Common Core Curriculum (CCC) continues its march toward mediocrity, or worse.
I was attending our bi-weekly faculty indoctrination and we had a special speaker. She was special because we were told she was special. In the usual patronizing speech of gurus she told us that she was not really the expert. We the teachers were the experts. She was not here to lecture us on what we were supposed to do.
She then proceeded to lecture us on what we were supposed to do.
Part of the tremendous wisdom that was imparted was that we can’t expect the students to write in cursive, read, speak or make complete sentences if they didn’t feel like it. That is counter productive. You can’t teach someone unless they are doing it their way. Fun is assumed. There is a joke I tell sometimes. It goes like this. “What is a four letter word, ending in ‘k’ that is considered a dirty word in middle school? The answer, “Work.”
The reason they didn’t feel like it was not because they were lazy, but because they had a unique learning style that we needed to accommodate. We were told that cutting edge teaching under the new Common Core Standards meant that the students needed to study what they wanted to study using the methods they were most comfortable with and produce results in the format they were best at doing.
Using this logic when you go to a restaurant and order egg plant parmigiana you should be happy to get a scrambled egg if that is what the chief felt like making or a Big Mac if he didn’t feel like cooking at all. When you get on an airplane for Dallas the pilot may be in a mood for some Cajun and take you to New Orleans.
As I looked around I felt like I was in my history class. A large number of the teachers were playing with their cell phones. A few more were on their lap tops. I am sure they were taking notes. Most of the rest had a dazed look on their faces. When later I shared some of the things that had been said with another teacher I got the response, “You were actually listening!”
That was the voice of shock.
I think we may be approaching the day when mediocre is considered the new standard of excellence. Oops, that was another dirty word. It speaks of judgement and inequality.
Shame, shame.
homo unius libri
"They" don't want people able to think, they want to make THEIR kids think, so they can follow in their parent's footsteps and subjugate the masses.
ReplyDeleteYou have heard of sheep, wolves and sheep dogs. My wife heard another one. We are either pigeons or eagles. Preserve us.
DeleteGrace and peace.
I despise required meetings like that, even more so when you have to sit through a bunch of ridiculous drivel. Such a waste of time. I would zone out and plan my garden or something similar. Apparently that's what some of your colleagues were doing.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could learn from their example but my parents had this thing about courtesy. Also I find that as boring as it may be I am more aware of the brainwashing than they are.
DeleteGrace and peace.