The Common Core Debate

I really wonder if people who post and report all the negative stuff about Common Core really -- and I mean REALLY -- know what goes on in public schools. Or are you just listening to the media rhetoric? Or are you just reading the standards and not understanding them? Or are you just judgmental because you are able to put your kids in private school or homeschool them. In my opinion, education is just as much at home as it is at school (for public education families). It takes both. It's my understanding that science, social studies and math standards are still maintained at the state level ... that CCSS is literacy based. They're still being taught science, social studies and math at school.

I'm a middle school teacher. I'm not an NEA member and don't want to be, but I'm in a district that is using CCSS. We are using the standards to guide instruction, but we still have the freedom to be as creative as we want and teach what needs to be taught. I really don't see that it's a far departure from the current state standards in Texas (who isn't using CCSS) or the GLEs and CLEs in Missouri. We are still expected to differentiate instruction based on student needs. Because of a workshop model and regular conferring with students, and with 7 years of teaching under my belt, I am finally seeing kids really think about what they read, understand what they're reading, and be able to reference it to prove a point. I don't really attribute it to CCSS, per se, but more of a focus on true critical thinking, and rethinking and using their thinking. I haven't dumbed down anything. My struggling readers are succeeding and the honors kids are excelling.

I am as skeptical as they come but I haven't seen what's so "dangerous" about Common Core. I wouldn't teach it if I thought it was "damaging." And to Cecelia (from a Facebook comment) - you said to dump the bad teachers and replace them with "young" good teachers. Just because a teacher is young doesn't mean they're automatically good - and just because they're old doesn't mean they're bad. I'm 51. Does that make me a bad teacher since I'm not "young?" Sorry I got long winded. Rant over.

Oh, I'm also a conservative. There's no liberal indoctrination in my classroom. There's no conservative indoctrination either. Everything is fair game and we'll debate it - as long as they present text evidence to prove their point.