My lesson plans and the to-do list from my plans. So we were planning yesterday. It was all of the science teachers from both of our high schools, and we were planning NGSS and PARCC-esque activities to add to our curriculum. Since last year I pretty much lived, slept, and breathed all things PARCC, I was offering suggestions for activities that would align to the Science Literacy standards that are a part of the CCSS ELA standards. Well, I was offering them until another person in our group kept shooting them down, mocking each one in turn as something that they have already done in the past or couldn't be done because the kids wouldn't do their work.I don't know about you, but, at this point in my career, that kind of attitude is completely unacceptable.
I know people don't like PARCC. I know people don't like being bound by or held accountable to these standards or the tests that often fail to adequately assess those standards (and rarely return data in any usable or timely form to the teacher). But I still try and see the good in those standards; I try to pick out what's best for my students' learning and form activities around them rather than try and negatively attack the whole part and parcel of them hoping they'll go away.
I guess I try and move forward. I would like to think I try and change by progressing rather than trying to stay firmly rooted in the place I've been for the past 18 years. But even those stalwart roots will change after a while - they will change by staying the same, so much so that their outdated practices will cause them to stand out like a sore thumb.
If you're trying to move forward, don't let the people that are resisting change and their negativity hold you back from doing awesome things with students.
