Welcome to the Common Core-al, Pardner!

Like many of you, in Georgia we are transitioning to the Common Core State Standards this year. The challenge of the new standards is exciting but there are still many unanswered questions! To assist with the shift, my principal allowed an unused classroom to be designated as the Common Core training room. This space is reserved as a meeting place for teams who are viewing state webinars, planning new units, and storing materials. I teamed up with a couple of colleagues to make this classroom both fun and useful. We designated one corner for math standards and one wall for English/language arts curriculum maps. We used a Wild West theme to decorate the room. A banner over the Promethean board invites teachers in: "Welcome to the Common Core-al!" A butcher paper tombstone's epitaph reads "RIP GPS" (Georgia Performance Standards). Bulletin board space is designated for burning questions and vocabulary. We also have a bookcase stocked with a binder for each grade and various supplies for teachers to use. I hope this mix of form and function will help teachers wrangle the standards this year. Yippee ki-yay!