Here’s the recent article about CC math. It could actually be about all of CC – the same theories are being applied across the board.
https://townhall.com/columnists/janerobbins/2018/06/05/whats-wrong-with-common-core-math-n2487580
Buzzwords: groupthink, discovery learning, work collaboratively, teachers facilitating (rather than teaching), conceptual understanding (rather than facts), problem-solving and perseverance.
This type of “teaching” leaves kids feeling incapable, confused, frustrated, etc. “… the progressivists’ requiring children to solve problems of a type they’ve never seen before, theoretically as a means of showing insight and understanding. Students struggle to figure this out (‘productive struggle,’ as touted by progressivists), much as a non-swimmer struggles to reach the side of the pool without drowning. Even if he survives, he likely still doesn’t know how to swim.” (Also, think about all the social and emotional “grading” they are doing. They are purposefully creating a frustrating learning paradigm and then documenting – and possibly suggesting interventions/services – their frustration, implying that it’s the kid’s issue, rather than a destructive education environment and methods.)
Also, note the constant “21st century” verbiage that permeates education talking points as a reason for “change.”
“… the traditional approach [of math instruction] … is inadequate for 21st-century needs (reformers never explain why necessary math skills change from one century to the next).” (Emphasis added)
Then, here are recent videos published by Blue Valley. Note the things Blue Valley is implementing – already proven to be failed teaching paradigms.
Posted by BVSD 6/5/18; Video on Blended Learning by Brad Moser
What does Blended Learning look like in Blue Valley? Take a peek inside our classrooms and you’ll see! Collaboration, teachers engaging with students, students helping one another…and at the heart of it all? Strong student-teacher relationships that allow for personalized learning. #StudentCentered #ThisIsBVBlendED #TechTuesday
Video transcription:
Blended Learning at times may look a little different than what than what we normally see in a classroom. But at the heart of it is this student-teacher relationship that allows for personalized learning and those those students to grow in the ways that they need to grow uh to become who they need to become. When I walk in a classroom before it was blended, I might see a teacher standing leading the class in a whole class lecture instruction, kids taking notes on their papers and then stuffing them in their binders and then you know going and dropping them in their locker. Well now when I walk into a classroom, a blended learning classroom, I might not even first see the teacher. I might see other students standing up in smaller groups helping each other and the teacher is maybe is collaborating with a small group. The technology is so versatile that it can meet the needs of each one of the students in the classroom and allows the teacher to focus more on the students in that classroom.
Posted by BVSD 5/29/18; Video on Blended Learning by Brad Moser
Blue Valley’s Blended Learning Impact Study provided district students and staff the opportunity to learn more about the impact of technology on learning. What did we find? Technology is a game-changer! From opening doors for students to collaborate and create, to providing a platform for all students to have a voice, Blended Learning in Blue Valley takes student-centered, future-ready learning to the next level! #TechTuesday #BVBlendED
Video transcription:
From the research, BL allows students to work together collaboratively. BL allows them not just work together face-to-face but work together with students that aren’t in the same physical space as them. BL learning opens up an element of creativity that didn’t exist before in a lot of our classrooms that maybe didn’t have a lot of creativity built into it. These tools allow them to produce and publish and share where before it was maybe a written document that was turned into the teacher. We put devices in there (smile). We’ve powered them up with some learning (smile) and sort of opened the door and let them lead us. We had a middle school kiddo that told us he appreciated the ability to have an on-line discussion, not have to raise my hand as fast as I can and get called on first by the teacher, and then everyone else just kinda sits and watches. But, he could ponder and have that time to kind of compose his thoughts and then share that. But not to share it to the teacher; share it so that every student in the class has an opportunity to read it. So, really, technology provided a voice for that student, and it’s providing a voice for all these students in our classrooms.
Posted by BVSD 5/24/18; Video on Blended Learning by Brad Moser and Kelly Ott,
“Classrooms that are loud with learning.” That’s what Blended Learning in Blue Valley is all about! Blended Learning leverages the power of technology to enhance instruction and empower students to connect, create collaborate and learn. Check out what district leaders have to say about Blended Learning in Blue Valley!
Blended Learning:
It combines Digital Media like computers, tablets and online resources.
With traditional face-to-face instruction:
Lectures, text books, and assessments.
Blended Learning:
Embodies our commitment to remain student-centered and future ready by:
Increasing access to technology …
Increasing the mobility of technology…
To enrich and personalize the student learning experience
Blue Valley School District will use the results of the ongoing blended learning study.
To determine best practices for utilizing technology as an instructional tool.
Blended Learning equips teachers with better tools while empowering students to learn anytime.
Blended Learning equips teachers with better tools while empowering students to learn anywhere.
Blended Learning equips teachers with better tools while empowering students to learn at any pace.
Video transcription:
Kelly: We’re looking at ways to leverage the power of technology with the creative mind of humans (smile) to really take kids places they’ve never been before.
Brad: BL puts together the teachers and the students and powers them up with the tools they need to become students that are future ready.
Kelly: They are re-imagining what skills and knowledge that students will need to be successful in the future. Technology is one of those skills. Using it appropriately. Using it to deepen learning. Using it to connect, to create and innovate. Technology will be at their fingertips when they step outside of our walls; so it needs to be at their fingertips when they’re inside of our walls.
Brad: We’ve already begun this process this year by implementing our impact study. Next year, we plan to power up our teachers; helping them embrace some of the platforms and tools that they already have at their disposal. We’d like to follow that up by powering up our classrooms and our students, giving them greater access and mobility. And, then finally, we focus on power up the learning and making sure that our classrooms are loud with learning.
Kelly: We knew that we needed to be very deliberate about our decisions. Make purposeful moves that are both fiscally responsible, keeping kids safe, making sure our infrastructure is robust enough to support it. But, in the end, really making a difference impacts learning so that we are not just giving them devices, but opening doors.
Kansans Against Common Core 