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| Is this the type of education that will make students globally competitive? Do you want your child's "heart mapping" entered into a data base or published on the Internet? |
A teacher/parent gives examples of what Common Core looks like in the classroom. From Marcia Alder in Indiana:
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COMMON CORE AT LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
* Common Core “State” Standards (CCSS)
as I have researched them online and witnessed firsthand in Math with my 3rd
and 5th grader, as well as in English/Lit. (ELA) with my 7th grader in
Southeast Wisconsin.
* CCSS are evaluated through Formative
and Summative Assessments. Formerly known as Quizzes and
Tests to you and me.
* Grades are no longer relevant with this
system.
I was told by the principal at the Middle School and
my 7th grader’s English teacher, that the goal is to give a child a firm
comprehensive conceptual understanding of the standard being evaluated rather
than stressing over getting an A on a test.
* So how do they assess this conceptual
understanding?
The CCSS uses a 4 point system. This is not
your college GPA. These numbers are not averaged over time, nor do they
translate directly to the traditional ABCDF we are familiar with. Even though
at this time, colleges and future employers still demand this old style of
grades. They are still working out how these “data points” showing growth and
improvement over the quarter translate into these old fashioned grades.
* Currently this is how they explain the number
system used for Student Assessment.
1 =
Fails to meet the goals set forth for this standard.
2 =
Minimally meets the goals set forth for this standard.
3 =
Proficiently demonstrates the goals set forth for this standard.
4 =
Masters the goals set forth for this standard.
* If at the end of the quarter your child has all 3’s
and 4’s = A, all 3’s and 2’s = B, all 2’s = C, all 2’s and 1’s = D, all 1’s =
F. This is subjective based on their steady improvement and continual work to
grasp the standards being covered and can be modified by the teacher to reflect
their hard work. This is only being implemented to my knowledge in the 7th
grade middle school English department at this time in our school system.
* In order to minimize the initial confusion of
implementing the Common Core, the elementary school chose to keep the
traditional ABCDF for now and only focus on the new method of teaching.
* So how do these numbers apply to a simple math
problem?
The best example I have is from my 3rd grader during
the first quarter in addition this year.
15 + 17 = _____ (Seems simple enough, right? Wrong!!!)
* With this new Assessment scale…
* If
you simply make an error on the addition of 15 + 17 and get the
wrong answer and do nothing else,
this
is a 1.
* If
you add + 15
+
17
+
32 and you did nothing else you would get a 2!
You see “we don’t truly understand what we are doing
with this problem, in so much as we are just performing rote memorization to
answer this one,” per our Director of Curriculum.
* Here is what my child had to do
with this problem next to get a 3!
Should be diagram of what he had to do here
* Now
to get a 4 you have to then write a sentence something like this to show you
truly comprehend what it is that you are doing when you add two numbers
together to get an answer.
I
took five ones units from the seventeen group and added them to the other five
ones units from
the
fifteen to make a new tens block. This gives me three tens blocks that equal
thirty. The two
remaining
ones units from the seventeen cannot be added to anything else to make a new
tens
block
so I added them to the tens blocks to get the answer of 32.
* Congratulations you have just
taken 10 minutes to answer what my child knew in five seconds was the answer to
this problem to start with. But, now he truly understands what he
is doing when he adds two numbers.
* The teachers gave them the summative
assessment for this unit. Answer 100 addition problems in the old
fashioned way in 5 minutes. Of course the students all passed, as they had
memorized basic addition and subtraction facts for these type of tests last
year.
* I decided to let them sink or swim with this one. On
to multiplication they went.
* My child truly understands what he is doing when he
multiplies two numbers together. One of the teachers told me they knew that the
students all got the concept now and that in two chapters they were going to be
starting division. Therefore, they decided to give the summative assessment for
multiplication.
* You guessed it….100 problems in 5
minutes. They all failed! My child who is a whiz, or was, at math
came home with a 33. Now mind you, every problem that he answered he answered
correctly. He simply could never complete this task in 5 minutes the way he had
been taught if his life depended on it. It takes him 15 - 30 seconds for the
simplest of problems. To compete this timed test (assessment) you have 3
seconds to come up with and write down each of the answers.
