Knowing what I know now about CCSS, what will I do differently next year?

"The road to expertise starts and ends with small steps." 

from Becoming a Reflective Teacher (Marzano, 2012)

The title of this blog was the prompt for the Algebra teachers last week at the District Algebra Team meeting.  As a parting reflection of our Common Core journey and the last meeting of the school year, each teacher wrote down what they would "do over" for next year.  They had some great ideas and with their permission, below are their suggestions for next year.

Teaching-Assessing-Learning Cycle 

• "I will start the year with a series of investigative tasks and problem-solving to get the students used to being the ones in charge of thinking and explaining." 
• "Look at the unit assessment first and work backwards."  
• "Next year, I will spend more time going beyond focusing on teaching all of the standards to the appropriate depth and instead focus on creating meaningful tasks that address more of the mathematical practices and incorporate multiple standards." 
• " Create opportunities in the classroom to teach students how to take ownership of learning through Assessment for Learning."  
• "Utilize checkpoint quizzes (more formative assessments) from the beginning of the school year."
• "Create more opportunities for (student's) thinking and explaining their thinking." 

Communication to students 

• "Start the year off with talking to the students about what Common Core is and how the way you are going to teach is different for them and you.  The students can get frustrated because they are being asked to develop their mathematical thinking (mathematical practices) and they aren't used to it.  As a teacher, you may get frustrated, but it is all good! The students have learned to debate with each other and teach each other" 

Reflective teaching 

• "Take notes of what does and doesn't work, remember it is a process".  
• "Look at the PARCC website of released questions to understand the depth of knowledge required for CCSS."  
• "This summer I will work on creating more artifacts that review each unit.  This will give me an opportunity to get a big picture of each unit, and become more focused.  I will also work on creating more station activities or activities that engage students in a more structured way."  
• "Continue to work with other teachers from across the district! This was a huge and necessary part of my development this year.  I would have been so lost without being part of the conversation.  That is the key! - Come to the table and figure it out together."  

Differentiation strategies 

• "Learning-based grading gets kids motivated and helps them make the connection to what they know and how they can take ownership of their learning."  
• "...work more in E2020 to assist with differentiation"
• "Use more DOK 3 questions daily in my teaching so my students get used to that level of questioning."  

As we gear up for Geometry and Algebra 3-4, thanks to the Algebra teachers for sharing their honest advice.  The CCSS Algebra teachers have paved the road for the rest of us and for this we say THANK YOU.