#jsdinnovates April 2021

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Becoming a Teacher Leader With Micro-credentials

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Becoming a Teacher-Leader With Micro-credentials As a classroom teacher, I have always kept a bright orange poster on display that asks students two critical questions: Do you know it? Can you show it? If a student can answer a resounding YES to both questions, that student is able to make progress as a learner. To KNOW the concept is important, but the two questions are fundamentally linked; it’s just as important to SHOW what you know. Educators have the “know-how” to be effective, but sometimes in the day-to-day shuffle the “show-how” gets lost. Many professional learning opportunities give teachers the chance to add to their bank of knowledge, but don’t encourage teachers to put what they know into action. This is why Digital Promise micro-credentials excite me.  In 2016, I began exploring micro-credentials as a professional learning option for our district. I wondered if perhaps micro-credentials could be the answer to some of our realities: a disil...
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Tomorrow is not the First Day of School . . . for me

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I’m so grateful for the many students I have had the honor to teach. Relationships matter. I miss teaching teenagers. Tonight is School Eve, the night before all the students arrive. In years past, on this night, I have been frantic. I rearrange desks at the last minute. I wait to make copies until my contract hours are at their end because I know I want to tweak my disclosure statement right until the last moment. In years past, I have seen that same disclosure statement morph into something entirely new. Add a wiki address. Add a QR code. Delete my late work policy. Delete my cell phone policy. Simplify it to one page. Take away the signature spot. Email it to parents and forgo photocopies altogether. The first day, too, has shifted. Go over rules, policies and procedure? Yes. Once. It seemed most important. Talk about me? Yes. I had plenty to say, just out of college. Most recently: a writing pre-assessment. On day one. A Nearpod that lets students reflect on their proficiency on...
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