Schools

Plainfield Math Teacher Part of Elite Common Core Project

Indian Trail teacher Michelle Schade is part of a team nationwide team of educators — and the online one from Illinois.

Article submitted by Plainfield School District 202:

Indian Trail Middle School sixth-grade math teacher Michelle Schade is part of an elite national team of teachers helping educators learn how to best implement the new Common Core mathematics learning standards.

Schade is one of only 28 teachers nationwide – and the only one from Illinois – chosen to participate in the “Master Teacher Project,” sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

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The Common Core learning standards are national learning expectations that will replace state learning standards in 46 states, including Illinois. District 202 will implement the Common Core standards starting next fall.

The “Master Teachers” are building a bank of videos, written plans and resources demonstrating  instructional strategies and classroom management tactics. This initial cadre of Master Teachers is focusing on middle school Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry and advanced middle school math.

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The videos will also help teachers design their Common Core-aligned curriculum, and share hints, tips and professional reflections. 

Each Master Teacher will eventually compile a school year’s worth of recorded instruction – 180 in all. Schade’s lessons will specifically align with Illinois’ Common Core standards.

Then, starting next school year, the videos will be available to teachers nationwide through the “Better Lesson” website, which provides educators online resources and supports.

Schade got involved in the project through the Better Lessons web site. She uses the site herself to improve her own teaching, she said. As part of her application in December 2012, Schade had to prove her own expertise, in part by supplying evidence of her students’ academic achievement. 

Schade learned in February that she had been chosen for the first team of teachers. About 400 teachers applied from across the country, Schade said. She is now one of four teachers focusing on sixth-grade math

“Michelle has always been one of those teachers that has had a positive impact on the students she has taught and the teachers that she teaches with,” said Indian Trail Principal Christian Rivara.

“This opportunity, will allow her to have an impact on the entire teaching profession, and we are very proud to have one of our teachers involved in it,” he said. 

“I like to be ‘in the know,’ and keeping on the cutting edge of this process” of moving to the Common Core learning standards, Schade said. The shift to the Common Core standards will be the most significant change to public education in recent memory.

Plus, “I’ve always been interested in doing teacher training, so this lets me do that, too,” Schade said. 

Schade, who is also on District 202’s Common Core transition team now meets weekly via the Internet with a math coach to review her lesson plans. Next fall, a team from the Better Lessons group will visit Indian Trail and record Schade teaching her lessons in her classroom.

She uploads completed lesson plans (all aligned to the Common Core learning standards) every day. The lesson plans are reviewed by her coach before being posted to a public site. Schade’s “term” as a Master Teacher runs through June 2014, when a second cadre will be named. 

The biggest challenge so far, Schade said – other than the heavy time demands – has been learning some new technological tricks. But it’s all worth it to help other teachers improve learning and teaching.

“It’s exciting to see how other states are handling the Common Core, working with other staff across the country, being the ‘go-to’ person for our staff here (in District 202) and being part of something so helpful to teachers and students,” Schade said.

 


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