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 ...
"Are you open to your own evolution as an individual and as a professional?" Couros, G., & Novak, K. (2019). Innovate inside the box: empowering learners through Udl and the Innovators Mindset. Place of publication not identified: published by IMpress, a division of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. Five years ago, I was hearing the buzz about student portfolios. So, I took the big leap of integrating student portfolios into my classroom. I was using Google Sites as the platform for creation. It was free and at the time our school was just beginning to use Google Apps for Education (now known as G Suite). If ever there was a case in which I felt like I was innovating inside of the box, this was it. Google Sites had lots of opportunities for customization. Almost any type of media could be added and the look of any part of the page could be adjusted. Students could add artifacts, create blog posts, and comment on each other’s work. The big drawback was that the interface w...