CCSS-Uninformed haters should get on the train

I just saw the trailer for http://www.commoncoremovie.com/ and was disappointed. First of all, the trailer was not clear on what their actual point was. Just a vague "common core is bad" message that was kind of all over the place. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a good thing, and will force us to teach the way students actually learn, and prepare them for tasks that they will actually face in the real world.
Here are my more extended thoughts:

Who is the intended audience for this movie/trailer? Just people who are already ticked off about what they THINK the CCSS means, and are, and will remain, uneducated about the truth about how the CCSS were developed.

Should public school have as much power as it does?

No

Is this a "federal" thing?

No, no, no, no, no. All you people that think that states should have their own standards, of that education should be decentralized don't know what you're talking about. States had their own standards since (in CA's case) 1997. They weren't good. There were lots of problems with them.

Are standards at all something that should be looked at seriously?

Yes. There's a valid conversation, here. However, the conclusion, by people truly thinking about practicalities, not just political talking points, will be that standards are good. Students that move between schools, districts, or states, will still get a quality education that won't have holes. Teachers will have guidance as to what to teach at what grade level. This is a practical, helpful thing. And if the standards are written in an intelligent way, which the CCSS are, then this is a good thing, a practical thing, a helpful thing.

Is the assessment system totally disfunctional?

Yes. Way too much punishment and fear, and not enough understanding about how it affects daily teaching and learning in a negative way. Many people not involved in education seem to think that since they were in school once, they can talk with authority about education. These people seem to champion "reforms" that put more and more pressure on teachers and students. This kind of pressure has led to "No Child Left Behind" and lots of disfunctional things in the public school system. 

CCSS is wonderful. It will challenge me and other teachers to think more deeply about what our students truly need to function in the real world, and not just teaching to a test that is way too divided into discrete skills...skills that are necessarily tied together in every reading experience. The progression between grade levels is incredibly well thought-out and logical.

As far as I can tell right now, the assessment is much wiser and reasonable. It is not just one big test at the end of the year that we all stress out over and try to make practice tests that mimic it; we will give CCSS tests several times during the year, and students will get test results that asses what grade level they are functioning at...this is another testament to how well the standards progress from one another between grade levels.

The roll-out of it all has been, to say the least, awkward. 1. Standards 2. Textbooks 3. Assessments. These should have all come out at the same time. At least make it so that teachers aren't having to scramble to create CCSS-compatible materials with no new textbooks available. Having the assessments available so that we could see what these standards actually look like when students take the test would have been helpful. However, now that the transition is much closer to being complete, I am very, very hopeful that this is gong to be a good change, once we all adjust.

It is unfortunate that so many people on Facebook, other social media, and the web seem to be blasting Common Core, when they don't know what they're talking about. If they have issues with public school, that's a valid conversation. If they have issues with how the CCSS were agreed to, then in most cases, they just need to read up and educate themselves about how this change began. In almost all cases, those that are now blasting CCSS are very, very late to the party. To actually make a difference, criticism and objections to this should have been raised at least 3 years ago. This train has left the station.

And it's a good train. It's going somewhere worth going.

Inspiring quotes, Inspiring students

17Fn recently posted a comment on a post on my other blog (Teach 'em How To Fish) that was Gandhi's quote, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

She said, "And recently, thinking backing on it Mr. Warkentin, I realize you were a big influence on my continued growth towards having a love of reading, writing, and environmental activism. Please keep doing what you did. You never know how many more you may unwittingly inspire by living as the change you wish to see."

Wow! 

Of course, this is a huge shot in the arm  as a teacher, since we all have seasons of our career that are more inspiring than others. The year I had 17FN in my class was one of the best years of my career, I would have to say. Since then, I have had a few very difficult years.

It was great to read the comment, but also great to browse over some of my thoughts from previous posts. The quotes that were important to me, and things I was learning at that time... Now at a season that is very stressful for a teacher-the beginning of the school year.

Some other powerful quotes from that blog:

“In times of change learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.“ – Eric Hoffer

This was a quote that I found 17 years ago, when I was student teaching. It is true now, more than ever, since I am now in the midst of very significant change:

1. Shifting to Common Core SStandards
2. New principal & admin
3. New grade level teaching partners
4. New grade level (although I've taught 4th grade years ago)
5. Some new technologies that I want to use in my classroom regularly
1. my own teacher iPad
2. class sets of iPod Touches to share
3. class sets of iPads to share
4. Edmodo

And, finally, a post about Digital Natives & Digital Immigrants had some good stuff in it.

"We need to educate our children for their future, not our past." - Arthur C. Clark

This was inspiring, given the list above! This gives me energy and more inspiration, especially when I would be tempted to enter into these things more slowly. While it's wise to not bite off more than I can chew, I shouldn't be more timid than I need to be.

