Common Core State Standards

Common Core State Standards, although we have had the chance to explore them in each of our education classes, continue to be slightly difficult to understand. Although the CCSS are difficult to understand in detail, it is apparent that the creators are hoping for students to excel and be better prepared for future education. The CCSS are direct enough so that there will be no room for students to slack off, in hopes that they will not fall behind and will advance in their schooling.

For response purposes I focused on the Literature, Information Text and Foundational Skills CCSS for grades 9-12 because I am placed in a high school language arts classroom. A commonality that I found in these three specific CCSS is that they build upon each grade level in order to increase difficulty in expectations. One example is in Literacy.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment, where the students are asked to analyze one subject and two different mediums. When students get to 11-12 grades they will be asked to evaluate multiple scenes in multiples mediums, Literacy.RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. Another commonality that I found will be helpful for teachers, students and parents to understand the CCSS is the word choice describing what is expected. Words such as analyze and determine are found in the classroom on a regular basis. One thing that I was surprised by were the range of reading and level of text complexity in the reading literature because it was broader then I expected.

I have spoken with current high school teachers who have been teaching for countless years, and they are not very ecstatic about the introduction of CCSS. After looking through the three reading portions I believe that if the teacher is introduced to the Common Core State Standards at an early stage teacher candidate they will be able to use them in a more positive way because they will be just as prepared as the students. The CCSS are mapped out for what is expected of the students, it is up to the teachers to use these guidelines to help their students succeed. I wish the best of luck to my fellow classmates, and present and future teachers!

Side Note: There is an APP for the CCSS for iphones and Androids!