Hi!
 
I do mourn the loss of the  focus on classical literature with the Common Core Standards impacting students nationwide. I think classical literature helps to change students thinking dispositions when they read, analyze and think deeply about it - growing better thinkers is important. 
 
I am thankful to be employed at a public charter school where I as a teacher, I can select my own curriculum and literature under state charter school laws. Yes, when our district and state adopts the Common Core Standards, then we have to meet or exceed them. However,  as a charter school we can select literature to help students exceed the Common Core Standards and are not forced to stay with the Common Core literature lists.
 
I do understand the "why" on the informational text focus, as  I see many students that are seriously struggling in  some STEM courses because the cannot  read and understand  the subject matter very well, when delivered in text only form.
 
I also think it is unfair that under No Child Left Behind assessments for reading and writing make up 2/3 of the content knowledge  being assessed, yet we as English teachers, only have one hour per day with students to accomplish this, whereas, Math  usually gets the same time per week and only represents 1/3 of the assessed content under NCLB. 
 
I am still lurking around this list, reading and not posting because I seriously do not have the time to allot to it.
 
Happy New Year - maybe I will have more time in this new year to share my thoughts and questions about what is written on this list. Thank you for sharing.
 
Be well... Anna
 


On Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 9:01 AM, kirby urner <kirby.urner@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 8:12 AM, Robert Hansen <bob@rsccore.com> wrote:
What is even stranger is that we were already at 50/50.

English, Social Studies, Math, Science.

Bob Hansen


Social Science has a lot of math in it, especially statistics.

In 'my' curriculum it's more like Geometry + Geography where the latter has all the National Geographic type stuff i.e. anthropology.

The standards committees are mostly busy work for people who need some kind of income based on what little they learned in school (not a whole lot in most cases).  We must indulge our fellow Americans in their busy work because that's a way to stay self respecting, to don business dress and pilot an automobile to a place called an office. 

In terms of reading or caring about their reports... like I said, many jobs in Washington (the district) depend on remaining fluent in the bureaucratic lit of the day.  It's a large city with a high cost of living and license to dangle money over our heads, make us jump like fish (right into their nets).

I'm not going to begrudge all these people "churning a living", but neither am I going to advise young children to put Uncle Sam high on their list, when it comes to telling them what tests to take, what media to consume, or what to do with their lives in general.  Uncle Sam is not a good role model. 

On the other hand, we learn from his mistakes as a kind of bumbling buffoon (American Dad, Family Guy...).  We learn how we ourselves, the people, might govern more wisely and democratically, as our heritage speaks to us and reminds us of our higher purposes. 

We don't need those standards committees to tell us our central business or responsibilities.  They should mind their own business.  DC needs to learn how to be a better neighbor.  Sometimes looking at all those Roman looking buildings every day goes to their heads and they think they're the hub of a great empire, the big boss town or something equally stupid.  Pshaw to all that.

Kirby