C4T #3

3 words for the year: Hope, Opportunity, and Courage

In this post, Mr. Bernia gives us a recap of what he told his staff at his beginning of the school year meeting. Three words were the focus: hope, opportunity, and courage. Hope is something that many students lack throughout their childhood. They may have a bad home situation or not do well in school. Other students may have lots of hope and dreams they aspire to fulfill. It is our job as an educator to pick up the hopeless and push the dreamers to be the best they can be. Many kids may not have the opportunity to experience things that most kids get to experience. Teachers must create these opportunities, like field trips to help these students do things they probably would not do on their own. Lastly, educators must have the courage to stand up for what is right. They are attacked constantly by outside sources that do not know how much teachers do for these students. Students do not care about or most of the time even know about these attacks. All they care about is if we give them a pat on the back or if they have someone to sit by at lunch. We must stay strong and fight for what is right.

Smarter Balanced Assessments, change for the better?
In Mr. Bernia's last Daytime Staff Meeting, they discussed their new Smarter Balanced Assessments that will help students be successful after they leave their school. Some of these include:Teach kids the skill of taking notes, planning, and revising; Give students the chance to use technology; Provide real world examples in student work; and Change our interventions – less on work completion, more on learning. I think that every teacher should use this checklist to help their students be the best they can be. I will definitely keep this checklist and add Mr. Bernia to my PLN.