Common Core isn't the devil

I am so sick of people bashing Common Core. Most of the time, people don't even know what they are talking about. They just "heard" that Common Core is "bad", so they jump on that bandwagon. It's reminds me of how people thought the New Orleans Saints were a horrible team, then they won the Super Bowl and everyone became a Saints fan.  Well, I was a Saints fan since birth, and through good times and bad, I'll always e a Saints fan! (Thanks Dad!)

Here are some common misconceptions about Common Core:

1. "These new standards are ridiculous." : Well, I hate to tell you think but these are not "new" standards. Every state has had standards for years.  They just called them something different in each state. In Louisiana, they were called GLEs ( Grade Level Expectations) The new part is when governors got together and assembled a group of people to say what students should know at the different grade levels to be successful in the next.  This group started with the end in mind. They said for a graduating high school senior to be prepared for college they have to know this....  Then said, for that senior to be prepared, during his junior year he needs to know this..... And on and on, they did this all the way to kindergarteners. Each year, preparing them for that next step.

2. "The Common Core dumbs down education" : Quite the contrary. The CC MAKES students think deeper into problems.  Instead of saying, this is how you multiply, 5 x 5 = 25, it shows when you add 5 groups 5 times you can get 25, show me. The student would then make 5 group with 5 dots in each group and the student would count all the dots. The student will discover for himself that this will work ALL THE TIME. But instead of just telling them, we have students discover the result themselves. Hence, making their learning a discovery, rather than a procedure. This will enable students to have students take part in their learning and allows them a deeper sense of WHAT they are learning. 

3. "Common Core makes students jump through hoops to find a simple answer." This is probably the biggest misconception.  NO WHERE in the CCSS does it say, HOW students are to learn these standards.

 Here is proof of that statement: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/
 

You can then go to each grade level and see what students should learn for a particular grade level. 

Here is proof of that statement: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NBT/ 

I just chose one element of a fourth grade standard. You can pick and choose what standard & grade level you would like to explore.

Now, that you have had an exploration, (hopefully) did you find ONE PLACE where it told you HOW to work a problem..... NO, YOU DIDN'T!!! And there lies the problem.  So what is all the fuss about? What happened was that from this blue print, of WHAT we need to teach, those writing CURRICULUM made "the plans" for HOW the standards are taught. When writing the plans, curriculum writers made choices on how to teach this curriculum.  THIS IS WHERE PARENTS ARE FINDING MATERIAL FOR THEIR ARGUMENTS!!!!!! It is not the standards that they have concerns with, it is the IMPLEMENTATION of the standards. But parents don't realize that this is NOT a state mandate, curriculum is chosen by individual school districts and in some cases, individual schools choose what curriculum they will teach, what textbooks they will use and what program they will follow. But again, this is not the blue print! 

Look at it this way: If you and I were given the task of building a house, we would need a "blue print" to determine what the house will look like. But how you build the house, and how I build the house will be different based on how we PLAN to build.  You may use straw. I may use bricks. But the outcome (hopefully) will be the same. We will ultimately build the same house. Now, think about this in the terms of curriculum. We both delivered the same result (preparation for college), but whose house will resist the blow of the BIG BAD WOLF? My bricks will give you a firmer foundation (how students are taught) that won't falter, when I get into college.