Happy Monday, y’all! I hope you’re chillin’! You deserve it! I was chillin’ Friday night with some teacher pals of mine when the conversation turned to the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Trust me, we didn’t stay on the topic for long—these teachers are on vacation, for Pete’s sake! What I did learn is the local school district recently posted revised pacing guides for the upcoming school year in support of the CCSS. No one seemed extremely concerned about the curriculum changes. Of course, a lot of chips and salsa had been consumed by then, so who knows! I have a hunch some members of the group were so busy wrapping up the school year they hadn’t yet checked out the changes.
What about your school district? Do you know if your teaching curriculum is being revised for the upcoming year? I’d love to hear what you know or have heard!
Cheerfully,
Diane
Our Curriculum Director has been concerned about changing to match Common Core State Standards. We were looking at ordering new textbooks this year and one of the issues was how were the books aligned with Common Core Standards. I’m sure when we go back she will have different ways to do everything (and do it now) for lesson plans!
In Indiana, Kdg. has to teach the CCSS next year. We will then add 1st grade the next year and 2nd the year after. I teach Kdg., so I am looking ovet the standards this summer. I am all for everyone using the same standards, but I wish we would have had some say in which standards got removed. We do a lot of graphs in math, but it will not be a standard next year. I will still cover graphs, but not as much as I have in the past. There are other examples, too, but that is the one that stands out in my mind.
So far I haven’;t heard anything. We have our state standards of course but preschool is always the last to know about the changes.
Our district started using the NGSSS a couple of years ago. We have lost many standards, but got many more. Every year since, the powers that be have changed varying curriculum subjects. I think our last subject to be changed is Science this year.
Finally!
I’m from TN and we changed to the common core. I’m glad because they are more specific.
I’m in TN and our district has been working on the common core standards this past year to put in place this year. I think it’s a good idea – teach less skills but teach them deeply. I’ve felt for a long time (this will be my 27th year) that we tend to try to cram as much in as possible. I’m looking forward to the changes and I think by the end of the year it will be obvious that the children are “getting it” which should be the main thing.
Our school district is in the process of revising our curriculum to match the common core standards. From what I am told not much has changed only items that are not on our statement assessment.
I live in Arkansas and we are changing to CCSS. This year it will begin with K-2 and then 3-8 the following year and so on. We have been working on the standards and gathering resources to assist teachers. I agree that the standards are lessened but they allow for teachers to teach them in a manner in which they are not trying to rush through it only to move on to the next. Our students really need to be taught on deeper levels and CCSS allows them to do so.
Went to a conference last week put on by the Kansas Department of Education. It seems the main thing they want changed is how we teach. Number sense and problem solving will be key. They want math to be more performance based, where students will gain a real understanding of math. This is all great, but they have no real idea what the new assessments will look like, which scares us all.
I have heard our district will require K-2 to teach only common core next year in order to start preparing. I know there has been a lot of curriculum writing and aligning going on as well. I’m very excited about the coming of common core. I think we need a more rigorous set of standards that are nationwide, or almost nationwide.
Our district is going to be completely changing to match the Common Core State Standards by the 2012 – 2013 school year. We are currently using the Imagine It! reading program and it looks as though we will be aligning that with the Common Core State Standards. We’re also changing our math curriculum as well.
I just graduated in 2009 with my BS in ECE & elem Ed and I am working on my masters. I recently went on an interview for a 5th grade position and the principal asked me what knew about the CCS and I literally drew a blank! Illinois just adopted them and is set to implement them this coming school year. I had never heard of them and I felt very DUMB! I did my homework though, and I’m researching them and learning all I can because who knows, that could have been the reason why I didn’t get the job! Illinois colleges need to make the CCS a part of the curriculum!
In my district we have already had hours and hours of training based upon the Common Core State Standards. When we return I am sure we will have more hours and then be given new pacing guides that are aligned with the CCSS. The math series we use will not align with the CCSS so it will be interesting to see if the district will start looking for a new series or not.
I teach in North Carolina and my district has been working on a pacing guide as a transition document all year. We will be teaching our own standards this school year and also embedding some standards into the curriculum in order to make sure students will transition well to the new standards.
I, too, am very concerned about what the assessment will look like, and whether or not it will actually be ready in time. Our students are used to a multiple choice format only, and I would hope that the new assessment would have open-ended response questions. This will be a shock to our students. Who will score these?
In Massachusetts, the state has started with the CCSS and then added about 15% to them that they felt MA kids needed to know in order to be successful. Our town also just adapted a new math program that aligns directly to the CCSS.
Heather–
What 15% are you using vis-a-vis the CCSS? I’ve heard the Work Team members of the CCSS encourage states to slowly roll in the Core while they wait for aligned materials. Of course, my state is going pure CCSS. 🙂
Also, what math program are you using and what were you using?
For the last two years, we have been involved in revamping the freshman core curriculum (English, Bio, World Cultures, Mathematics) around the College Readiness Standards and the Common Core. For those of us working on this project, it has rejuvenated us as educators. We started by taking content off the table and started with the skills we want all our freshman to be proficient in. Once we figured out which skills we wanted our students to master, we then began developing common assessments around them. We then brought in content that will best link with the skills being learned. Finally, we negotiated on the instructional strategies that were based on research that would be used to teach the curriculum. It has been a difficult process but well worth it and we begin to implement in the fall.
Here in Georgia, we adopted the CCSS on July 1 for K-12. I’ve just returned from Atlanta, where I participated in rewriting and aligning the Ga. Pre-K Standards and The Georgia Early Learning Standards (GELS). Our Early Learning standards will be out next year, with some exciting changes. I think it’s going to great to have so many states on the same page! 🙂