Google Sites: Simple, Yet Sensational

Thanks to those planning on attending my session “Google Sites: Simple, yet Sensational”

I hope that you gained (will gain) some inspiration about creating a Google Sites for your classroom website, or perhaps another purpose.

Whether you attend or not, I hope you can use my presentation, which can be found here.

It covers:

Creating a new Site

Captcha

Name vs. URL

Templates

Features

Types of New Pages (Web page, File Cabinet, Blog)

Layout of New Pages

Live Links

Sidebar (Automatically or Manually)

Images

Upload files (non-File Cabinet way)

Embedding Google Products

Embedding other things (HTML embed code)

Countdown

Sharing (various degrees of privacy/publishing)

Examples will be shared

Live Demo and Q & A at the end

Edmodo 101

Here are my notes from the Edmodo session I attended. There will be incomplete sentences and outline-format ideas here. Enjoy this with taht in mind:

It's like Facebook for schools
It's a "walled garden": a protected, safe social networking environment
Students can't go "out" and make friends. They can't even connect to other classes that I set up, unless I configure it that way.
Teachers see everything, can monitor everything.

No email address necessary (good for younger-than-13-year-olds)
Write their username and password in their agendas/daily planner
Teachers can change their usernames/passwords

Functions:
1. Polls
PollEverywhere.com is a good option - a good way to use cell phones acceptably in school
Edmodo's Poll function might be a great way to to check for understanding, both mid-lesson, or at end of longer lesson/unit

2. Assignments (classwork/homework)
3. Tests & Quizzes
Multiple-choice questions - Students see scores instantly!
Fill-in - students must type in EXACTLY what you typed in
Short answer - teacher must grade
all is paperless, though! :)

4. Student and Teacher Collaboration
Huge potential for this. Hard to fully convey in a verbal conversation.
I think I'm just going to have to jump in to fully understand how this can work, and grasp the full potential of what this tool can do.

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Had a fantastic talk with the folks at the Edmodo booth in the Exhibit hall.

Very encouraged to see how folders can work.

For example, if there is a resource in a group I'm a part of (like Basal Alignment Project) that I want to share, I can share that resource with my teacher colleagues by sharing it with a group that we are all in.

Then, if a teacher wants to use that resource with his/her students, the resource can be shared with a group for just that class or period.

The chat/discussion feature is fantastic. I can choose the settings so that any comment that a student posts has to go through me first. This makes me, the teacher, the filter, so that I can teach my students about online netiquette...what is appropriate and what is not, how to make wise decisions about their online footprint, etc.

With all of these powerful features, I naturally had some anxiety about my class/school/district/etc investing time and energy in understanding and using Edmodo, and then it becoming a fee-based service, since many free online services have gone this way. The rep assured me that they "are free and always will be".

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I will probably update this blog post as I continue to talk more with the folks at their booth, and rub shoulders with other teachers that have used this tool with their students and colleagues.

Disneyland, Christmas, and God

Christmas gives me a picture of how God views us.

So did our recent trip to Disneyland.

In both cases, I was in a position of a father who wanted to do everything I could to love my kids by giving them special things and special experiences.

Here are some thoughts that have occurred to me about how there might be some important parallels between how God wants to love us as our Father, and how we want to love our kids:

1. Giving special things and special experiences is costly and stressful at times.

Christ's incarnation, suffering and crucifixion was extremely costly to Him.
So is organizing and paying for a family Disneyland trip.

2. It is a tremendous joy to see my kids delight in the gifts and experiences that my wife and I provide for them.

God gives us gifts and experiences every day that are easy to overlook...or at least forget to acknowledge as coming from Him:

It can be an act of worship to admire a sunset, rainbow, or any other part of creation that brings us amazement. 

I feel God's presence when I enjoy sounds like a baby's laughter, birds chirping, or beautiful music.

A warm blanket on a cold winter night is definitely a gift. Many tastes and smells bring smiles and pleasure, as well.

Much of our sensory input is really a gift from God. If avoiding danger was their only purpose, then all of our senses, and the stimuli available in this world, would be much simpler. But take a moment to think about all the complexity and multi-sensory beauty that God has given us.

We can feel the gift of God's presence when we enjoy mature, healthy, enriching relationships.

God loves it when we enjoy His creation, and His involvement in our lives. 

Even if we don't choose to attribute these gifts as coming from Him, I choose to believe that He delights in our enjoyment of them, nonetheless. 

3. Not everything is appreciated by my kids as I intended and hoped.

If you have attempted to provide something special to your kids that, well, just didn't pan out, you know what I'm talking about here!
Many, many of God's children have chosen not to accept His gift of relationship with Him, and of salvation.

