Back to Standards
|
|
Common Core State Standards
The old school way of learning and teaching has been to memorize information and regurgitate what you can recall on an exam. Fortunately for today’s learners and educators we are moving away from this structure and moving toward an educational experience which is both meaningful and memorable. The Common Core Standards offer an integrated curriculum and dives deeper into the learning. This way of learning will hopefully inspire children to be intrinsically motivated to drive their own interests and further their knowledge based on the want to know. I wish I had been taught in an environment which supported my interests and guided me as an independent learner and critical thinker. Today’s learners need to be innovators and problem solvers and need to think outside the box. English Language Learners benefit from these teaching ways as they have much to contribute. The Common Core Standards offer children a variety of ways to show and share their knowledge and new learning.
I found Lois R. Mobley’s six insights to be very interesting and inspiring. The idea that we as educators, parents and friends should ask questions and not just provide answers is model I practice in class with my kindergartners. They have such amazing ideas and ways of looking at things that if I just give them answers to everything they would not have the exciting opportunity to share how they solved a problem or figured out a challenging task. Learning to problem solve and think outside the box are life skills that children should be experimenting with on a daily basis. Mobley’s second point is to encourage people to think about things in a way they had not yet considered. It is important for learners to experiment with the ideas of others and how to ask meaningful questions about a topic. His third point is that we need to experience our learning. People do not just become what they want to be from reading a textbook about it. People need to experience the hands-on approach to truly store their learning and make meaningful connections. In Mobley’s fourth point he explains the importance of stepping out of our comfort zones even if it means spending time with people who may know more. It is important to instill a sense of confidence in our students and ourselves in order to grow. Also, it is important to self reflect on our learning from our readings, conversations, etc. Lastly, it is a good skill to strengthen the idea that it is okay to make mistakes, to be wrong and to accept another person’s ideas instead of your own. All of these points that Mobley makes are skills that I try to instill in my lessons, in my students and in my own learning. Providing these experiences to be creative in a safe and nurturing environment with encourage students to be confident learners who become more creative as their life experiences broaden. The California Common Core Standards also includes a varied technology scope and sequence of skills which are required to be introduced as early as the Kindergarten level. Currently The Hebrew Day School uses technology in meaningful and developmentally appropriate ways. The lower school uses iPads to develop reading and writing strategies through online reading and writing programs as well as the use of applications. All middle school students are provided with a chromebook which is used for research and writing. In addition the Kindergarten class and middle school work together through a buddy system to write their own stories and retrieve pictures from the internet. In the Kindergarten classroom the teacher uses technology to enhance curriculum and the learning experience as appropriate.
|
21st Century Skills
TPACK
Change this title to something you choose
|
|
Three minute video explaining Common Core State Standards and its benefits.
|
|