Material resources, personalized support, time to collaborate, and strong principal leadership are necessary for making curricular and instructional shifts. The authors of this article share the lessons they learned about supporting implementation of the Common Core State Standards. They draw on interviews with teachers, as well as field notes taken by curriculum specialists throughout the implementation year. They focus on the supports that teachers found most useful and discuss additional supports that would have improved their initiative. The lessons they learned include, first, teachers should be provided with the right materials. Second, teachers should be given additional, personalized support. Third, teachers should be provided with the opportunity and support to collaborate. Finally, principals need to lead the charge, since they are responsible for arranging teachers' schedules, organizing teacher teams, and generally setting norms for teacher collaboration.