Common Core State Standards

Blog 2: Common Core State Standards

I am not sure what I think about the common core. I agree that all students deserve the best education. However I am not sure that holding every student to the same standard can be risky. On the flip side I think back to my education and think that it is at least a good idea in theory. When I was a student the standards were not nearly as stringent and it was easy to fall behind, or be way ahead and wait for students to catch up. There will always be students that have a greater knowledge in a subject than others and they get discouraged, and the other subjects suffer, it happened to me, I was really strong in reading and writing, but terrible at math and science, and there was no program set up to make sure that I got a healthy understanding of each core curriculum instead I was passed through and excelled in one subject and suffered in the other two and my education was and still does lack knowledge of the core subjects that students are supposed to learn today. So I guess I think it is a good thing for the students. I also think that it is good for the teachers as well, because it forces them to connect more with the students and have more of the knowledge that the students are learning. It also holds the teacher more accountable of making sure that no student is falling so far back that they will not be able to recover, it makes the whole classroom a learning environment, it makes the everyone in the room a teacher and everyone a student. And I think that is an important part of education, as a great direction that education is going and continues to go.

Discussion in Democratic Society

Discussion in Democratic Society

First let me start by saying that I really appreciated how the author broke the article into sections, it has always helped me when reading academic articles. Now onto the content, the college I recently graduated from runs on the block system and is the only school to offer what they call Experience 1. Each class gives you the opportunity to experience what you can expect from your major after college is through, whether it’s science or education, you go on field trips or field experience, or just have classes where you have three hour conversations. Now since I was an English Major, we partook in the latter more than anything else. This article touches on a lot of my own experiences from my undergraduate college, and you really do learn a lot and put into practice what this article talks about. I am very opinionated, and rarely am I “wrong” I get it from my mother, and it drives my wife crazy. However having to listen to ten other people and their opinions and how they agree with some parts of what you said, but argue other parts with what they think, it really does help you learn to rationalize and compromise, but most importantly it helps you listen because you get drawn in with the realization that somebody agrees with you, but knowing that they are going to have their own opinion gets your attention. I learned each and every one of these things through my experience and think that it is invaluable to teach it students at a much earlier than I learned it. I was never a very good student and barely graduated high school, so college had to wait. I went back at 26, and had to learn manners of scholastic discussion at a much older age than I think is needed, especially to help prepare students for the real world. College isn’t for every student, but these lessons can be helpful in life as well as the classroom.