Change is not easy. Common Core Standards are new and both
teachers and students are getting used to the type of methodology and test
questions that come with it. It is ludicrous to think that students will
perform extremely well on the state test this year or next year for that matter
since students have been used to simple multiple-choice responses. It will take
some time but I think that these new standards will help students think deeper.
That is another issue. Students are not used to thinking
critically. Getting students to debrief about how they obtained the answer to
the math problem can be difficult for students. It takes practice and it might
not be a skill that will be mastered by most this school year. It might take 1
or 2 more years, maybe even more, for students to reach that point where they
can explain their reasoning.
I definitely feel that teacher training needs to take place.
I know that CCSS are not meant to teach teachers how to teach, as Zimba and his
colleagues state. But rather give more freedom to teachers in bringing in their
own creativity to the craft. But, since before the CCSS, there was a specific
way of teaching that was expected, now the new shift needs to be addressed
through professional development, I think.
Holding math nights to help parents understand the methods
their students are learning in math is beneficial as well. Teachers and
students are not the only ones learning CCSS, parents need to receive
information/training on them as well.
Karla, I think you made a really important point when you pointed out that for years teachers, especially within LAUSD, have been asked to stick to one curriculum and pacing plan and how difficult it makes it for educators to now be in a position where they are being given so much freedom.
ReplyDeleteI know that in my school my colleagues are really scrambling because there is no longer any plan to follow and how frustrated they feel that they have no method to track whether or not they are teaching everything they need to. In addition I also feel a lot of doubt among teachers about whether or not this freedom will last, which negatively affects the amount of effort they are willing to place in creating new materials. Nobody wants to invest s much time and effort in creating new materials when in a few years the district will adopt a curriculum and demand that all their teachers comply.