Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Common core curriculum?

Here is a link to the common core standards so you can see what they really are.

I know at my school, we are looking at the implementation very carefully, and it is not going to be a dumbing down of things, rather a spread of literacy and math standards across ALL classes, not just language arts and math classes. This means more reading and writing in all core classes (non-electives). It is amazing how little essay/critical writing most students now get in schools.
I do not agree with all of the things in them, but given what I see coming into my classroom in terms of student preparedness in math and writing, I am hopeful that this improves things.

Yes, the major problems that we've been seeing are in terms of inflexibility and implementation more than flaws in the ideals of CC.

That is, a Social Studies teacher with poor-to-mediocre written communication skills and zero training in improving/teaching student writing is not the best person to be 'shaping' writing with an eye toward improvement. Ugh.

That seems to mostly lead to a lot of punishment for students who don't automatically give the teacher (stylistically) what s/he is "looking" for (but not telling students)... and very little in the way of real improvements in student writing as they scrabble ever harder to hit a moving and ill-defined target.



Oh, um-- hypothetically, I mean. LOL.

If a teacher is instructing students to copy a drawing, and re-copy it over and over using various tools like pencil, markers, crayons et al, that is operant learning, no matter what the goal is, as in Melissa's situation; teaching "perserverance."

The biggest draw back is the lack on personal participation; individual creativity; imagination.

I think "perserverance" should be developed from the inside out so that no matter what the task, or the desire, the person, will "perserve"...not just copy something of someone elses design over and over...that seems more brainwashing.

Parents can participate by having their child do this at home if the teacher does not provide it, so the child can learn the difference.

Exactly the issue I see too. Great ideas in theory, but, once again, people are telling teachers what needs to be done in the classroom to make things better, but are providing no training whatsoever to allow teachers to do a good job at it.