When we went to Disneyland over Thanksgiving break a few weeks ago, these two verses came to mind, as my wife and I were structuring the day to bring maximum fun and joy to our boys. They come to mind today, also, as I think about the physical gifts that they received.

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

Matthew 7:11 NLT

Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 

Romans 8:32 NLT

iOS App Recommendations

This vacation, I've been able to spend some time pursuing a dream I've had for quite a while: having an "App Night" for parents. I have noticed that the percentage of homes of my students that have iOS devices is increasing. When, at award assemblies or Christmas programs, it is time for parents to take pictures, out come the iPhones (and even a couple iPads this year). I asked my rural, low socio-economic students how many of their parents have iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touches, and the number is more and more encouraging every year.

Because of this, I have wanted to somehow have a conversation where I recommend quality apps. There are many apps that merely improve "twitch" speed, and so nothing for literacy, math skills, or critical thinking, etc. Knowing how much time my own children like to spend on our family's iOS devices, I know that there is an incredible potential for learning here.

So here is a Google Presentation that I've been working on, with recommendations for apps. I hope that during this season where many of you (or your children) potentially got new iOS devices, iTunes/App Store gift cards, or both, that this might be helpful.

1. This is a list for parents, not teachers. Many have done this, and I hope to prepare a list for teachers, at some point, too.

2. Obviously, keeping up with all the incredible apps out there, and truly picking out the best, is an impossible task. There are many apps that you would probably like to add to this list. Please add them to the comments here!

3. Since I am now teaching 2nd grade, and my children are in K and 4th grade, this is primarily (ha! "primarily" - get it?) where I'm coming from. As this project continues to grow, I hope to provide more recommendations that include higher grade levels. However, many of my Science and History / Social Studies app recommendations are relevant to all ages/grades.

4. This does not attempt to be an "iPad list". Many of the apps recommended either a) have an iPad version, or b) are "universal", which means they work on both. Here is a list of apps that are specifically about iPad apps.

Merry Christmas!

Fatherhood teaches me about God

At our small group meeting (aka Bible study) last night, I shared that my boys have been teaching me about God lately. Not necessarily by their behavior, but more by what words I hear coming out of my own mouth (or at least my thoughts).
Statement #1: Trust me. Just obey.
We were working on a project together (don't remember what it was, but I think it was something for him), and he had several questions about how or why something needed to be done a certain way. What made it more difficult was that his hands weren't still as he asked the questions. He didn't seem to be be ready to be patient enough to hear the answers before he went with my plan (the order and speed that were necessary for that particular project). What's more, this project would have been very difficult to verbally explain to him...just too complicated to understand by hearing about it (at least for a 9 year old!)

So I needed to pause, look him in the eye, and say "Trust me. Just obey. You'll see."

Once I uttered those words, I realized that this is what God says to us. We don't understand HIS plans, or his timing, and since His ways and thoughts are far above ours, there's no way that we could comprehend His plan before we just Trust Him and Obey. Also, I realized that as I said these words to my son, it wasn't that I was wanting to shut him up or demand obedience for my own ego. It was just the best advice for getting the project done. It just made sense. It was out of love for him that I said it.

Statement #2: If you love me, obey me
One of my boys had been having a terrible day, with respect to appropriate, obedient behavior. Breaking rules, doing immature, disrespectful, frustrating things more often than usual. Then, later in the day, he hugged me and said, "I love you, Dad."
On one hand, that's precious and I need to accept it as genuine and say, "I love you, too." (which I did this time)

On the other hand, I feel like saying (and have at times), "If you love me, obey me." Wow...
This is exactly what Jesus said to his disciples.

Do I love Jesus? (Yes. I claim to be a Christ-follower.)
Then do I obey him? (The more I walk with Christ, the more I realize that I don't obey Him nearly as often as I could/should...)

Conviction with grace and love, not condemnation with guilt and shame
As I continue to be a dad, teaching my sons about God, about the world, about wisdom and maturity, the more I seem to hear God's voice in my own head...saying things like:

That's what I'VE been saying to YOU!
Exactly! That's what I'M like!
Right! That's how YOU need to treat ___, too!

And yet, these echoes of my own voice in my head from the Holy Spirit are never filled with guilt and shame. Just conviction. Maybe this is because I don't ever want my sons to feel like I don't love them, or that they have to EARN my love for them. I don't want to break their spirit.
Well, that's how God operates, too. He doesn't want to break our spirits, laying on us a load of guilt and shame. He desperately wants us to know how much He loves us.

These are just some of the things that being a father helps me learn about my heavenly Father.