Common Core State Standards Readings

At the start of the handout this quote really stood out to me, "standards provide a definition of what is possible, but standards are not curriculum documents." I think that this statement is especially true for the curriculum project that we will be starting because how the standards are taught is what a teacher can control.  The chapter went on to mention that you have to implement the CCSS in a way that will meet the high expectations of the standards. As a teacher, you must be "passionate and committed to making higher standards meaningful, relevant, and attainable for your students." This is something that I believe in my daily life as well because whatever you put into something is what you will get out. 

I also know that I may not have much control over the curriculum that I am given to teach but I can be innovate when teaching the material to my students. I really enjoyed the chapter that we read because it spoke directly to being a new teacher and what that experience will be like when we teach the curriculm that is given to us.

In my EDUC 413 class this same week we were looking at the CCSS and writing a reflection on them. One of the questions we were asked was how the CCSS would impact students who are performing below grade level and then how we would approach that as teachers. In the very first part of the CCSS there was a section that said the CCSS provide “grade-specific standards but do not define the intervention methods or materials necessary to support students who are well below or well above grade level expectations." Which is similar to what the chapter we read this week. The statement goes on to suggest that “no set of standards can fully reflect the great variety in abilities, needs, and achievement levels of students in any given classroom” but they do “provide clear signs posts” that point to “college and career readiness.” I think that the standards will help teachers assist students who are performing below grade level because it provides them with reliable way to determine where a student is performing at.