Home Page Rationale:

The benefits and drawbacks of switching to a national curriculum have been widely debated as educators strive to include the best possible approach to content and learning possible for students. As the majority of states make the transition to common core curriculum, many educational professionals hope to see a positive impact in the depth and breadth of learning, increased higher order thinking, and the ability of the student to engage in effective reflective processes to fully analyze and take ownership of their own learning process. The possibilities for the learner to grow and succeed are invigorating!

However, many educational professionals feel the need to engage in more professional development opportunities to be prepared to undertake the challenge of shifting to a new format of content acquisition, particularly in an academic climate that necessitates great accountability in terms of assessment as well as a strong foundational knowledge of technological processes in order to meet the needs of the 21st century learner.

One positive aspect of this need for change is the adaptability and the technological proficiency of today’s young digital learner. They are prepared and excited by the prospect of using technological tools, particularly as they develop digital fluency and literacy, which is defined in the following quote:

“The competencies, new representational practices, design sensibilities, ownership, and strategic expertise that a learner gains or demonstrates by using digital tools to gather, design, evaluate, critique, synthesize and develop digital media artifacts, communication messages, or other electronic expressions.” (Cosmah & Saine, 2013, para. 6)

To prepare to teach learners the common core standards in a contemporary digital climate professional development and research is imperative. This can be accomplished by interacting with a professional learning community, participating in local and global educational development opportunities, conducting research, among other professional practices. The hope is that this website will help to improve your professional practice by offering resources that will help you to adapt to the common core as well as providing the essential documents to properly collect and analyze data in your classroom. Reflecting on your performance as an educator as well as thinking critically about how content is presented and tested will positively impact student success inside and outside of the classroom.

Cosmah, M., & Saine, P. (2013). Targeting Digital Technologies in Common Core Standards: A Framework for Professional Development. New England Reading Association Journal, 48(2).