An App for the Iowa Core

It started with a shared sense of curiosity about every iPad user in the room... what apps do they have? Then it went to Twitter with David VanHorn (@dlvanhorn) asking a simple question about what would an app for the Iowa Core look like. Then David moved forward and invited responding tweeters to a meeting.

When asked to share my thoughts about what type of app could move the Iowa Core forward, my wheels started spinning; our small team assembled from Twitter land started dreaming. Could there be a walk-through template for districts to use and tweak as they look for the characteristics of effective instruction in the classroom? Could teachers use an app to plan and also reflect on their instruction? Could students provide feedback on how they engaged with the learning, how rigorous they felt it was, how relevant they thought it was? Could collaborative teams share in the data and help each teammate improve on their practice?

It's coming people. This fall, we will have tools for districts to use and tweak so they can have and improve those deep, data-informed discussions about teaching and learning.

It amazes me how things are coming together in our state, and this meeting to brainstorm an app for the Iowa Core is just one example of it. We may be hearing that the work is being cut, but what I am seeing invigorates me.