that by the time students leave high school, they will have massed the literacy skills they need to go forward in a college or in a career. One of the things that we sometimes miss is a reliable resource that classroom teachers could use to slice the verbiage of the standards for the nuggets that are key to student achievement in the classroom and beyond. In this information rich age, the essential skill for youngsters to survive and thrive is this subtle and complex skill of critical discrimination. After analyzing 44,873 words in the ELA and Math CCSS, there is a list of 21 skills that are prominent in the CCSS. These skills, when taught with explicit teaching will enable students to achieve within the CCSS and these essential skills weave through the standards, subject-by-subject, grade-by-grade.
High Frequency Words: Common Core State Standards K-5 ELA MATH ELA 6-12 MATH

Understanding Read Write Demonstrate Clarify Develop Produce Rela9onships Describe Compare/Contrast Explain

33 28 22 19 18 18 17 16 14 13 13

Represent Understand Solve Recognize Interpret Find Explain Compare Describe Write Iden9fy

47 40 36 27 22 21 20 19 18 14

Analyze Determine Develop Research Clarify Write Rela9onships Demonstrate Understanding Create Read

73 50 41 33 32 31 30 28 27 26 26

Solve Understand Interpret Rela9onships Find Graph Represent Apply Describe Explain Prove

66 54 47 45 43 39 38 34 24 23 21

Syllabus of Seven Skill Sets and High Frequency Words Critical Thinking Analyze, Evaluate, Problem Solve, Determine Point of View, Compare/Contrast, Follow, Sequence, Solve, Draw, Sort Creative Thinking Associate, Hypothesize, Generate, Demonstrate, Create, Produce, Develop, Form Complex Thinking Challenge, Clarify, Find Central Idea, Determine, Research, Interpret, Find Theme Comprehensive Thinking Verify, Determine Relevance, Infer Point of View, Understand, Read/Comprehend, Infer, Recount, Identify, Decode, Describe, Retell, Paraphrase Collaborative Thinking Listen to Divergent Views, Apply Conflict Resolution Skills, Discuss with Civil Discourse, Collaborate, Pose Questions Communicative Thinking Use Logic, Find Relevant Evidence, Use Technology/Media, Write, Organize, Explain, Develop Projects, See Relationships, Present Cognitive Transfer Generalize, Synthesize, Apply, Demonstrate, Reflect, Reflection, Summarize

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