So What Do I Teach Them?

Before I became a teacher I would have thought this was an easy question with a simple answer. Then I actually got my first teaching job...a week before school was to start. I was hired on as the half-day prekindergarten teacher at our Prekindergarten through 8th grade Charter School. I remember sitting there at my desk the first day thinking to myself there were SO MANY things I wanted to teach them, but I just didn't quite know where to begin. And to be honest, I wasn't even 100% sure what I should be teaching them. I mean I knew what I wanted to teach them and I what I felt I wanted them to know, but what did they REALLY need to know. I was a career changer, so I had not received my degree in education and though I had been a substitute teacher and a teaching assistant, this was MUCH different. It was now up to me to make sure that these 14 children were prepared for kindergarten by the end of the year.

Thankfully, I was already enrolled in my first graduate elementary education courses and I also had a few amazing colleagues who helped me to get off to the right start. This might be bad to admit to a more seasoned teacher, but that was the first time I heard of the Common Core State Standards. I remember approaching the kindergarten teacher across the hall and asking her what the main things she thought were important for me to focus on to achieve kindergarten readiness in my students and she said, "Oh, well we just follow the Common Core Standards, so just have them ready for that and they should be great!" Ok, great, I thought to myself....I must find out what those are all about!

To be honest, when she said that to me, I sort of felt my stomach drop. I immediately got this idea in my head of extremely stringent, boring, blase standards that would turn my creative, fun idea of teaching into a horribly mundane task. And then once I got my Masters Degree and went on to teach elementary school, I would not have even a chance to make up my own lesson plans or decide on what books I wanted to read aloud to my class. I feared all I would be doing was plugging State Standards into my daily routine throughout the year.

Well, that is a major part of what I want to talk about. I want to give all of you new and upcoming teachers and parents the reassurance that I did not immediately have. Here is the good news: the Common Core State Standards are actually...well....pretty cool. There are not a specific set of lesson plans or books that must be read. Instead, they are actually a set of guidelines, a tool to help teachers, parents, and students know what  is expected of them. They are not at all intimidating. Actually, the are refreshing and make our jobs as new teachers easier and here is the best part....you can still have fun! You can still read the class your favorite childhood book, or create your own group work or projects.

Here are a few examples of recent things I have learned about Common Core State Standards as I begin to research them:

*  Common Core State Standards are considered building blocks for successful classrooms, but still recognize that teachers, parents, districts, and states need to be able to decide on curriculum. For example, Common Core Standards intentionally do not offer a reading list. Instead, sample texts are offered to help guide teachers.

This is interesting to me because I was under the misconception that Common Core pretty much told you every little thing you were to teach in the classroom throughout the year. Instead, I now understand it to be more of a useful guide to ensure we as teachers are educating our students in such a way that will prepare them for as bright of a future as possible.

*  Reading Standards are broken into three sections:  Literature, Reading: Informational Text, and Reading: Foundational Skills (for K-5).  These standards are designed as a staircase so that as students progress from K-12, they become prepared for college and careers.

I looked through the reading standards and found them to be quite useful and easy to read. They gave me great insight into what I should be prepared to teach my elementary students. As an added bonus, I even enjoyed looking into the Kindergarten Standards to see what my son should be ready for when he enters Kindergarten.

*  There is a large focus on the importance of reading across subject areas. Standards ensure that students are be prepared to read, write, and research across curriculum.

I found this to be very interesting because giving my students useful knowledge that they can apply to the real world is one of my main goals as a teacher, and it was great for me to see that the Standards are in line with this goal as well. After researching the Standards throughout the past week, I have gone from grimacing at the thought of them being these sort of brittle, strict rules that every teacher shutters at, to actually really liking them. In fact, so far I am thinking that I will find these Standards to be a great help as I continue on building my teaching career.

So, as you can see, the Common Core State Standards are really not as scary as one might think. And in fact, they are a great, helpful resource for us new teachers! I hope you will follow along and learn more with me as I continue to learn more about these Standards and get a better and better answer to "So what do we teach them?"

Source: www.corestandards.org