Enacting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a big part of my current job as a Transformational Coach.
- Do I completely understand them or their implications? No.
- Do the people who wrote them? I’m not confident.
- Are they clarifying or further muddying instructional waters? Perhaps, depending upon how you approach them.
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One thing I recognize though is the opportunity for teachers to use this different breed of standards to create cohesive and coherent curriculum, not so we can better measure things, nor so we can make all classrooms look alike. Don’t be fickle.
A recent editorial in Ed Week by 5th grade teacher Christine Newell about online communities of educators learning about the CCSS intended to highlight the utility of digital tools (blogs, wikis, and social networks) in connecting teachers toward this end. While the medium is useful, the message must be our primary concern. Reading her commentary, I felt grateful to work in a district with teams of K-6 teachers who realize a change has got to come and we can create understanding together on how to enact these standards so that we serve kids. Ms. Newell doesn’t sound as lucky, which is perhaps why the online communities are her domain of choice. Still, she articulates the answer to a question recently asked of me, “What is your focus as a coach this year?” If I can borrow her answer, “The success of our students depends on our ability to facilitate the standards-implementation conversation.” That conversation is what’s going on this year as I seek to support teachers’ understanding and creation of cohesion and coherence for kids.
Ms. Newell, thanks for helping me clarify what I need to be about this year. I invite you to work and learn with us!
Thank you so much for your comment and shout-out! I would love to collaborate with you as you work on CCSS implementation. My district is getting there, but slowly. We are slated for a CCSS Leadership Institute PD program in Feb-March, and I have been invited to attend. Otherwise, though, we’re supposed to stick to our curriculum and California standards… my class is getting a little Common Core in there, too, don’t worry. Thanks again!
*Christine Newell
P.S. I would love to know more about what you do and where you work!
Christine, my name is Walt Sutterlin. I am a Transformational Coach in Holt, Michigan, a suburb of Lansing. I’ve been working on intervention systems and building teacher leadership in our PreK-12 district, but as you see in my post, this year there is a need for us to begin making sense of the CCSS for ourselves.
Keep in touch with our progress here, or by email: walt@sutterlearn.com.
Re: Common Core Standards: This week, I was privileged to observe 4 Classes of 4th Graders as they interacted with an author. The book is BLUE by Joyce Hostetter, and it is historical fiction set in 1940′s Carolina as the polio epidemic increased. The protagonist is an 8-9 year old girl.
These students at Cotswold Elementary IB School had read, or been read to, for weeks before the interaction with the author. They had prepared their connections and questions. Their attention was sacred to behold; their empathy and curiosity was accurate and developmentally appropriate.
All in all, it was a stellar example of “reading across the curriculum” and age-interest group building, as well as sharing pathos and knowledge. I mention this as one of many “up close and personal” examples of learning across the core standards.
And, after the book is closed, the value remains: “It only hurts for a little while…after that, it gets better…” Encourage ALL your teaching teams to find the experiences that extend learning and bond groups, whether experiencing health epidemics or day-to-day problem solving!
P.S. I love you, Walt. (From a 1950 polio survivor, ‘Yo Mama!)