CCHS Student Art Show Fall 2015

Frank Bruni on Surviving College Admissions

Frank Bruni wrote an outstanding op-ed piece on surviving the college admissions process for the NYT earlier this year. In some regards, it should be mandatory reading for all parents of high school students. As a parent myself, I took to heart his central premise - your child's success and ultimate happiness IS NOT tied to the prestige level of the college they get admitted to!

Read it and see what you think:

http://nyti.ms/1GaePTz

Back-to-School Resources for Parents | Edutopia

Back-to-School Resources for Parents | Edutopia



This is a great list of links for all parents to help get their kids ready for the new school year!

Report: Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learning | Edutopia

Report: Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learning | Edutopia

Tips for Helping All Learners Succeed | Edutopia

Tips for Helping All Learners Succeed | Edutopia

Creating a Geek Culture in the Classroom | Edutopia

Creating a Geek Culture in the Classroom | Edutopia

What the Heck Is Project-Based Learning? | Edutopia

What the Heck Is Project-Based Learning? | Edutopia

Traditional Grading?

The more I read about the traditional grading system, the more I call into question the purpose of how and why we utilize it the way we do.

The first link goes to a recent EdWeek article on the subject and the second to one by Guskey from EdLeadership in 2011. 

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2015/03/still_not_convinced_grades_are.html?cmp=soc-edit-tw-tm

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/Five-Obstacles-to-Grading-Reform.aspx

What other options could we employ that would better serve our students? Are you familiar with high schools that have revised the way they report out on student progress?

10 Most Powerful Uses of Technology for Learning

http://nzzl.me/1xvDfrx

3 Simple Ways to Differentiate Instruction

http://ajjuliani.com/3-simple-ways-differentiate-instruction-class/?utm_content=buffer93775&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Weapon of Mass Instruction

5 Research-based Effective Teaching Practices

When teacher's provide clarity, give students useful feedback and teach them how to learn, they make real progress. 

http://tinyurl.com/qcd8v2q 

Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement | Edutopia

Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement | Edutopia



Great piece on listening to students about what engages them.

53 Ways to Check for Understanding | Edutopia

53 Ways to Check for Understanding | Edutopia



Next to engaging students, this is the most important aspect of teaching & learning.

As a teacher, you need to know if the students are moving towards the goal, and if they're off-course, you need to know how you should intervene.

Rigor?

Too often we confuse the volume of the work with rigor. 

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/09/a-school-that-ditches-all-the-rules-but-not-the-rigor-game-based-school-playmaker/

Wise Words

Common mistakes educators make w/ 1:1

As CCHS moves to a 1:1 learning environment in 15-16, it's important to keep theses ideas in mind:

CCHS @ FIRST Robotics Competition 3/28/29

We celebrate the CCHS Robotics Team 3205! Our creative, and technically adroit, students who  built a robot from scratch in 6 weeks! They spent the day at Northeastern University competing against other high schools from around NE in the first round of the regional FIRST Robotics challenge. Go Pats!!!

Click the link below for more pics:

https://twitter.com/petercchs/status/581850093877235712