As I read through Pathways to the Common Core I realize just how simple yet complex everything really is. "The adoption of the Common Core suggests that America's image of what it means to be educated will change." (pg. 10) This is a very exciting yet terrifying idea if we really think about it. We talk about and criticize and debate our education system all the time, now we are debating what it actually means to be educated.
We say our focus is on our students and throughout my reading I continued to see evidence of this. One thing that really squared my thinking was "The CCSS emphasize that every student needs to be given access to this work. Students with IEPs still need to be taught to question an author's bias, to argue for a claim, to synthesize information across texts." (pg. 12) I often feel as though our students with IEPs are given this label of not having to do as much work or having to learn the same material as those students who do not have IEPs which is extremely bothersome to me. It is our job as teachers to make sure we are providing all of our students opportunities to be successful in the real world, not just those that are mainstream. "Its no longer okay to provide the vast majority of America's children with a fill-in-the-blank, answer-the-questions, read-the-paragraph curriculum that equips them to take their place on the assembly line." (pg. 9) I really appreciate this because I have heard so many teachers make excuses for students, or teach lessons that are simply easier for them to plan and manage, but where do our students and their future come into play? We aren't growing CEO's, investors, inventors, or even educators by simply asking for one worded, black and white answers. Pathways to the Common Core talks about the necessary steps we as teachers or educators need to take in order to ensure we are headed the right direction for our students. "The first thing we want to stress to anyone who is interested in standards-based reform is that the Common Core is, above all, a call for accelerating students' literacy development. The most important message centers on lifting he level of student achievement, not on course coverage and compliance." (pg. 14) The Common Core requires us to decompose standards and teach in a way that makes sense and is engaging to our students. It is not asking us to simply have them regurgitate different information. It is giving our students the ability to actually read a text, decompose the meaning behind it, teach it to someone else and have a conversation about the meaning and reason behind the literature. As a math and science teacher I sometimes, although am not proud of this, find myself wondering why I need to know all of the reading and ELA information now. However, after reading this book I realize that it is just as important for me as a science teacher to understand the Reading Common Core standards as it is for the Reading teacher to understand them. "Because reading will no longer be the domain solely of ELA teachers, as it has been in most schools, science and social studies teachers will need to participate in professional development on reading instruction." (pg 30) I know that I try to incorporate reading when possible throughout my science lessons, and I definitely do a better job of incorporating writing throughout my science lessons through hypothesis, observations, etc, but it is difficult to find a good balance between reading and experiments in a subject area where students can benefit so much from hands on learning yet class time is constantly being cut. I realized as I was reading this quote "You will also want to think about ways to infuse a lot more information reading into all of your content-area classes." (pg 93) that this is going to be the best way for me to help incorporate literature into my science or math block. giving my students an opportunity to read further and deeper into topics we have not had time to discuss in depth in class will be a great way for them to meet both standards. I need to remember that "...kids are reading non-fiction to figure out what to do with their lives." (pg. 91) and my job as their teacher is to help guide them and open opportunities for them to do so.
As I continue to think forward about the different things I want to incorporate within my teaching and my classroom I realize that although I put a lot of emphasis on learning and inquiry and hands-on projects, I feel as though my goal is still for them to "memorize" something for the test. When I read "This work is not about reading to be entertained. Nor is it about reading to memorize. It is about reading to think." (pg 101) I realized that this is what my mindset should be and this is the type of learning I need to be sure I am expressing to my students. My students need to understand, and I need to explain to them, that we are here to think.
