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What's Your Problem with Common Core?

1/5/2015

15 Comments

 

“Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” -Chinese Proverb. 

If this proverb is true, why is there so much resistance to change in education?

Not a day goes by where I don’t see some sort of pushback to Common Core. Whether it’s a parent on Facebook that posts a “stupid question” from their child’s homework, a viral video that elicits unpleasant comments, or a political debate about their purpose or validity, Common Core Standards continue to be a contentious topic across the state.

Parents in particular seem to have the most difficulty with the new standards. I recently did an informal Facebook survey asking them to share their frustrations. They delivered honest answers that helped me better understand their issues. Here is what they said:

“It is frustrating that I feel like I can’t help my child when she needs it.”

“They have no math books and I am always afraid of teaching her to do it the wrong way when she needs help. There are never any examples on the pages and I know this "new math" is all about the process and there is a lot of work to get to an answer… I guess my concern is that she will lose her love of math when what is a simple problem to her turns into 5 steps that seem unnecessary (to her) and just extra work.”

“From my point of view it's not straight forward. I can't look at their homework & know how to help them. And since I'm not in class while it's being taught.....kinda makes Mom look (& feel) stupid in front of her kids. 2+2=4 regardless if you're counting apples, oranges, or kittens. I'm all for showing how you got the answer but it’s hard if I can't figure out what the question is.”

“I find homework to be very frustrating as do my kids. And if they continue the common core method for math, then parents need to be educated as well. I personally think it’s pointless anyway. If I’m going to compute a tip for a bill at dinner, I’m going to do mental math to figure it out. Not pull out a binder and pencil and sit for another hour to figure out what 20% is.”

One parent said they prefer to use method of “common sense instead of common core” in their home and continued with, “I think you can still teach deep thinking without marking answers wrong for doing it a different way.”

As a parent myself, I empathize with these statements because no one wants to struggle to help their own children. No one wants to take a longer route to solve a problem when a shorter one is at their disposal. Most importantly, no one wants to see their child wrestle with a concept that just doesn’t come naturally for them. As a teacher, though, I know that this transition is important as we dig deeper into concepts and teach children the value of the little voice inside their heads. Too many generations have been out of touch with the complexity of our thought processes. We know how to do things but do we know why they work?

What I have realized through conversations with teachers and parents is that people are more frustrated with the resources we use to teach Common Core than they are with the standards themselves. Every annoyance is related to math and the frustration with the lack of a textbook, of examples, or of support in general. I agree that the resources we have available are substandard, but I am optimistic that they will improve over time. But is it fair to blame the standards because of weak materials? If you were trying to build a desk with the wrong tools, would you blame the instructions?

Perhaps we need to provide more education about what Common Core Standards are and what they are not. This video http://vimeo.com/110807219 explains “Why Math is Different Now” and this one http://vimeo.com/51933492 helps you “Learn about the Common Core in 3 Minutes.” http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/ is a great resource as well, including a page about What Parents Should Know http://www.corestandards.org/what-parents-should-know/ here.

I get it. Change is hard. But imagine where we would be if generations before us resisted transition. We might still be using a quill and scroll to write because pencils would encourage mistakes. Or worse, we wouldn’t even be writing. The early act of writing was frowned upon because critics thought it would “produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory” and that “Students’ trust in it would discourage the use of their own minds.” Think about that.

Yes, Common Core is different than the way we learned, but shouldn’t we celebrate that and see it as progression? Yes, it is awkward for kids to explain their thinking, but don’t we want them to be aware of their thought processes and understand the importance of metacognition? Yes, it is harder to help our kids with their homework, but should we really be helping them as much as we feel like we need to?

Kids are very capable of meeting our expectations, but most of the time, our expectations are way too low. We don’t want them to struggle, so we spoon-feed them exactly what they need to be successful. We get anxious if they have to solve problems on their own, so we solve as much as we can for them. We anticipate that they are too young to understand, so we don’t even bother to try and teach them. We have limited our kids to learning at the surface, giving them just enough to get by without ever letting them dig deeper. Common Core is our opportunity to change that. Our old standards were a mile wide and an inch deep and the new standards are just the opposite. Let’s take this opportunity to add rigor to our day. Let’s give kids a chance to think deeply and persevere in their learning.

It’s about time, and I mean that in more ways than one. It’s about the time we can finally give kids so they can grapple with concepts and construct their own understanding. It’s about time that we changed the “fly by” teaching that we have had to do to cover too much ground at once. It will take time for everyone to adjust, but adjustment comes much faster without resistance. “Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” -Chinese Proverb. 

Maybe it’s time to accept it and move forward.

So, what’s your problem with the Common Core? I would love to hear your thoughts on this so please comment honestly below in a judgment free zone.

15 Comments
Kathi Geukes
1/7/2015 11:55:23 am

The problem with CC is that you are forgetting to teach kids the BASICS.....let's get back to making classes in Math, English, History and Science easier to understand instead of adding bullshit formulas that don't make a lick of sense to already hard to digest formulas!!!! Moron!!!!!

Reply
Melody link
1/7/2015 11:53:40 pm

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, as am I, but please refrain from derogatory comments against others. I would like this to be a judgment free zone where people can feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, and if their opinions differ from someone else's, there is no need to resort to name calling. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate your feedback. Have a great day!

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Charles Ames
1/8/2015 05:35:39 am

The clip from Dr. Shah is reasonable. It is NOT represtitive of the Common Core examples I Have seen though.