* The CCSS standard for this grade level is to be able
to “multiply all one-digit numbers from memory (knowing their time tables)” and
to be able to “multiply one-digit numbers by multiples of 10 (such a 20, 30,
40)”. They will be able to do this. However, without the rote memorization of
these simple fact tables they will not have the speed necessary to complete the
more complex math tasks later on. I do not see how this speed with magically
come to them without the use of rote memorization. This is something our school
has chosen not to practice (i.e. flashcards with the third grade). Although
this is not a stated prohibited activity as such in the Common Core, some
teachers have interpreted them to mean just that. Many of the curriculum’s
offered that are certified CCSS compliant are straying away from rote
memorization of anything as the student is not truly understanding what they
are doing, just spitting back the facts.
* The Letter Home…Need Flash Cards?
I received a letter from the third grade teachers
asking me if I had flash cards to help them increase their speed with
multiplication facts. This was due to the fact that all the students had done
so poorly on the assessment. They would gladly provide them to me if I didn’t
have any.
Here
we go again. It is up to us to teach them the basics where the curriculum has
failed them.
* The answer is obvious to me (and it appears
that some other states agree (Governor Pence of Indiana is leaning toward this
idea).
CCSS seem to
be relevant in the beginning of a new subject/concept, in this case
multiplication. However, once the students “get it” the school has
complied with the letter of the law. They must now take it
upon themselves to teach it in any way the kids will be able to
apply it, in order to move onto the next concept or standard. In this way they
are still upholding the spirit of the law. In this case, that is
the teaching them by rote memorization of the “times tables” for speed and
accuracy before moving onto division.
* Further facts about the CCS I have uncovered.
* There are few
books or materials available to these teachers that meet all of these
CCSS requirements. Therefore, the teachers are having to come up with all the
material on their own or are obtaining it online in order to comply with this
law. This has led to numerous problems in the implementation of the standards. Here are examples of Common Core aligned curricula in the classroom:
* EXAMPLE ONE
* Message from public school
crossword puzzle: Conservatism ‘restricts personal freedoms’
By Kyle Olson EAGnews.org
UNION GROVE, Wis. – Eighth-graders in Wisconsin’s Union Grove school district
were assigned to fill out a “Liberalism vs. Conservatism” crossword puzzle, and
they learned some new and very questionable “facts.”
Students learned conservatism is “the political belief of preserving
traditional moral values by restricting personal freedoms … ”
Conversely, they learned liberalism is “the political belief of equality
and personal freedom for everyone, often changing the current system to
increase government protection of civil liberties.”
The crossword puzzle was part of a civics assignment that was forwarded
to EAGnews by Tamara Varebrook, a local conservative activist whose
eighth-grade daughter received the lesson at Union Grove Elementary School
yesterday.
Varebrook said she posted the assignment on her Facebook page to share
with other parents who might not be aware of the blatant political bias and
effort at indoctrination, disguised as “civics.”
“The definitions of conservatism and liberalism make me sick,” Varebook
told EAGnews. “I think it’s horribly distorted and it’s biased.”
Varebrook, who serves on her local Republican Party board and has
appeared in commercials promoting conservative values, said she was
particularly disturbed by the definition of conservatism as “restricting
personal freedom.”
“It’s insinuating conservatives don’t believe in people having civil
liberties. That it’s only for old-fashioned fuddy-duddies,” Varebrook said.
“That’s completely negative. It’s completely false.”
Last time we checked, it’s the big government progressives who are
determined to restrict personal freedoms. You know, the bans on sugary drinks,
fatty foods, snacks at school lunch time, salt intake, etc.
But apparently that’s not the case, according to Sunburst Visual Media,
the puzzle’s producer, or the Union Grove school district.
Varebrook said she doesn’t believe her daughter’s teacher is the
problem, but rather the curriculum she’s forced to teach.
“I don’t think her teacher is a radical indoctrinator, it’s the
curriculum,” she said. “It’s not factual. Every piece of homework I’ve seen
paints conservatism in a negative light.
“I can only imagine what high school is going to bring.”
On the back side of the crossword puzzle was a political survey students
were required to fill out to identify their beliefs, something Varebrook
believes is equally troubling.
