Okay, my friends. I'm going to
weigh in on a rather hot topic right now:
Common Core. I keep seeing videos
and articles going around the internet that argue Common Core math is
destroying our young people. Every time
I see one of these, I have one of two reactions. I either laugh and say, "What a moron"
or I get really angry. So today I'm
going to discuss why I have these reactions.
Let me remind you that last year I taught high school English. The school I taught at was a charter school
that was in the process of adopting the Common Core standards. Because of this, we were very focused on
studying them and learning how to apply them. Each department in the school met weekly to
discuss the implementation strategies. We even had workshops in which outside
professionals came in and helped us navigate these new standards. So let's just accept that I have read the
standards, and I'm not just blowing smoke out of my rear end, m'kay?
Let's start off by talking about why I have the moron reaction to the
anti-Core fanatics, especially when I see the video of the Arkansas woman
"destroying" Common Core. It's quite
obvious that these people have never actually read the Common Core
standards. Let me explain how I know
this, and why I'm willing to bet everything I own on this knowledge.
For those of you who have never read a teaching standard, I'll explain
them a little. Teaching standards have
been in place for years and years and years. Pretty much for as long as actual
schools have been around. For a long
time, they were determined by each township that had a school. Then they started to be governed by specific
counties. Eventually that evolved to the
point that each state was setting standards that encompassed every school in
the state. That's what I grew up with
. (I'm betting that's what most of us
grew up with.)
A teaching standard is a benchmark, a learning goal that a child is
supposed to reach before he/she can be forwarded to the next level of
learning. For example, a child must
learn to count before he/she can be forwarded to learning how to add and
subtract. No method of instruction is
introduced, only the benchmark that must be reached.
Common Core is the next evolution, in which every state has the same
benchmarks at the same grade levels.
Speaking as someone who went to 4 different elementary schools, 1 junior
high school, and 3 different high schools (in different states,) this is very
beneficial. I don't want any child to
experience what I went through: changing schools to discover you have
completely missed part of your education because it was taught in a lower grade
than the school you just left. (You know
the less than/more than signs? Yeah, I
completely missed that when I changed schools once. It took me years to figure them out, because
no one thought to question whether I had actually been taught this lesson. They just assumed that I had, and that I was just
particularly thick! Instead of giving me
the lesson, they marked the answer wrong and moved on. Standards that are
the same across all of the country would have eliminated this misunderstanding.)
The Common Core standards are really not that different from most of
the standards that the states individually instituted previously. In fact, they surpass many states' learning
expectations. Rather than dumbing the
standards down to match the lowest state expectations, they actually raise the
standards up to match the highest. (I
was surprised to see some of the suggested literature for each of the grades. Several of the texts suggested for study in the lower high school levels were texts I
didn't study until I was in college! But
don't get me started about my high school English education. Let's just say that I didn't develop a
passion for the subject until I was much, much older. )
A method of teaching, on the other hand, is a way for the teacher to
impart the knowledge needed for said student to reach that benchmark. For example, the method of teaching I learned concerning multiplication included
boxes, dots, and counting. (2 X 3 would
be 2 boxes, each filled with 3 dots, count all the dots, the answer is 6.) It worked really well for me, not so well for
others. Another method of teaching was
memorization of the multiplication tables, which I also had to do. It also worked for some, but not others.
Do you see the difference between the two concepts? A standard is a goal that must be reached to
move forward, a teaching method is the tool used to help a student reach that
goal. So, why do the anti-core people
make me laugh? BECAUSE THEY SAY THEY ARE
ARGUING AGAINST A STANDARD, BUT THEY ARE ACTUALLY ARGUING AGAINST A TEACHING
METHOD! Nowhere in any of the Common Core standards can you find methods for
instruction! Only the benchmarks! Funny, right?
Yeah, not so much.
This leads me to why I get angry.
These people who come out against the Common Core because of teaching
methods have not done their research properly.
Anyone who has written a research paper knows the wrath of an English teacher
who witnesses poor research! I am no
different. I get incredibly upset when
people use only secondary sources (or tertiary sources) to prove a point. You have to look at the primary sources,
too! In this case, that would be
studying the Common Core standards. It
is the proverbial horse's mouth! As a
teacher, by not providing documentation from the primary source, by only
quoting what other people have said about your subject, when I read your
argument, it's going to be pretty clear to me that the primary source didn't
actually say what you wanted it to say, so you had to resort to perversions of
the primary source to make your point. Not
kosher, dude! It makes me angry, and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
I'm not saying I am advocating Common Core.
I'm not saying I am condemning Common Core. I
see the potential in having a set of standards that encompasses every
state. I also see that while Common Core
is a beginning, I don't think it's the ultimate answer to the U.S.'s education
woes. What I am saying is that if you
want to create an effective argument, make sure you actually know what you are
arguing against. In the case of the
Arkansas lady, I can only say that I weep for the quality of her
education. Because no matter how
disjointed and poor my education may have been, it must have been better than
hers. (Really lady, you should be
ashamed!)
With Love,
The Crocheting Cat Lady
P.S. For those of you who want
to check out the horse's mouth, here's a link to the Common Core
standards. (Make sure to drink lots of caffeinated
beverages. They're every bit as boring
as the old state standards.) Common Core Standards
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