I Need a Pensieve

OK. I thought I was ready. Teachers came back today for Professional Development. Our afternoon presenter, Lisa Henderson from Essdack (our co-op), discussed Differentiated Instruction in the Math and Science classrooms. She was phenomemal, so much energy radiated from her that she could have talked about anything and I would have been excited about it. I love presenters like that.

I have been struggling with what DI actually looks like for quite some time now. No person I asked could give me a straight answer, so I changed my concentration over to Standards Based Grading. Lisa came in and not only defined it for me, but actually told me that what I had been doing was on the right track. Whew.

My immediate reaction (as it often is) was to jump in head first with this, too. I started listing all the ways I could implement this into my classroom. Around the second page of scribbled concept maps (that's how I think), alarm bells started going off. I can see myself starting to take on too much. Baby steps. That's the key.

I need to step back and look at all this from a new angle and decide how to move forward. I am not willing to abandon SBG because I love it and it is the middle of the trimester. I want SBG to seamlessly fit into my DI classroom. How to do it? Not sure yet.

I need Albus Dumbledore to loan me his pensieve.* I have so many ideas and thoughts swimming around my head that I can't think straight.

Deep breaths. I need to decide where to start.

*Seriously, read Harry Potter, already. I love that world.