“It’s about guns, it’s about freedoms, it just goes on and on,”
Varebrook said.
Varebrook said her daughter is 13 years old, and likely has little
interest in political philosophy.
“She didn’t pick up on (the bias), she was just happy to get it filled
out,” Varebrook said.
Varebrook plans to email her daughter’s teacher about political bias in
the assignment, but is skeptical of what good it will do.
“My guess
is most students got this done in class and didn’t bring it home,” Varebrook
said. “I put it on my Facebook and people were just shocked.
From EAG news:
*
EXAMPLE TWO
My daughter's fifth grade reading class was
studying the book, "Guns for General Washington". (Prezi presentation attached).
On her Day 3 study
group guide page there were vocabulary words and then questions regarding Chapter
9. It was the first of these three questions that caught my attention.
The question is regarding Paul Revere Jr. It asked
my daughter the following:
Paul hated the British for making him feel weak and fearful. He also despised
himself for giving in to those feelings. Describe a time when you had those feelings.
My daughter came to me upset because she didn't
know what to put down as she had never felt this way, but didn't want to lose
points for not answering the question. I instructed her to put "I've never
felt this way." And then, I attached a note stating that this
question is not appropriate for school. You are forcing a child to create a
traumatic experience in order to complete this assignment. This is best left to
the psychologists. It is irrelevant to our history, social studies and her
understanding of this book.
The teacher replied, "Just want the students
to make connections to the characters in the story." Really? A historical
figure in a book about the revolutionary war….”Characters” and “Story” denote
fiction to me.
Consider
this excerpt from the
"Promoting
Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21st
Century; U.S Department of Education (Feb. 2013)":
How DATA may be collected:
Along with DATA being collected from students
Standardized Tests, there are additional measures as outlined in the (report)
that may be used as well. They are as follows:
● SELF REPORT pg 3537 : measures students
attitudes, goals, emotions and beliefs, “for example, in the Experience
Sampling Method (ESM), participants typically carry around a handheld device
that “beeps” them at random intervals, prompting self-report of experiences in
that moment (e.g., Hektner, Schmidt, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007). Such data
can be used to make inferences about emotions, thoughts, and behaviors within
and across specific situations.
Having seen this, I realize this question was much
more inappropriate than I originally thought. We have to read every question,
every line, to be sure we don't miss any more examples of DATA MINING like
this.
* EXAMPLE THREE
My oldest son took an example of DATA MINING
through Self-Reporting last year in October while he was in 6th grade. This is
only one of several examples that occurred last year. In this instance I went
to parent/teacher conference where they required my son to go along.
Instead of meeting with the teachers, my son was told to show me through a
folder of work he had on his desk and to explain it all to me. The teachers
were present in the room and roamed from table to table to talk to various
parents and students for a few seconds. In the folder was this form that my son
explained they had to fill out in class. It asked him to rate himself in areas
of self-direction, communication, discipline, work habits, etc. but there were
specific questions on the back that were much more detailed. For example: “So
far this year, I think I am doing well in...because?” and “I need to work
harder in/on?” and guessing how they think teachers would describe them as a
student.
(MEW note: Here is an explanation of the goal and procedures of a self-directed behavior exercise from Sungard. The link has disappeared detailing the precise examples. I am including the blog's link in case it disappears so you can search for it in the archives: http://blogs.sungard.com/ps_k12/category/bena-kallick/)
*
EXAMPLE FOUR
My son's seventh grade CCSS ELA assessment for
poetry took DATA MINING through Self-Reporting to a whole new level. This
assessment was to create a poem based on the following questions in support of
the statement "Where I'm From". (MEW note: there are numerous templates for this particular poem and exercise on the the Internet).
Hobbies/Activities
1. What special places to you go to spend time
(e.g. fort, creek, etc.)?
2. What games and/or activities fill your time?
Family
3. What are your family's traditions, holiday or
otherwise?
4. What is your family dynamic (e.g. the make-up of
your family, etc.)?
5. What is something you and/or your family take
pride in?
6. What is a family TRAGEDY and/or TRIUMPH that
strengthened and/or challenged your family?
Signs of the Time
7. What candy, treats, and/or toys do you buy
and/or are OBSESSED with?
