Supporting the Standards!

March 17, 2016

from an Oklahoma Teacher on Spring Break

I have taught almost 25 years in Oklahoma, earned a Bachelor's Degree in English Education, a Master's Degree in Secondary Education, and a Master's Degree in Reading, and I believe that these are the best standards I have seen throughout my years in education. Here are the reasons why I like our standards and why the standards should be approved.

The standards support literacy: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and vocabulary skills. The only way to improve these five skills is to have students practice the skills together, not teach each 
skill as a separate entity. 

The standards provide opportunities for repetition of skills. For students to develop good habits, they need opportunities to repeat the skills they know while learning new ones. 

The standards promote curriculum alignment. My colleagues and I can align our curriculum so that we know what students should be able to do at each level.

The standards include independent reading and writing. For 11th and 12th grade students, accomplishing this standard would indicate that they are ready for college since college is all about independent reading and writing. 

The standards require research, using sources, and evidence. These skills are essential for college-level work. Click on this link for aligning research papers 9th-12th. Research Paper Proposals

The standards focus on the needs of the students not just for a test or an agenda.  Students have different strengths and weaknesses, and these standards don't represent the "one size fits all" idea that has been seen in common core states.

The standards focus on the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. The focus is not on recalling or identifying; it's on evaluating, synthesizing, comprehending, and applying.

The standards require students to go through the stages of the writing process and to write multiple drafts. We have to prepare students to revise, to edit, and to write multiple drafts of essays. With the influx of writing tests that are given, I think these steps have been overlooked.

The standards involve critical reading and writing. Students are not just reading for fun or reading to get a higher score on an AR test. Students should read to understand why that piece of literature was written, to relate ideas to real-world events or other books that have been read, and to argue about something in the book. All of these ideas relate to the critical writing standard.

The standards require students to have speaking and listening skills. Students need to articulate their thoughts using sentences and upper-level vocabulary. We want them to go beyond a 6th grade vocabulary when discussing ideas. Furthermore, if students can discuss about it, they can write about it.

These standards are perfect for unit lesson plans, give teachers a way to align the curriculum, and focus on the students. Approve without hesitation #ourstandards, so that we can prepare for next year.

As Katniss Everdeen said in the Hunger Games, "Thanks for the consideration!"