In my district, we are in an implementation year to get used to Common Core Geometry. Implementation year is code word for "training wheels transitioning to riding a bike". If you remember anything about learning to ride a bike, it was brutal. Well, it was for me. Endo over the handlebars, crash into a car, a tree, my brother. It was messy. But man, when I learned to ride a bike, it was so much more invigorating than those pesky training wheels.
Common Core State Standards provide that invigorating feeling that we as teachers want our students to have. The SMPs (Standards for Mathematical Practice) have been designed to get students thinking about math in a way that they have never done before. By no means am I going to stand atop a mountain and proclaim the overarching perfection of these standards and their integration.
We're having trouble with CCSS and we aren't the only ones. The way that we are used to teaching is being disrupted. Hell, it's getting blown up. And this is a good thing. The way that we have been pigeon-holed into prepping kids for a multiple choice fiesta has hampered the outcomes that students should come in and expect.
So, we haul in CCSS. We have a great time with warm and fuzzy projects that bridge the gap. We have our kids engaged. We... conquer that math universe. The problem? It hasn't gone as planned. High School sophomores have been brainwashed with "death by worksheets". Teachers have grown accustomed to their style of instruction. Whole-group change, especially instantaneous, is often catastrophic or sloppy along the way.
So, with all of this resistance, our team decided to pull back the reins. Kids weren't getting it, the projects were excessive, and having kids deductively create their own learning 3 out of 5 days was wearing on everyone. Common Core wasn't meant to be this taxing.
After taking a step back, I looked at the standards again. Not just the standards, but the SMPs. Common Core isn't about the warm and fuzzy- it's about having students wrap their minds, hands, and heart around something that has been so disconnected from their perspectives for so long. It's about riding the bike without fear of failing.
We're having trouble with CCSS and we aren't the only ones. The way that we are used to teaching is being disrupted. Hell, it's getting blown up. And this is a good thing. The way that we have been pigeon-holed into prepping kids for a multiple choice fiesta has hampered the outcomes that students should come in and expect.
So, we haul in CCSS. We have a great time with warm and fuzzy projects that bridge the gap. We have our kids engaged. We... conquer that math universe. The problem? It hasn't gone as planned. High School sophomores have been brainwashed with "death by worksheets". Teachers have grown accustomed to their style of instruction. Whole-group change, especially instantaneous, is often catastrophic or sloppy along the way.
So, with all of this resistance, our team decided to pull back the reins. Kids weren't getting it, the projects were excessive, and having kids deductively create their own learning 3 out of 5 days was wearing on everyone. Common Core wasn't meant to be this taxing.
After taking a step back, I looked at the standards again. Not just the standards, but the SMPs. Common Core isn't about the warm and fuzzy- it's about having students wrap their minds, hands, and heart around something that has been so disconnected from their perspectives for so long. It's about riding the bike without fear of failing.
As we move to CCSS, I need to remember that not everything needs to be a fuzzy project. Get kids talking/thinking pic.twitter.com/6idyY8eKk5
— John Stevens (@Jstevens009) October 25, 2013
Happy Fishing
RSS Feed
