When teachers feel perplexed about various Common Core requirements, there may be opportunities for connecting with other educators to ensure understanding of the standards--which will result in the ultimate learning experience for their students. 

Elizabeth Stein, teacher and writer for MiddleWeb.com, looks at Connected Educator Month as a way for teachers "to build connected learners", and "create the learning bridges to help our students link their strengths and areas of need to the intentional scaffolds we provide through the instructional process."

Common Core, she said, "demands connected educators", teachers who "are true learners themselves- and it is contagious." By connecting with other educators, teachers may be able to understand Common Core better, and their students will too. 

"What do you automatically think about when you hear, 'connected educator?" she asked. 

"A connected educator is a person who values the process of learning to the point where passion overflows into an endless, boundless cycle of sharing and learning that far exceeds the traditional concept of time and space!" she said. "Connected educators provide learning links so their students have multiple opportunities to learn in personal and meaningful ways."

Common Core, Stein said, is one of the "true pathways to create connected learners."

"We as Connected Educators and connected learners must create the learning bridges to help our students link their strengths and areas of need to the intentional scaffolds we provide through the instructional process," Stein said.

As teachers,"we must scaffold just enough to set the state and to satisfy their right to have access to deeper learning- not the rote, mechanical learning of just memorizing facts," she said. "We want to motivate learners to feel the process of learning that will make them connected learners in our classrooms, in any classroom, and well into their adult learning years."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor