Welcome!

     It's a busy time for teachers, but what an exciting time as well.  Like many others across the country, teachers in my home state of Washington are grappling with implementation of the new Common Core State Standards, and the new Smarter Balanced Assessment that will measure student achievement of those standards.  We are also taking on the Teacher Principal Evaluation Program, our new evaluation system.   

     As if our plates weren't already full - our state has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards and are working towards their full implementation and testing, which will begin in 2017-2018.  

     While I am not planning that this blog be completely about Science, it will comprise a large part of my posting this year.  I have been selected to attend the Phil Mickelson/Exxon Mobil Teacher's Academy in Jersey City, New Jersey this Summer.  I have also been selected as a Master Teacher in Science by the Better Lesson Website, and will be busy working on posting Science lessons to their website all school year.  

     Part of the expectation/responsibility of benefitting from these experiences, is that I share them with my colleagues.  The best way that I can think of to do this with the busy lives we lead, is via a blog.  In order to keep this reader friendly, I will attempt to organize this by using pages to make it easier to navigate.  I hope you find the information of use to you.  Be sure to leave a comment, and suggestions are always helpful.  

     Have a terrific summer!  Meanwhile, I will be busy - in the middle of working on a bunch of lessons and ideas that I hope will make your journey towards implementing the NGSS a whole lot easier.

Amy