Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/250321
letters There is a 250-word limit, and all letters will be edited. If you send photos or other materials, identifications and permissions are required. Letters must include your name along with your address, daytime telephone number or email address. Email editor@cta.org. YOUR OPINIONS AND LETTERS ARE WELCOME! Learn more about Common Core I support the Common Core State Standards because they simplify what I need to do with kids down to the power standards and learning progressions. There were too many standards before to realistically be able to help kids master. Now there are fewer, so there are things I no longer need to teach, freeing me up to go deeper with literary analysis, persuasion, language, etc. I have more elbow room for project-based learning and for a wider variety of assessments to help gauge how my kids are doing. As for the connection between the standards and assessments, I am aware of what the assessment will look like and what my kids will need to be able to do to be successful. Thus, I structure all my lessons and activities around the standards, which will give them plenty of practice and exposure to similar kinds of thought processes and tasks. We will do all kinds of different things in my classroom; all of it prepares them for the tests they'll take at year's end. I don't do any test prep other than teaching kids good test-taking skills. I don't give practice tests. I do talk to them as we move through units about how they may be tested on things and what to expect, but that's it. When you give kids a wide variety of tasks to do, alone and with peers, and hold really high standards for their thinking and their work, they do great on any test you give them. REBECCA MIELIWOCKI Burbank Teachers Association touch with the changes and cycles in education (after 30 years of primary grade teaching and five years of retirement). STELLA HAWKINS Arcata Correction An article on state legislation in the November 2013 Educator incorrectly attributed AB 484 to Assembly Member Joan Buchanan. Assembly Member Susan Bonilla authored AB 484, which shelved the state's high-stakes test to make way for the new assessments. Keep in touch I really enjoy your magazine. It helps me stay in 7 Reasons why this should be the only credit card you reach for Earn more cash back for the things you buy most at the places you shop the most with the CTA Cash Rewards Visa Signature® credit card. Grocery and gas bonus rewards apply to the first $1,500 in combined purchases in these categories each quarter.* 1% cash back 2% cash back 3% cash back + $100 cash rewards bonus offer everywhere, every time at grocery stores* on gas* if you make at least $500 in transactions in the first 90 days** more and great features! Learn more and apply today! Call 1.866.867.6323 mention priority code VABXLA For more information about the rates, fees, other costs and benefits associated with the use of the credit card, call the toll-free number above or visit neamb.com. * The 2% cash back on grocery purchases and 3% cash back on gas purchases applies to the first $1,500 in combined purchases in these categories each quarter. After that, the base 1% earn rate applies to those purchases. ** You will qualify for $100 bonus cash rewards if you use your new credit card account to make any combination of Purchase, Balance Transfer or Cash Advance transactions totaling at least $500 (exclusive of any transaction fees, returns and adjustments) that post to your account within 90 days of the account open date. Limit one (1) bonus cash rewards offer per new account. This one-time promotion is limited to new customers opening an account in response to this offer. Other advertised promotional bonus cash rewards offers can vary from this promotion and may not be substituted. Allow 8-12 weeks from qualifying for the bonus cash rewards to post to your rewards balance. The value of this reward may constitute taxable income to you. Bank of America may issue an Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 (or other appropriate form) to you that reflects the value of such reward. Please consult your tax advisor, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide tax advice. This credit card program is issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A. Visa and Visa Signature are registered trademarks of Visa International Service Association, and are used by the issuer pursuant to license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Bank of America and the Bank of America logo are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. ©2013 Bank of America Corporation MB1013-SEV-AD-CTA Educator 02 Feb 2014 v2.1 int.indd 9 1/27/14 3:51 PM