Monthly Homepage Survey Results

Each month, Curriki solicits advice and opinions from members. It's a chance for you to share with other teachers. The answers we receive inform future developments at Curriki.

Here, we look at some interesting responses we've gotten from surveying the community:

In response to the question: Do you use a "Smart Board" interactive whiteboard or a similar tool in your classroom? For what purpose? Describe student response to this tool.

• "I use a Promethean Board about 85% of my day for almost everything. I use it as a regular white board, I use it for Checking for Understanding with the ActiVotes (Student Response Systems), for modeling how to use websites, for going online to our curriculum sites for Guided Practice, to show movie clips or our content, etc. Mostly it is used for INTERACTION by the students. They are constantly up at the board to move things, categorize, etc. I could not teach without it!"
• "First, as a projector screen; Second, to write instructions; Third, to present material. They enjoy the "wow" factor -- handwriting to text, displaying things by touch, etc."

In response to the question: How do you judge the quality of "free" content?

1. Correlation to learning objectives
2. Readability and grade appropriateness
3. Open license

In response to the question: What is your response to the new Common Core standards currently being developed?

• "I notice a lot of discrepancies among states' standards, so a national standards need to be in place. A Common Core will help our students to compete on the world stage in the long run."
• "We do not need more… just need to apply what we have and get rid of teachers that are lazy and cannot teach."
• "I support their development. I think some states have dumbed down their tests, so I think we need the national (or nearly-national) standards to make sure that students everywhere are getting the curriculum they need."

In response to the question: How do you "take control" of a class at the beginning of the year?

"All students want to learn, and they want to know that you'll make that happen in a caring and orderly environment. I show that I'm organized and that I can teach well by using a mini-lesson on Day 1. Then we take a class picture. I make sure that my tests for the first half of the first quarter are not so hard that struggling students immediately sink. I give them a while to catch up if they're not used to a teacher who expects a lot."