Common Core Concerns

The Common Core is new. In an effort to understand more about it I am reading anything and everything I can about the subject. Some reviews of the Common Core are positive. Some reviews are negative. Some talk about the similarities and some the differences. But each article/post I read helps me develop a better idea of what exactly the Common Core means to me.

Yesterday I read a post by Hello Literacy's Jennifer Jones. (A Reading Specialist in North Carolina) She recently gave two amazing power points about integrating the common core to teachers. These power points and a a free questioning resource are included in her post. If you too are still full of questions about the Common Core I highly recommend taking the time to pop over and reading her post.

As I read, I took notes on the things that seemed important to me. I'd like to take a moment over the next week or so and talk about my impressions. My first impression? The Common Core is rigorous. It expects more of our students and more from our teachers.  I love to see that it is moving towards making connections across curriculum and understanding why the things we learn are important.  But I am also confused at the gaps in some of the standards. I love to see more of an emphasis on understanding text and moving to higher level thinking. But I am not always sure how to align that into my teaching.

Please tell me I'm not the only one with questions. If I am, well you are just going to have to sit through several posts. I find that once I put my thoughts into words for another person I am able to see the holes in my thinking. So thank you for being my sounding board. I hope that you learn something too.