General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This Teacher's Alarming Resignation Letter Shows How Much Schools Have Changed Since You Were A Kid [View all]cannondale
(96 posts)Do you have a specific Common Core example or two that you don't like. If so, I'd be interested in knowing what those examples are. I've seen an extensive list (not very different than Outcomes or anything that has been around for decades) and some optional examples and worksheets which in many cases are really helpful.
The PA online reference to Common Core is a pretty good website, and I've read through most of the CC descriptions. They're fine. I've seen a relatively small sample of the attached worksheets, and they range from fine to great. I've seem some I personally wouldn't use to teach a specific concept, and in my school I wouldn't have been forced to teach in a specific way using a specific worksheet.
Common Core does not mandate that you teach in a specific way. If a lazy administration insists that a specific worksheet be used or a lazy teacher decides to use only a specific worksheet whether they believe its use helps their class, then the problem lies elsewhere.
When I taught HS Calculus, I has a generic list from the school that I should cover. OH NOES! They're telling me what and how to teach. Not really. When Outcomes Based Education came into the picture, there was another very similar list. OH NOES! They're telling me... no, they never told me to change what or how I taught. In fact, nothing changed for me, but that was an administration that understood that I already had the topics checked off.
Now there is Common Core. OH NOES!! There's a YouTube example of a math worksheet that some teacher may have used in a classroom that was picked up by some parent who didn't understand it, so Common Core must suck.
Now if an administrator tells you what examples you must use or interrupts your class time with too many tests, then we could agree that an implementation based off of a new standard is causing harm.