Unpacking the Common Core Standards
This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend an Unpacking the Common Core Math Standards workshop at CESA 11 in Turtle Lake, WI. Each grade level took time to read the standards we will be expected to have our students master once the standards are implemented by 2014. We also read the standards that were assigned to the grade level below and above the grade we teach. Most of what 6th grade teachers will be responsible for is similar to what we already do with a few exceptions. It appears that we will be expected to go deeper into subjects instead of teaching more topics. It is also expected students will come to us mastering skills needed to begin where we are suppose to. There might be more pre-teaching in order to have students ready to learn the expected material. I wonder if we will continue to have varying levels of math if all students in a certain grade are expected to master the exact same concepts and skills. Currently we have a team-taught math for special ed and struggling learners, regular math classes, and accelerated math classes. It will be interesting if the students with these varying degrees of math skills will all be in the same classes.
We also spent a great deal of time writing the standards in student-friendly "I can" statements. These will be posted as learning targets in our room to help students structure their thinking, know the expectations ahead of time, and see a reminder of where they have been. While this seemed to be a time consuming activity, it was fairly easy to do since we as teachers already use student language while teaching.
At times I feel like a lot will change, but when I look closer at it, I feel like we already have some of the work done. I'm sure adopting the common core standards will change our specific standards, our materials, and even how we teach some of the topics. I need to be ready to make the change whole-heartedly.
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