"Educators need to prepare kids to be career and college ready, but they also need to prepare them for their present world. The Common Core State Standards set out to do that. They're not perfect, but they are a starting point" (Peter DeWitt).
The standards are not a curriculum. Standards are targets for what students should know and be able to do. Curricula are the instructional plans and strategies that educators use to help their students reach those expectations. Central to a supportive school are teachers, administrators, and other caring adults who take a personal interest in each student and in the success of each student. Join us throughout November as we look at how we are designing course content, choosing appropriate instructional strategies, developing learning activities, continuously gauging student understanding, adjusting instruction accordingly, and involving parents and families as partners to support our students' success.
A whole child approach to education is essential to realizing the promise of the standards. Only when students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged will they be able to meet our highest expectations and realize their fullest potential.
The Whole Child Podcast
Download the Whole Child Podcast Thursday, November 7, for a discussion on supporting students and the Common Core. You'll hear from
- Peter DeWitt, an elementary school principal in New York and the School Administrators Association of New York State's 2013 New York State Outstanding Educator. DeWitt writes the Finding Common
Insights on Tackling Informational Text
The mandate to get K–12 students reading more informational texts is the feature of the Common Core State Standards that has stirred up the most complaints. Bringing more nonfiction reading into students' lives will require many educators to stretch a little—from English teachers who love to inspire others through their favorite poems to science teachers accustomed to relying on textbooks to kids
10-28-13 Whole Child BLOG: Improving Schools: "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" — Whole Child Education
Improving Schools: "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGImproving Schools: “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”Many have written and spoken about the key lessons taught in kindergarten and during preschool years. There are articles, lists, hints, and videos with much of it coming from Robert Fulghum's book All