Another wrench in the works

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 So I think I finally figured out how to organize my stuff so that I can keep track of it. I'll be using that guide that I showed in the last post. I have altered it slightly so it looks like this: 


This way I have a kind of running list of what I'm doing and be ready to keep moving if I have time. Also, I have a place to make notes so that I remember key things and don't forget what I had in mind. I also have color coded it with highlighter. Yellow means that assignment will be graded. Green is something that I have to do. Red is something that I need to post in the classroom. I have included the links to all the resources I will need so I can easily print them or load them. I think this will work because I can print it out and have it on my table and just keep going. It will allow me to prep things in advance that way I can keep going and I'm not stuck if something doesn't take as long as I thought it would. I can just keep going. I can also write notes on this about the lesson so that I have it for next year or even next class. 

Then in my teacher planner, I can make notes on the individual classes. How far they got. Any behavioral things. Log entries. Whatever. The key here is doing it. If I review this each morning, I will know what I am doing each day. If I take the time to write notes at the end of the class or the end of the day, I will keep up on things. This system can work as long as I work it. 

Now, to the wrench in the system. I took a little webinar on standard based grading, SBG, last night and now I'm rethinking everything. The lady who presented it is a modeler and uses the modeling curriculum. She has reworked that entire curriculum to use SBG and she is willing to share it with all of us for free. She will just give it away. She has also done AP Chemistry and is willing to give us that. This is awesome, but now that creates a dilemma for me. Do I continue to go on with the new curriculum I want to use or do I stick with the modeling curriculum and use her stuff. Basically it boils down to, what do I want to do more? Notebooks or SBG? 

I think the modeling is more easily adaptable to the notebooks than trying to create SBG for the new curriculum. So what should I do?  I did adapt a couple of modeling units to the notebooks last year, granted not well, but I did. So I know that can be done. Also, if I get the breakdown of the units by objective, I should be able to develop big ideas from that. Then I would only need to find some anchor phenomenon and summative tasks. 

I seem to be leaning towards the modeling curriculum. I already know that curriculum and have kind of taught it a full year. Hmmm....I will give this some more thought. I really want to do SBG and I don't want to revamp everything, I'll loss track of what the heck I'm doing. 

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