Heather Van Gorder

Mama of 3️⃣, teacher, children inspire me, love literacy, open mindedness,creativity, and music.

[Lana Lozure @lanabrarian]

@PresidentPat Having elementary students sit for any test over an hour. Our standardized tests take several hours for an average student.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@untilnextstop @HeatherL114 @PresidentPat Yes!! It’s absurd!

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@dylanwhitcher @PresidentPat You’ve got to be kidding

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@StaceTheFace5 @Chris_C_Barber Omg yes 🤮

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@offgridteacher Disgusting. Horrible. Stupid.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@SandenSherry @MrZachG @dylteach It’s definitely not perfect but nothing is and I’m not a fan of some aspects of it. Take out what doesn’t work and use common teaching sense and of course ADD SOR activities it’s a great framework.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@SandenSherry @MrZachG @dylteach You are absolutely right. If taught correctly with continued modeling, patience and daily differentiated choices (adding new concepts) Ss become independent self motivated learners and thrive doing meaningful independent work. It’s actually beautiful imo.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@SandenSherry @MrZachG @dylteach Exactly. Plus giving them choice with explicit instruction and modeling all year long (which should always be done with elementary) pays off immensely in the long run. But takes a lot of organizing and preparing which sadly is why the damn worksheets and busy work come in.

[Emily Williams @EmilyWill41]

@DrCIKingdom The biggest challenge I see is many educators, admin, & districts won't acknowledge that the pandemic changed things and are trying to do things the way they've always been done. No one is trying to understand things from the students' perspective.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@EmilyWill41 @DrCIKingdom Yes!!

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@munson_jo @GiftedTawk Same

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼🤯

[Paul Emerich France, #MakeTeachingSustainable @SustainTeaching]

Some days, I just want to scream this from the mountaintops:

HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS IN SCHOOLS DETERMINES WHAT WE DO IN SCHOOLS

When we measure success by standardized tests, we teach to standardized tests. It's that simple.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@JamieClass5 @paul_emerich Makes me sick. Truly.

[Heather Van Gorder @HeatherVGteach]

@anna_houseworth @AshlandSoar Honk honk!

[Ibram X. Kendi @ibramxk]

Welcome to the United States of America where mass shootings happen everyday because GOP politicians care more about protecting the flow of guns (and thereby campaign donations and support) than protecting the lives of their own constituents—let alone the rest of us. 1/2

[Tyler Rablin @Mr_Rablin]

Job description: Must run five hours of meetings daily with reluctant participants. Must monitor and document participant learning. Will have 45 minutes to prepare daily, but that time will be taken away regularly.

Every other profession: *audible laughter*

Teachers:

[📓Tenille Shade✏️☮️ @tenilleshade]

@paul_emerich Across my career, #TCRWP has deeply influenced my work. Regardless of how districts may have rolled out their instructional materials, TC is a community of practice who believes in empowering teachers to become their own instructional designers. Outgrowing the units is the goal.

[Paul Emerich France, #MakeTeachingSustainable @SustainTeaching]

The moment you ask a teacher to follow a scripted curriculum with fidelity, is the moment you say to teachers, "I don't trust you to use your expertise to serve your learners."