I am a connected educator. Through dynamic networks such as Twitter, the National Writing Project, MERIT, and Google Certified Teachers, I can start every day with amazing new resources and thought-provoking, shared conversations on educational topics – such as the Common Core State Standards. Below are a few of my favorite CCSS-related links that have come my way over the past year:

• Common Core and Ed Tech blog – In less than a year since going live with this blog, middle school teachers (and MERIT 2011 colleagues) Gene Tognetti and Karen Larson have had over 30,000 visitors to their site. It’s the inviting conversational tone and innovative mix of technology and CCSS that makes this blog such a valuable resource. I thought, for instance, that I was pretty familiar with the resources posted to the Buck Institute’s Project-Based Learning pages until I read Gene’s post Three easy to understand presentation rubrics from bie.org. Because I’m fortunate to know both Gene and Karen personally, I know the CCEdTech blog will continue to be a resource that connected educators can contribute to and learn from.
• Buck Institute of Education’s Rubrics – The BIE’s CCSS-aligned rubrics, such as the Presentation Rubric for PBL, help teachers guide students in making effective presentations in a PBL project and assess their performance. To keep up with all-things PBL, I recommend connecting with Suzie Boss via Twitter (@suzieboss) and  through @edutopia.
• Teaching Channel –  With 117 videos to date focused on making the CCSS understandable to viewers by filming real teachers with real students, the Teaching Channel is an invaluable just-in-time resource. I welcome the regular email  updates from Sara Brown Wessling‘s listserv letting me know when new videos are available, such as the examples below that provide insights on different approaches to teaching “close reading.” A great teachers-teaching-teachers model!
  • Selective Highlighting – A window into 6th grade teacher Dawn Norris’s ELA class.
  • Literary Analysis through Interactive Stations – 12-grade ELA teacher Daniel Wallace weaves “power tableau” into close reading of a text.

It’s hard to imagine fully embracing/questioning/teaching the Common Core without my daily dose of connected educators’  mentoring and inspiration via a variety of social networks. My goal for the new school year is to share a monthly post with more CCSS resources. Please jump into the conversation if you have favorite CCSS resources and/or strategies to share.