Digging Deeper Common Core

Bryon, I was also struck by the comment in the "Reaching Higher-Validation Committee" document that stated the CCSS are a work in progress and need to be flexible and susceptible to revision. I think most teachers would agree that the goals and concept of the CCSS are excellent-our students should be able to reason and apply mathematical concepts to real world problems. But as they have been rolled out I am always stunned that they don't seem to be getting any feedback from the teachers who are in the classroom every day trying to implement the standards. When publishing companies stand to make so much money off of curriculum it is unlikely that we will experience that living breathing set of standards they tout.

I was also not surprised when the article "New Math Standards A Hurdle for Some Students and Teachers" stated that there has been very little funding available to properly train teachers in the methods that should be employed. I wish that we as teachers could have time to explore that cross grade level articulation. It would be nice to be given time with my colleagues to see exactly how they are approaching their grade level standards and what they would like to see in the grades before. We can't all be expected as teachers to glean this information in isolation sitting in front of our computers.

Finally, I am experiencing the same triumphs and failures Erica and Karla have mentioned. My students have shown extraordinary growth in their ability to verbalize their thinking, but when it is wrong, and the student is taking an incredibly long time to express themselves, and you know where the mistake in thinking is occurring, the other students can become very restless and it becomes a huge classroom management issue. When all these mathematicians and child development theory specialists were putting together the standards did they actually consult a teacher who has 24-40 students in the room?

I constantly sound like I am complaining-and I am. The answer, of course, is to put together these learning communities. I look forward to the time when we are all not scrambling to write and read what is required,  but can sit with student work and talk about how we can help each other with out "real world" problems.