Skip to main content

What do you think?

Today someone asked the following question: if you're not in favor of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), then what standards would you propose we replace them with? Although my response below started out somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it has made me think about what it is I really believe.

If it were up to me, I would say no standards.
Instead, I would have the kids brainstorm their passions, those things they would really like to study.
Then, I would categorize these with a group of colleagues.
Next, I would lay out all of the things (S&B's) that students would be learning if they were allowed to study their passions.
Along with this, would be all of the things teachers would be teaching that would help students study what they are truly interested in.
Of course, there are other things I would do like reading and writing workshop, etc.
Finally, I would present this to your principal. If you did a cross check of this with established standards I bet you would hit all of them and then some.
Hmmm...Maybe I'll do this with my ESL kids just to see what happens...

It's not that I don't believe in standards. Rather, I believe in kids. I also believe that teachers working together have the professional knowledge and expertise to know what is important for kids to learn. And, of course, there are the kids themselves who can tell us what they need to get better at. We also have professional organizations that have given us excellent standards over the years - NCTM, NCTE/IRA, etc. So, why do we need something created by non-educators? Why do we trust these standards more than our own knowledge? Why do we need a rigid set of goals that all students must master by a certain grade level?

I know. I know. What about new teachers? Well, what about them? That is why there is a collective of teachers, new and experienced, to help sort this out.

This is out loud thinking, and it's very rough. It's not a typical SOL but it captures a moment in the timeline of my evolving thinking so I think it qualifies. What are your out loud, rough thoughts on this issue??

Cross posted to March Slice of Life Challenge, Day #6.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Partner Reading and Content, Too Routine (PRC2)

I'm a hoarder. There, I've said it. I try to deny that I'm a hoarder but it comes back to haunt me every time I move houses, or pack up my classroom at the end of the school year. I have old articles, lesson plans, handouts, folders brimming with teaching ideas, past issues of profesional journals. I hardly throw anything out though I've learned to be more selective over the years. My one rule of thumb, and I really try to stick to this, is that if I haven't used or referred to something in a year, then it's time to toss it into the recycle bin. One exception to this rule (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) is past issues of journals from professional organizations. However, with the ability to locate articles online through my professional memberships, even this exception is becoming less and less useful, which brings me to the topic of this blog post. I am currently reading a copy of The Reading Teacher from 2010. I've clipped a cou...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Reading Strategies Book - Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension

The strategy lessons highlighted in Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension, in The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo are critical to students’ engagement and comprehension, as well as their ability to write literary essays, or even book reviews, summaries and reflective pieces about books. If students aren’t able to talk about books in a way that is invigorating and joyful, they will be less likely to develop an interest in growing ideas for writing about books. In her introduction to this chapter, Jennifer Serravallo, reminds us that when conversations go well, children are inspired by what they read and are motivated to keep reading. However, when conversations fall flat, then kids get bored and tune out. How do we avoid this situation and teach kids to  have  focused conversations about books?  The answer is easy: teach kids  strategies to help them develop effective conversa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are we listening?

A child sits alone with a ripped worksheet packet on his desk. He appears to be singing or subvocalizing something though no one hears him. Or, perhaps they're ignoring him. The teacher stands at the front of the room teaching on the SmartBoard. The children follow along in their worksheets. Except the child sitting alone. He is in his own world. No one engages him and he engages no one. My heart aches for this child. He is physically and emotionally removed from the class. I ask him why his paper is ripped. (It's not an accidental rip.) He says he did that on a different day. When he had been frustrated about the work. He tells me that he sometimes sits by himself because the work is too hard for him. He later tells me that he sits by himself because the teacher thinks he talks too much during the lesson.  He says he does that because he wants to find out about the "lives of the other children". My first impulse is to rescue him from the wrongheade...
10 comments
Read more