Common Core State Standards

-
When the Common Core State Standards were first implemented in Washington, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about them. I think that was because I didn’t really know anything about them or what these new standards meant for new students; at the time I think I may have even jumped on the “Common Core is dumb bleh” bandwagon because that’s all I was hearing about the Common Core. However, after reading through the standards, reading through the myths vs. the facts of the CCSS, and working with the standards in lesson planning I have come to realize how great of a tool the CCSS are for educators. I now understand that the CCSS give teachers a flexible guideline that allows them to create their own classroom curriculum and teach students in an effective way.

I understand that there are limitations that come with using a standards-based approach in schools, like teaching to the test or overly specific standards, but I think that the Common Core State Standards are really working to overcome those limitations. The CCSS recognize that the needs of students vary from classroom to classroom and that they don’t work to put students in these little boxes. Because they aren’t too broad or too narrow, the CCSS act more like a road map that allows teachers to create curriculum that is unique to the needs of their students while still setting them up to meet the standards. I think that having a set of standards like the CCSS can really allow teachers to build and collaborate to create curriculum for their classes that will build on and expand the knowledge of their students.

Overall, I think that the Common Core State Standards are a really great tool for us as teachers because of how easy they are to follow and how flexible they allow teachers to be in developing their curriculum.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

-
Reading through I Read It, But I Don’t Get It, by Cris Tovani, reminded me a lot of my dad and my journey as a young reader. My dad has always had trouble reading; he has always been good at reading texts like instruction manuals or magazines about something he is interested in, but I’ve never seen him sit down with a book and read it for pleasure (until just the other day when he asked to borrow my copy of Ready Player One ). When I was young, I wasn’t as much of a reader compared to my classmates, and my parents were worried that I might end up not liking reading like my dad. Something clicked though, and I became a voracious reader; I’m still a voracious reader (when I have the time). I think that the reading/thinking strategies that Tovani goes over in this book really stood out to me because they make me think of how my dad could have used this when he was growing up, or could use them now, to become a better reader; they also make me think of many of the students in my prac...
Read more

Book Talk: The Importance of Being Earnest

-
Image
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Summary: “Oscar Wilde’s madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers’ entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters of The Importance of Being Earnest have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades. Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest, while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heat of Jack’s ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack’s country home on the same weekend--the “rivals” to fight for Ernest’s undivided attention and the “Ernests” to claim their beloveds--pandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day!” -from the Prestwick House edition Biography: Oscar Wilde was born October 16, 1854 in Dublin. Wilde was an author,...
Read more

Graphic novels

-
For this weeks blog post I read “Teaching With Graphic Novels,” an article I found through Edudemic. The article discusses different reasons why utilizing graphic novels in the classroom can be beneficial for students as well as insight into how teachers can begin to incorporate graphic novels in their classrooms. One reason for the use of graphic novels in the classroom that the article touched on was that graphic novels are essentially the same as any other assigned novel in a classroom, the only difference is that they utilize panels and images to further the story. With that in mind, I think that it is important to note that because graphic novels are essentially the same as traditional novels, in terms of content rather than format, they can and should be utilized in classrooms in order to give our students more variety in reading materials and in order to help meet the needs and interests of our students. The article also notes that graphic novels may be a good way to reach stu...
Read more