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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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Next on the Slate? Your Choice.

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I'm proud to be representing Brookfield Central High School and Elmbrook Schools today at School Leaders Advancing Technology in Education (SLATE) Conference.  This is my first year attending, so it's an honor to be able to present as well.


The focus of the presentation is on student choice in assessment.  By that, I mean choice in how a student will demonstrate mastery of standards (both content and non-content specific).  The presentation focuses on the why, what, and how of allowing choice.  It is my belief that before we can have any discussion of what the choices will or should be, educators need a firm rationale for the importance of choice or why it is needed in their classroom.  The next step is to determine the what.  The "what" in our case are the standards students should be meeting.  Only then are we prepared to discuss the how.  This concrete definition of mastery is especially important if a lot of the choice in "how" will be left up to the students and their specific learning preferences.  Below you'll find the presentation I'll be a part of today.




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