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Luke Wilcox
1/9/2015 08:08:03 am

In a new age where Google can answer all of your questions, it is not so much about getting the "right answer". It is much more about understanding and interpreting that answer, and being able to explain ideas to others. These are the skills that will make students successful in life and careers. The Common Core supports the cultivation of these thinking practices.

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Mark
1/29/2015 01:05:36 pm

Right. no one can build a bridge simply by understanding how it works. You better have your math correct. This CC in nothing but indoctrination of our young. The greatest minds of this planet didn't use this crap, and this crap will not creat greater minds. Burry your head in the sand.

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Mark
1/29/2015 01:17:43 pm

Oh, you can thank auto fill for most of the errors in my last message. You must love this highly advanced forward leaning technology!

Lyon Terry
1/9/2015 03:14:33 pm

Fully agree. Change is hard. But education must keep up with the times. We don't need kids to learn knowledge for knowledge's sake. We need kids to understand how they learn and how to persevere. These are the skills of the 21st century. Many people like to compare education to business. I generally think this is a terrible idea, but imagine if we did in this case? What if there was no Amazon? No Starbucks? No Microsoft? Like when I was a kid. We embrace this change. Let's embrace change in education as well.

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Rob
1/13/2015 06:07:10 am

>My concern is not over CC, standards are good. Applied with reason and sensitivity. My difficulty is with means of transmission and oversight. My first bias is that the teacher should be an example of the standards... he/she should have an engaging, relevant (curr) story that models the use and the reason the standard works. Allowing Ts to infuse their own stories with CC standards would help make their instruction more appealing to Ss, promote involvement, and heighten learning. The difficulty is giving Ts plethora of pre-digested skill activities that, trotted out day after day, send msg to Ss that learning is fixed and nonrelevant.
>I am also concerned about lack of individual autonomy with CC. As a progression of learnings they are described as fixed at various grade levels without consideration of developmental readiness of Ss or adaptability to needs of local district. Every teacher I know throws up hands over “Malcolm’s” un-readiness for X standard. With the CC, the problem is Malcolm’s… or the T’s. Not that the standard is inappropriate for Malcolm at this time.
>The rush to assess our progress is also a concern. Smarter Balance outsmarted itself—not meeting its deadline for presentation in Mich. It shows how difficult it is to assess S learning with certainty. Additionally, the computerized administration of CC testing has Ss and Ts scared regarding results—one, because of the unfamiliar techno-medium itself may not show Ss’ best work, but also because of the worrisome prospect that the CC will be incorporated into the VAM model used for T evaluation.

Reply
Patrick
2/10/2015 04:50:26 am

As with any new process, there were bound to be a few hiccups in the common core. Especially in the message and the conveyance to parents. But one thing that seems to get lost is that the common core provides a real data friendly way to address potential issues/gaps with lesson plans.

For instance, in the third grade, representing the Base Ten values is actually only touched on briefly as it is addressed more robustly in second grade. But when looking at the results from exams, questions that addressed 3.NBT standards proved to be surprisingly challenging for students in our classroom.

Knowing this, the lesson plans could be tweaked to address this potential gap in the future and it helps to provide a basis for the 4th grade teachers as well. The main issue is that the data provided is not always the most user friendly. It can take a bit of finagling to put it in a format that proves to be the most useful.

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Melissa
3/11/2015 02:26:51 am

I seem to be in the minority, but you articulate my thoughts well. I have bookmarked your blog and hope to hear more ftom you.

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Seattleite
4/7/2015 06:28:57 pm

A few years ago, I was regaled by an associate about how nonsensical his son's homework was. He complained about what he called the latest New Math (which was a flop because there's no such thing as "new math," it's just math.) A local area meteorologist had recently been fired from a radio station for saying more or less the same thing, which was kind of interesting, so I decided to pick a subject and take a quick look at the Common Core material to see for myself what the deal was. What I found did indeed look pretty awful.

Here is an example: A fundamental concept in linear algebra is the equation for a line, which is y = mx + b. The value of b shifts the line up and down on the y axis, and m is the ratio of "rise" to "run" that determines the line's slope. Anyone over 30 that has gone through grade school in the US public school system has encountered this, but nowhere in the Common Core materials on beginning linear algebra could I find that equation. Instead, there is a bunch of esoteric conceptualization that looks like it was invented by teachers who had taken too much X at some kind of psychedelic education rave. It's New Math all over again.

I'm a 50 year old computer programmer. I've interviewed a number of people over the decades, and if someone cannot tell me what y = mx + b means and how it works, I cannot recommend hiring them. It does not matter how artistically they can wax poetic about the concept of times tables and the importance of grasping the cosmic meaning of multiplying one number by another - if they have trouble telling me what six times nine is off the top of their head, it's thumbs down. H1B visa workers from traditional education systems tend to do pretty well with the basics, by the way. That's what I'll accept and move forward on.

Common Core is academically flawed to the extent that Lyon Terry now apparently feels compelled to ignore the National Do Not Call list and leave me prerecorded messages at home about it. (I googled his name and wound up here.) However, the core problem is that the material itself is indefensible. Any scientist can independently verify how awful it is just by picking their favorite area and looking at how Common Core approaches it. Instead of politicizing it, why not just focus on fixing the material that sucks - and Lyon, stop robocalling me at home about it.

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1/12/2016 09:44:27 am

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Margarita Smith link
2/20/2016 08:07:07 pm

. “Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” -Chinese Proverb.
i dont understand this?

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