8. What is your favorite book or series?
9. What is your favorite TV show?
10. What is a saying or expression that adults or
other kids use?
Memories
11. How are your family memories ORGANIZED,
SHOWCASED, KEPT, etc.?
12. When and/or how are these memories ACCESSED?
13. How do these memories SHAPE you?
This assessment it should be noted was pulled from
an internet site but the teacher said the example wasn't really how they wanted
it to be done. It went into a form as shown below. Notice that if a child is
very clever there are ways to evade the obvious attempt as extracting
information, but it took a lot of effort. My son's particular teacher is not
into computers or science, it should be noted.
I am from my Grandma's one-story, white sided house
from walks outside
through the six acres of land
I am from fireworks on the Fourth of July
(explosions of ignited
Li2CO3, CuCl2, and Beryllium raining gently to the ground of our field)
I am from sitting inside reading about the past,
present, and future
about espionage, arenas
in districts that don't exist, and starships that are real only in fiction
I am from a 13" MacBook Pro with a 2.9
gigahertz processor
from a PS3 and a PS2
slim, plenty of games between them
I am from OMG and LOL
from epic fail on
emails, websites and forums
I am from Katniss Everdeen fighting
Alex Rider spying, and
Captain Picard winning every time
I am from my mother, father, brother, sister and an
English Springer Spaniel
from a brand new Dodge
Grand Caravan SE with a 6-speed automatic 62TE transmission
and a 3.6 liter V^ 24
valve VVT engine
I am from the pictures on our computers filed
neatly away in folders
accessed with a click
of the mouse displaying my life before me...
If we hope to succeed at defeating this CCSS then
we have to teach our children to be just as evasive, devious and clever as they
are at denying them the very information they are trying to glean. This is not
the type of education I had hoped for my children, but nonetheless it is their
future and they must learn to navigate through it.
* EXAMPLE FIVE
This example is how the seventh grade teachers
dealt with the new CCSS ELA standards regarding the study of poetry. This had
been a 6 – 9 week unit that was shrunk down to 9 DAYS! My son’s teacher was
very upset with the shortened time frame (but my son and some of his friends who
love to write but hate poetry, were gleeful) and his teacher had been out voted
as to what poet they were going to study. I asked for her to state her position
through me anonymously but she refused. This is common place as many are afraid
of losing their jobs, teaching licenses, etc. Here is the unit and poet they
were exposed to and my son and one of his classmates example at how to beat the
system once again, as in the above example.
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Excerpt
from Poet’s Webpage
Welcome! We all have poetry inside us, and
I believe that poetry is for everyone, but can we recognize it when we hear it,
in our students, and in ourselves? Whether you are a teacher, poet or child our
challenge is to find the poetry all around us every day!
That's one of my goals when I teach
poetry is to help every student find the poetry inside.
My
New Book on Heart Mapping!
Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in
Elementary and Middle School
Awakening the Heart explores how to
cultivate the poet in every elementary and middle school student - through
well-drawn examples, detailed exercises, creative projects, and down-to-earth
classroom teachings.
Ever since my book Awakening the
Heart was first published, and I wrote about my idea of heart mapping,
teachers, parents and students from all over the world have created heart maps
and shared them with me. I'm now publishing a book about heart mapping with
many beautiful examples included! I would love to publish your students' heart
maps.
Please
scan and email heart maps to: heard_georgia@yahoo.com
or mail to:
Georgia Heard - 2655 North Ocean Drive Suite #310F - Singer
Island, FL 33404
(If
you can -- please include a permission form with the student's name and
address, parent or guardian's signature [signature], teacher's name, grade and
school address, and any accompanying explanation, writing or poem)
Heart maps can be created by writing,
drawing, collage, photos, etc. Here are some questions that might inspire
students:
What has really affected your heart?
What people have been important to you?
What are some experiences that you will never forget?
What happy or sad memories do you have?
What secrets have you kept in your heart?
