I've had a some pretty spirited debates with my father (a 40 + year teaching veteran) about Common Core. For those of you who don't habla Common Core this is what it's about. It is our country's attempt to get all states aligned with the same core standards.
Here's the thing. I'm a teacher who was bread with the state standards. When I got my teaching credential I was trained based on the idea that I would be following the state standards. It was the only thing I knew. As with many things in this world, if it's new to me then I pretty much accept it as it is until I learn more. When I went into my first day of teaching I was handed the curriculum guide to our textbook and was told to teach everything that was in red (all items in red ink were items that had to be minimally taught in order for all standards to be covered by test time). Any items that were not in red could be used as enrichment activities or items that could be used with honor classes. This was all I knew as a first year teacher and it made it VERY easy. This was all I knew.
After teaching from this guide for a year or two, I quickly realized that the state standards were at best voluminous. They didn't mesh well together and many times didn't make sense. This is why I've welcomed Common Core. They make more sense to me. I feel like I can do more with these standards. And as long as my district doesn't make me do the latest in robot teaching techniques (yea, I'm talking about you EDI), I feel I can do some great projects with my students.
Yes, I know that nothing is changing in regards testing. Yes, this test will be hard. Yes, our kids are going to fail epicly. Since when did these tests have any bearing on a student going to college or denying them the ability to be who they want? In the age of accountability did you really think these assessments would disappear? Ninja please.
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