One topic that seems to come up over and over again at my school is training or lack there of. As a new teacher I realize that I am entering into the Common Core probably at a good time because other than my personal education I have never known anything different. One problem that I personally have, and one that seems to be a problem for several colleagues, is the idea of training so we as teachers can ensure we are doing our very best for our students. The book discusses how now more than ever our education systems are low on money and having budget cuts however it also states that "The only expense is that of providing teachers with the professional development and the teaching resources they need to become knowledgeable in this area." (pg. 16) I realize that training takes money and time and that this is not a cheap affair however I personally believe that teachers would feel way more comfortable and would be much more likely to cooperate in certain criteria, if they felt as though they were informed and trained on what they should or shouldn't be doing. This goes into the whole idea of time as well. We as teachers have so many demands placed on us with such large classes that it often times for me feels like I am trying to cram everything in at once. Maybe this is where part of the idea of memorization comes into play that I mentioned earlier. I really was able to get a better sense for what a day should look like through the standards of the Common Core. Time is a necessity. We can't expect our students to obtain this information through osmosis overnight. "...when students are actually taught writing and given opportunities to write an hour a day within a writing workshop, their skills develop in a very visible fashion." (pg. 17) Reading this really helped to point me in the right direction of what is important and what can wait. When I read that "Students in the classrooms of more effective teachers read ten times as much as students in classrooms of less effective teachers." (pg. 51) I again realized where the importance in my classroom should reside even though I am a STEM teacher. As I think about what matters to me and what concerns me in my school I realize that I need to first focus on what I can control and what I need to change. "If you are going to take important steps to radically improve your students' experiences in information reading, you will probably need to start by owning the problems in our classroom and your school - and frankly, our hunch is the problems are serious." (pg 88) This book really has pointed me in the right direction for several unanswered questions.
I still have a few questions though that certain parts of the book really brought to life for me. One of my biggest questions or complaints I guess, is the expectation that some teacher somewhere will catch a student up. Or on the other hand, I don't have time to worry about this specific student this year so next year's teacher can catch him up. I am a firm believer in the idea that every teacher is responsible for doing their very best to teach their grade levels expectations to every student. I have a very hard time understanding why school systems are passing students onto the next grade when they aren't on grade level and haven't even been doing the work. In my opinion you are in a sense harming that child's education even more because you are now placing them somewhere that is way over their head and making it even more difficult for them to feel in control of things. "The CCSS design is also one of the strongest features of the standards because it sends a message loud an clear: Growth takes time; it can't be the job of a fourth-grade teacher, or the tenth-grade teacher, to be sure students reach the expectations for that grade level." (pg. 11) I completely agree that growth takes time and that we can't measure this overnight. I also completely agree that it takes time and practice for students to really grasp and understand a concept. However, I do think that each grade level teacher has a responsibility to teach and expose their students to those standards and that they should not assume that another teacher somewhere will fill in the gap for them. I found it interesting when I read "when you and your school make the decisions about a way to teach students, you are also thinking about a way to recruit and retain teachers." (pg 74) This makes sense to me but shouldn't we be concerned more about the students and how our teaching styles and decisions will ultimately be effecting them and their education and their future? "Kids don't just need good classrooms, they need good schools." (pg.73) and it is our job as educators to ensure we are helping each other form these good schools but how do we make this happen if we aren't all on the same page?
Hey Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI feel so much like you do on this topic. We really don't know anything but common core and sometimes I wonder how these standards are so different from what we used to have. When you speak to how you sometimes still are thinking solely of students' memorization of topics know you aren't alone. I wonder how some of the content we must cover, especially that in math, can be so in-depth and enriched. We can provide inquiry-based activities but there are cold hard facts students need to know.
I think it's wonderful the responsibility you take as a STEM teacher for emphasizing literacy in your classroom. I find it interesting that it seems like the past couple years the push in schools has been STEM, but perhaps the push should be instead literacy through STEM.
I also really understand your thoughts on training. It's almost like we're being asked to have these really deep and enriched learning experiences but aren't being given those ourselves. How can we be expected to provide this for our students if we haven't been given the same learning experience regarding the standards?
I really resonated with two things that you said - the need for training and the need for content teachers to tie in informational writing. The book stated that 45% of what students are reading should be informational (p.89). That is a lot of reading when you consider the fiction chapter books that students are usually reading whether for class itself or through personal choices and library visits. In order to keep that ratio, students have got to spending time in their content classes working with texts. I know that as a Social Studies teacher last year, I was very caught up in the rote memorization and test preparation. Looking back, I think that my students missed out a lot on the things that we could have done reading primary sources and historical texts.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is training. We have SO many resources in the building that go unused because teachers don't know HOW to use them. Guided reading books sit in plastic in the backs of rooms. Books sit in the library because students haven't been shown what to do with them or how to choose them. If students and teachers both were shown what to do with the resources that they have at their fingertips, schools could be absolutely revolutionized.
