Weekly Dispatch

The Office of State Assessment at SED has posted some of the administration directions for the 3-8 tests:

Who refuses to take state tests? It turns out there’s a pattern across the country.

The Atlantic magazine wonders whether teacher evaluation will change as we move from NCLB to ESSA.

This column does a nice job of explaining sleep and the needs of our children. Of course, school starting time comes up.

PBL 101
3/14, 3/15, 3/21, 3/22	O & M
5/11, 5/12, 5/18, 5/19	Main Campus Canandaigua Room

PBL-101 is the foundational four-day workshop inspired by the work of the Buck Institute for Education, New Tech Network, Edutopia, and Expeditionary Learning. It provides attendees with the skills and knowledge needed to design, assess, and manage a rigorous, relevant, and standards-based project. The cohort that begins May 11th is not yet full!

This story about kindergarteners involved in a project provides a great example of Project-Based Learning right from the beginning of school. This example connects literacy, community, research, and action!

A Problem-Based Learning (PrBL) training is scheduled for May 2nd. At the training, participants will analyze different ways to link your curriculum and technology with a PrBL approach to create a rigorous and engaging learning environment for your students. Participants will also utilize workshop time to start planning their first PrBL experience for their students. This session is for middle school and high school math and science educators and administrators who want to learn more about Problem-Based Learning.

The Buck Institute for Education is teaming up with OCM BOCES to offer a four-day conference on the research-driven success of Project-Based Learning. The one-of-a-kind event embraces the Maker Movement and offers a long list if inspiring speakers and workshops aimed at bolstering your understanding and success with student-centered, inquiry-based learning. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect with fellow educators, renowned experts, and PBL trailblazers for an event guaranteed to spark creativity, collaboration, and innovation in the classroom.

This report documents the success that students from deeper-learning high schools have over students who attend traditional high schools. If we want students to be ready for college and to succeed in college, our traditional high schools have to evolve.

Leadership Networks meet several times during the year in order to provide the latest information and build content-specific leadership expertise in our districts. Upcoming sessions include:

DuFour and Reeves define "real PLCs" in this publicly available article from Kappan. They urge us to stop using the PLC label inaccurately and to focus on what works and what matters.

This short column describes the power of student choice. It also gives a few suggestions for providing choice, including the use of menus.

Registration is now open for the next round of summer social studies, July 18th – 21st, facilitated curriculum work. Examples that integrate ELA and social studies will be used, especially at the elementary level. There are two threads: grades 9-12 and grades K-4.

The identification of your essential learning targets doesn’t make them essential. Until you act like they are essential, they are still just “nice-to-know.”

Sonday System® 2 focus is on syllable division patterns, syllable types, syllable division, prefixes, suffixes (with governing rules), roots, contractions, non-phonetic words, vocabulary, and comprehension. Training is March 30th (register here if you have the materials; click here if you need them).

Here’s some advice for preparing students to think globally and to be global citizens. It starts in elementary school.

This list of articles about standards-based grading can help you find the research or experience to help you make the transition. There’s even a top ten list!

AP collaboration sessions are being formed. If you are an AP teacher, perhaps one of these sessions is a match for you:

March 11, 2016