Inside the CCSS Literature Standards

Chapter 4 of Pathways to the Common Core goes deeper into the actual implementation than any other resource I've seen. Rather than a bird's eye view, this chapter takes you directly into the standards, inviting you to read and engage in a close reading of the texts (ala ELA Anchor Standard 1) of E. B. White's Charlotte Web and Cynthia Rylant's Poppleton, then walks you through implementing ELA Anchor Standards 2 - 9, just as students would.

This book is definitely worth the purchase. I will return to it repeatedly after I'm done.

~TF

Sick Leave

I'm not feeling well today and I used all of the energy I could muster to participate in #MSedchat. I can't focus on reading or blogging today, but I wanted to fulfill my daily writing commitment.

My symptoms are:

- dry, itchy eyes

- sore throat

- runny nose

- exhausted beyond belief

- body aches

Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow. I had a flu shot, so hopefully it isn't that. It's to early for that anyway, right?

Goldilocks and the Three? Bears

I really like the promise of the Common Core. When the standards were released in 2010, I was head over heels in love with the idea of common standards across the states. Most important to me was the idea that teachers would be given the opportunity to narrow the focus to fewer standards per year and teach those deeply, to mastery. 

It had been my long-held belief that it is ridiculous to attempt to teach a multitude of skills shallowly - which were usually repeated as students matriculated. I mean, how many years does it really take to know what nouns are and how to use them? Under this model, teaching standards was nothing more than briefly introducing and objective and repeatedly assessing all "covered" standards. There were too many standards to effectively teach to mastery in an academic year that is shortened by the frequency and number of assessments.

Consider my formula for instructional days from the 180-day/36-week school year based on the last year I taught.

  5 - # of days spent pre-testing

18 - # of weekly or bi-weekly common Teacher-made assessments (Mandated)

18 - # of review days for aforementioned Teacher-made assessments

15 - # of testing days required for 3 week-long DWAs (District-Wide Assessments)

15 - # of review days for aforementioned DWAs

15 - # of days for MAP testing

10 - # of review days for MCT2 (state-wide, end-of-year assessment)

+5 - # of days for MCT2, including make-up testing

101 assessment days

 180 days of compulsory attendance

-101 days of assessment

   79 instructional days

Keep in mind that instructional days were also impacted by assemblies, field trips, PBIS parties, field day, inclement weather days, fire/tornado/lockdown drills, actual lockdowns, widespread absenteeism due to H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu), professional development days, early-release days, parent-teacher conference days, and any other number of things.

Many have suggested that the solution is a longer school year. I wholeheartedly disagree. The answer is less assessment. Oddly, the answer has been more, not less. Since leaving the classroom, additions to the assessment calendar include STAR testing for AR placement; Code of Conduct testing (student handbook); and pre-testing at the beginning of every term rather than just the beginning of the school year. I'm sure there are some other things I'm forgetting.

Am I the only one that thinks education reform itself should be reformed?

So, now to the bears... 

I fear that the promise of the Common Core State Standards will prove to be a failed promise because of a narrowing curriculum unintended by the standards themselves. 

The CCSS are equivalent to Papa Bear's oversized chair. A booster seat in the form of a little more specificity would make this chair a better fit. 

PARCC's Model Content Framework is Baby Bear's chair that doesn't support the weight of teacher autonomy. Local educational agencies (state education agencies, district-level curriculum personnel, and building-level administrators) may be enticed to strongly encourage (read: mandate) teachers to focus narrowly on what PARCC considers important and has specified as a "model" (read: will be tested). Now we're back to teaching to the test, the very thing that the high, clear, and few CCSS were to deliver us from.

Where is Mama Bear's just-right chair? 

I hope Pathways to the Common Core can help me figure it out. Chapter 3 gave me more questions than answers. What are your thoughts?

~TF

Juggling

I have never been good at juggling, so I can't figure out why I always decide to take on soooo many things at once. Today, among other things, I juggled work, #MSedchat, and blogging. This post was began earlier today, and I am just now getting back to finish it. Technically, it's late since it's after midnight here; however, I haven't gone to bed yet - that's hours overdue as well. Anyway, here is my 4/4 post for the #EdBDaily - better late than never, in all of it's inelegance!

So, I’ve joined a blog-a-day challenge...

In an effort to make writing more a part of my daily life, I have joined a challenge with other awesome educators via my Twitter PLN. I have tossed around the idea of blogging quite a bit; dipped my toe in the water once or twice; and even publicly admonished myself for not blogging more. I know I have lots to say - my problem is mostly finding the time to say it within my busy day. That's no excuse for not sharing my thoughts, commenting on the the thoughts and opinions of others, questioning, collaborating, and venting.

Posts may not always be grammatically correct or typo-free, but that isn't really the purpose of writing. My goal for this blog is not that it will be a bastion of profundity (although I may occasionally have posts that gain traction). I want this blog to make writing more habitual for me, so that if and when I do have a profound thought, it is captured somewhere. I want to have a record of my thoughts so when I want to be reflective, I don't have to chase down the myriad notebooks strewn about that currently house my thinking.

So thanks to my fellow #EdBDaily challengers. Game on! Post 1/infinity is here.