5-Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy

What is the purpose of college and career readiness standards?
- The purpose is to make sure students are completely ready to begin college and a career with a firm foundation of knowledge.

What are the benefits and challenges of the shift to reading and writing non- fiction texts?
- Most of what we read in college and careers are informational texts, so students need to learn to read and understand these to be adequately prepared.
- One challenge is that these are sometimes complex texts and a student must be fully prepared and taught to understand them.
- A benefit is that reading all of these informational texts can help them to become better writers, as the abilities to read and write are related.

What are the benefits and challenges of having standards for science, social studies, and technical subjects?
- All children are being taught the same things and are able to go comfortably from state to state without having to be put in remedial classes.

4- Amanda Ainsworth- Response to "The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards"

Diane Ravitch, in her article, "The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards", talks about how the Common Core standards are not a good idea. She says that the only reason most states opted to adopt these standards was because of the promise of money from the Obama Administration. She does not agree with the standards and says that they have nothing to do with getting a student ready for a career even though they are college and career readiness oriented standards. She also claims that, if anything, these standards are discouraging students from pursuing careers in areas such as science and math because and driving them to look at easier courses. She also talks about how the failure rate of these tests are very high and that most students are more likely to give than to try harder. She also talks about how much money it takes to implement the new testing procedures and says that this money could be better spent elsewhere.

I do not think that anything that destines students to fail, whether purposefully or not, should be implemented in our education system. Every student deserves a chance to thrive and succeed and anything that takes this chance away from them should be done away with. Students in one area or state may learn differently from those in another, so who are we to say that they should be given the exact same material and tested in the exact same way? Those that learn differently would just have the odds stacked against them. If these standards are really as bad as some people make them out to be, then I don't think they are such a good idea, either. However, I will gather my own research and make a decision for myself when i am more informed.

3-Amanda Ainsworth- Response to: "The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble"

In her article, "The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble", Valerie Strauss describes several problems with the Common Core State Standards. It is very obvious that she does not agree with them at all. She describes how these are standards that are being made by people that have nothing to do with education, like businessmen or test makers. She also tells about how the tests that come with these new standards will be extremely hard, much harder than those created by the No Child Left Behind Act. She also talks about the problems that schools in New York are having after their trial run. Test scores plummeted and students became very stressed. She even included a quote by a teacher that supports the Common Core for the most part. In this quote, the teacher says that she is not even sure she would be able to pass, despite the various degrees that she has. If a seasoned educator is having problems, then how will students be able to pass? This is the point that Strauss tries to make. She thinks that the Common Core is setting up public schools to fail so that they can be closed down and replaced by privately funded schools.

I do not know much about the Common Core, but I think that Strauss has a point. If educators are forced to abide by these standards that are set up just to prepare students for a test, how much educating can be done? When taking standardized tests and tests with fill in the blank components, they tend to just memorize a bunch of facts that they then regurgitate onto the test. Then they forget everything that they remembered for the test. I feel as if teachers should be able to develop their curriculum, as long as it is age/grade appropriate, without the fear of what will happen if their students don't pass a test that is made by bureaucrats. Setting up students to fail is never a way to solve anything, but that is what will happen if the Common Core has such hard/strict tests and standards.

2- Amanda Ainsworth- Response to "How Teachers are Integrating Technology into the Common Core"

          Fred Sitkins’s article, “How Teachers are Integrating Technology into the Common Core”, is written by an elementary school principal from Michigan and is about the ways different teachers are integrating technology into their classrooms. In this article, Sitkins portrays his excitement that young children are being taught on apps for the iPad in schools. He highlights a few different apps that he claims are good for teaching students to read, as well as helping them share their thoughts on the readings with their teachers and fellow students, all by using one app. He also talks about how these apps are allowing students to publish their writings, sometimes even on global levels.  He also comments on how the Common Core is helping to make sure students are able to adapt to and use the technology around them. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are curriculum standards that most if not all schools are starting to adhere to. Standards have been added to ensure that students are able to integrate technology into all subjects. Sitkins is excited that this change came about right as it started becoming normal for children to have access to gadgets like the iPad.

            I think that using these apps and different types of technology in the classroom is okay to a certain extent. While I feel it is important that students grasp a firm understanding of the technology of the ages, I do not believe that it should take the place of regular instruction. I believe that students should be taught to read and write in traditional ways and if they feel the need, they can supplement this with technology. I think that teachers should integrate some technology, such as PowerPoint, into their teachings, but I also think students should have a separate class that is purely a technology class, especially elementary students. Young children should not be fully dependent on technology. I do not believe that technology is bad, nor do I believe it has no place in our classrooms and curriculum. I just believe that we should realize that there is a time and place for it, especially in schools. I’m all for a technology class and even using some technology in the classroom, as long as it does not come at the expense of other educational opportunities.  

1- Introduction

My name is Amanda Ainsworth and I am from Byram, MS. I am an Elementary Education major at the University of Southern Mississippi. I love children and I love to learn, which is why I love to see children have a passion for learning. When I graduate, I plan to teach at underprivileged schools in MS for at least two years. My passion is Mississippi schools because I want to give back to the state that I love and hopefully help do away with some of the negative stereotypes that have become associated with the intelligence levels of Mississippians. I believe the best way to do this is to ignite the flame of a desire to learn while a child is young and still impressionable.