Common Core: From the Horse's Mouth

I had a delightful conversation with a Brassfield parent yesterday about Common Core Math. I really appreciated the gentle way she approached me with her questions and concerns. She admitted that the work she sees coming home with her two kids sometimes seems foreign (she is a mathematician, herself) but that she is reserving judgement for such time that she has better educated and informed herself about the standards. The fact that she is keeping an open mind is key.

Are the new Common Core standards perfect? NOPE. Do they FAR outshine anything we've ever seen before? YUP. If only I had a crystal ball, I could do a better job of telling you the fate of these standards in our great state of North Carolina. But even without that magical ball, I can tell you for certain that if they are repealed they will be replaced with standards that are EERILY similar but have a new and different name. Sadly, the CC standards have become politicized. This is bad for kids. This is bad for educators. This is bad for taxpayers. (Estimates regarding the cost to NC taxpayers should these standards be repealed so quickly after being adopted are readily available on the internet, but extremely depressing). You have been warned. :)

This morning, Mr. Jason Danahy, 4th grade Brassfield math teacher extraordinaire, sent out an email to the staff with a link to a short video on the TeachingChannel. It featured a master educator named Lynn Simpson, herself a 4th grade teacher in the state of Washington. Here's what she said about Common Core:

"The increased rigor of the Common Core and of what we are expecting them to do as a matter of practice...they are more than happy to explain their thinking to anyone who asks. And that sort of confidence, along with the content knowledge that they are learning, is preparing them for middle school and high school and beyond in a way that we have never seen before. It makes me want to jump out of bed to come to work when the kids are that encouraged and that excited about learning. They have realized how hungry they are to know more, and that they can make sense of it is the most empowering thing in the world."

I couldn't have said it better myself, Ms. Lynn Simpson.