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Let Flexibility Lead To Alignment

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  In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
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Assessment, Grading and Personalization

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I was privileged today to participate in a panel or assessment and grading in a personalized classroom as a part of the 2015 Personal Learning Convening facilitated by the Institute for Personalized Learning.   Jim Rickabaugh facilitated the panel which included Faith Lincicum, Frank Devereaux, and myself.  I'll discuss more of my takeaways in a future post.  But, I wanted to provide my prep notes from the panel discussion.
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