This week our concentration was strictly on standards. Why we have standards? Where we can access standards? How do I accurately read standards? How can I connect multiple standards? Well, to answer all of those questions we first have to know what standards we are talking about. There are several categories of standards for teachers. There are the North Carolina Standard Core of Study which is strictly related to content, but there are also Technology Standards that must be met within each lesson, and on top of that there are the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards for the educators. One might look at all of this and have a small panic attack like I first did, but with time it is all manageable.
Tuesday we worked in groups to research standards of our choosing from all four content areas and then integrate those into one sole activity or project. At first this task seemed impossible. I had no clue where to even start. But, after some guidance from Dr. Clark the first priority was a grade level. My group chose first grade. We then were encouraged to pick a science or social studies standard to then match up with a language arts and math. It all magically seemed to fall into place after that. I kept thinking to myself, "wow I might actually be able to do this one day!".
With that positive mindset into place, today was a seminar day. I really enjoyed just taking the time to talk with one another. We got to rack each other's brains on our thoughts towards standards, and just future teaching in general. Tips and tricks were mentioned like shower boards, and the controversy topic of Common Core was debated over. We reminisced on our golden days back when we were in school and how our teachers dealt with standards and if they implemented them. The basic theme was a reflection of the NCTCS 3) teachers know the content they teach. Without standards we would have no road map of when and what we are suppose to teach to our students. There is no way we can demonstrate NCTCS 1) teachers demonstrate leadership, if we have no path ahead of us. Bottom line standards were created to help teachers, not take away their creative means of teaching in their own way. Overall, I feel so encouraged and motivated to begin my teaching career with some fellow teachers by my side. Knowing that the road is not easy and that there will be constant change should never change the end goal of student success and learning, and hopefully being the new teacher role model.
I loved your post this week! When we we're working in groups I had the same thoughts! It's crazy how we began thinking this would be crazy, and I know some days it will still be crazy, to now having some confidence in knowing we can do this one day!
ReplyDeleteThat little panic attack feeling when looking at standards is something that I totally relate to! But just like you, after I saw how we could connect all kinds of subjects into one lesson (integration) made me relax a little bit and realize that I can do this! We'll get the hang of it. You did a great job connecting parts of your blog to the NCTCS Standards. You made a good point when you said that there's no way that we can follow Standard 1, "Teachers demonstrate leadership," if we don't have a "path" ahead of us... which are our standards. This makes me feel more welcoming to standards instead of feeling like they're a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the ounce of confidence we gained this week. I am amazed to see how I was able to go from panicking about what a standard even was to imagining how to integrate different standards and subjects into a single lesson amd actually feeling excited about it. I hope my students will experience this same feeling of achievement.
ReplyDeleteAbby!!
ReplyDeleteI love your post. I really believe we have gained so much confidence and I am so ready to integrate different standards into our classrooms! I hope my confidence will give hope for my future students. The more time we spend with the standards the more we are able to be more confident with them!