Thanks for your in-depth and thoughtful reflection on the things that you can do with the Common Core standards even though you are not specifically a reading teacher!
Kelsey, your reflection was well thought out and organized. I appreciate you bringing up a lot of points that made me reflect on my own interpretation of Common Core. I agree with your understanding of the role that content-teachers play in literacy instruction and how you have looked at your practice to determine ways that you can incorporate reading and in your content blocks.
ReplyDeleteWow! You really got me thinking as you discuss the idea of passing children on to the next grade level without the adequate skills and application of grade level standards. At our school students who are retained must have gone through the SST process. The thing is, most teachers do not understand the SST process and it hasn't been communicated well. I agree with you that teachers should take the responsibility of educating the students in their classroom at their best but I also agree that growth takes time. Continue to reflect in ways that help you grow as a person and as an educator.
I love how you are showing your grappling with the content of this book and the Common Core. I'm pretty confident that all of us can connect with the questions that you are posing and the things that you believe about teaching and learning. After reading five chapters, I have already learned more about the Common Core than I have learned through my time at my school for the last year and a half. I believe that it is not just the school's responsibility to train teachers and that we are responsible for being aware and knowledgeable ourselves, but it is absolutely devastating to me that most (if not all) of the teachers/educators/administrators at my school probably do not know/understand what we learned in just five chapters. I know that this transition into the Common Core has been a rough one, but there is no excuse to why we have not received adequate training. I am thinking back to all of the training that we have received, and I honestly believe that some of the presenters were actually misrepresenting the purpose and meaning of the standards completely. These first five chapters were very eye-opening to me, to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your thoughts in the last paragraph of your post, and you raise some really good questions. I am wondering if later on in this book, they will address how to teach students the grade-level standards when they are nowhere near the expectations for their particular grade-level. I know that the authors suggested that if one of my students, for example, is on a second-grade level, that I can look to the second grade standards to see where I should start until eventually he/she can approach "grade-level" work. But that still doesn't answer our concerns that we have since many of our students come to us with many gaps. I struggle with thinking about how I am going to expose some of my students to more complex texts, especially when they are struggling with language and decoding/phonics skills. I know that reading is not just about decoding, but how can we get our third or fourth graders to a place where they can actually UNDERSTAND the complex texts that we are supposed to teach? On one hand, we are supposed to make sure that our students are reading "just-right" texts, but then at the same time they are expected to read complex texts that are on grade-level. How is that actually possible? I'm hoping that some of our questions are answered as we continue to read.
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some really interesting points about how our schools handle students with IEPs. I'm glad that the common core call for students of all levels to be able to critical think and analyze. However, I think sometimes we see an opposite effect go on in our schools of how teachers interact with students at different levels. I have to admit that I am guilty of not always challenging my students who may be at a lower level then others so I can't dish out too much blame to others.
Thinking about these standards I realize that not all students may be able to compare and contrast advance chapter reading books, but they may be able to start with picture books that are at their level and gradually move up. The same skills are being taught, just with different text materials. However, I think it does take time to move students up to critical texts. For example if there is a third grade student who reads at a first grade level, it may be a bit unrealistic to expect that student to be able to critically think, analyze, compare and contrast high level critical third grade text by the end of the year (not impossible, but difficult). However, the student may be able to reach second grade level reading and still acquire the same skills (which is still considered a success). It's not say that students can't move up two grade levels of reading, because it is possible with a lot of hard work and effort, however, I've seen too many teachers and students work very hard and make a lot of progress, but because they have not reached the level that's expected by the end of the year, it is deemed a failure which is discerning.
I also think Joy brings up a good point about how we can bridge the gap between our students who are dealing with serious academic gaps to be to comfortable handle reading advanced text. The book asserts that students who may be at lower levels are not always exposed to the same literacy opportunities as others, however if these students are lacking skills in phonics and decoding, they have to be taught these skills in order to progress to higher levels of text. I am hoping as well that as we progress through the book we will learn more about bridging this gap.