Day11- today was a half day at school. We had a good day, watched Lion King for our 100% party and had an inservice on essential learning. As teachers we r being encouraged to develop a list of 6-8 essential things in each Math and Reading that we feel our students need to learn by the end of the year without looking at state test guidelines. This may seem easy, but I have taught students so long that I see this as a very delicate thing to do. My reasoning is that 5th graders development hasn't changed too much but society, policy, technology, and economies have greatly. This is more than readin, writin, and rithmatic to say the least. I have brainstormed some good idea, but wonder what today's society would want a 10 year old to be able to do.