I just accessed this article today 6/11/14 and it is from NPR which receives money from The Gates Foundation so it is a fair indication of some of the conflicts revolving around the process involved in the set-up and roll-out of The Common Core. I urge those of you with time and experience to read through those who had a hand in preparing the material - the ivory tower group is still heavily involved. It troubles me that truly experienced teachers get a wink and a nod - and I still see a lot of recycled 70's material that may have gotten a face lift. I promise to go back and pull my printouts out of my folder to verify my initial reactions!!!!! I don't want to spout an opinion without giving you some examples so that will be coming after I put up the Visual/Graphic Presentation Rubric Score Sheet.
One item of interest is that as I read through my training manual to prepare to take my American Council On Exercise Group Fitness Instructor Manual, I am stuck by the similarities in preparation to being an excellent teacher -
- Know your material and be certified in a particular area and only that area - you may obtain certificates in additional knowledge, but to add another area of expertise - you must pass an exam.
- Be prepared and safe - know CPR and in the case of Group Fitness Instructors know how to use the portable or automated external defibrillator (AED) - One of my teacher friends said that teachers must now be CPR certified, but it can be an online certification - I'm headed for the local American Red Cross for my training in both CPR and use of the AED
- Check out your environment for safety issues - use wipes and insure the integrity of your equipment
- Only give advice that you are certified to give
- Give pre-tests or self-evaluations to know the varying fitness levels (in the case of students, learning levels and styles) of participants - get medical records or referrals as needed if certain benchmarks are indicated - high blood pressure, diabetes, family history of heart attacks and other indicators of possible health issues.
- Be encouraging - show modifications in a manner that will make participants feel included - not singled out
So far - I feel right at home - these are the hallmarks of good teaching practices. It makes me happy that my career path is lining up with prior experience in an unexpected way. I can see myself working in an independent location demonstrating proper form so people will feel comfortable Combosizing on their own listening to their own playlists, but feeling confident that the modifications they make are right for their physical abilities. So teachers - what we do is standard practice in many fields. I worked nine jobs after retiring from teaching and was trained anew for each one - the training materials always worked to match varying learning styles and be hands on - cute huh?
Guess what? Despite the fact that teachers are enduring industries attempts to "measure" the quality of our output, they are relying on our methodology to train employees. I find this amusing on one level, but irritating on another as more well-meaning people, like the Gates impose well-financed blitzes to reform and quantify learning in what has proven to be an expensive trial and error method that is now facing the reality of the multiple factors that influence learning and learners. I'm practical and it seems to me that we've just gotten way too fancy. My first principal had a developmentally sound approach to learning and we stressed less about tests until the time was right. Another interesting article - http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/11/now-bill-gates-demands-that-common-core-tests-be-pointless-for-two-years/ (I do not endorse this article because I do not know the track record of this site, but I put it up here FYI only!)
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