How
to Order Books: Check out Stenhouse.com to order Georgia's newest professional
book A Place for Wonder: reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades
(2009) and www.heinemann.com
to order Georgia Heard's other professional books and www.amazon.com
for Georgia's children's books. Also, to read more information about her latest
book Climb Inside a Poem: Reading and Writing Poetry Across the School Year go
to www.climbinsideapoem.com
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Here
is the assignment that the students received. They studied the poet for one
day. Began to brainstorm about their “heart maps” on the second day, drew what
they envisioned these heart maps to look like on the third day, then spent the
remaining time working on writing, editing, and perfecting their “Heart Map
Poems”. The last two days of the unit were spent sharing their poems in class.
Assessment
Instructions (example of a "heart mapping" assessment attached):
Heart Mapping:
Sharpening Your Inner Vision
“Keeping our
hearts open is the work of poetry.”
“Poets write from their hearts about what
we deeply care about…I write my poems from memories of my families, of growing
up next to a creek in Virginia, and of the people I meet in my travels.
“It’s a poet’s job to know the interior of
his or her heart.” One way of accessing those feelings is to map your heart.
“We carry this heart map around all the time but how many of us know what it really
looks like and what’s in it? Drawing a map of our heart helps make order out of
what often feels like chaos and reveals the meanings behind the confusing emotions.
And these meanings shine like gems that have been long buried.
“…make a map of all the important things
that are in your heart, all the things that really matter to you. You can put:
people and places that you care about; moments and memories that have stayed
with you; things you love to do, anything that has stayed in your heart because
you care a lot about it.”
Brainstorm what MIGHT go in the map in
your heart – the things you truly care about. Consider:
-
“What
has really affected your heart? (my son
answered HEMOGLOBIN)
-
What
people have been important to you?
-
What
are some experiences or central events that you will never forget?
-
What
happy or sad memories do you have?
-
What
secrets have you kept in your heart? (This is an obvious attempt to get them to
give those secrets up for scrutiny…datamining….counseling…etc? My son wrote,
“My blood is green.” Sarcasm of course.
Wonder where he gets that from?)
-
What
small things or objects are important to you?
My son brainstormed the following things:
“My
grandma, mom/dad, his siblings,
my
house (duh),
my
friends (too long to list, oh well),
Lotus
Exige inspired me 2b successful (so I can buy it),
Counselor
Troi moments: (gma has cancer),
anti-Counselor
Troi moments: (gma cured of cancer),
secrets:
Screw that I’m not telling you – that’s why they are called “secrets”,
central
events: going 2 new school,
Star
Trek,
and
my MAC – lol I put that on every one of these things.”
Here is the final poem he turned in on the
following page. He received all level 4’s on his rubric for this one.
Another student wrote the following
response to thumb their nose at the attempt to disclose personal information to
the school. This student got all 4’s and one 3 for using a “Cliché” in the last
line. I disagree with this assessment and think it is what makes this poem work
so well.
Rebellion of a Singularity
The room was an event horizon
sound and light
seeming to be lost indefinitely
The void paradoxically screamed
begging for attention
despite being nothingness.
Contrary to this vacuity
there is a tapping of footsteps
and like a firefly
in the depths of night
a photon escapes the grasp of the singularity
until a light ruptures the darkness.
The MacBook pro proudly boos
its screen a bright quadrilateral in the void
setting in motion
the buzzes and clicks of the CD-ROM drive
the hum of the start-up sound
and the initiation of back-lit keys.
Through eons of work
time proceeds at an accelerated rate
until the movie is complete
The video is rendered
and the finished product appears-
an incursion against the black hole…
At the range
Dad slowly places the case on the table
he opens it up with care
and lays down the weapon
explains how to use it as it sits there
I pick the gun up, load it, an aim
the gun steadily sat in my shoulder, as I wait to
fire
I breathe out as I slowly pull the trigger
the bullet flew out of the chamber
the BANG of the bullet bounced off the walls
as the bullet traveled down the range
It impacted the target and ripped it apart
I looked to see where the target was hit
it was close to the middle, just a smidgen away
so I locked and loaded and fired away
We must teach our children while we fight to
repeal this dreadful Common Core nonsense, just how to defeat the system for
now so as to not volunteer any information that is not their business in the
first place and has nothing to do with their education. I feel these two show
promise in that regard.
(MEW note. Below is an example of a "heart map")
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We will have more tales from the classroom about common core aligned curriculum within the next few days.
