State Standards (Week 4 - Math 1512)

How do teachers know what to teach? Why should they teach this and not that? I don't recall learning that at that age...These are all things that have crossed my mind as I pursue my K-6 license. I am taking these two math courses this summer but I wasn't really sure why we are told what we will be teaching until now. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics was created to provide a guideline for what we need to teach our students. It tells schools, parents, and society what our children will be expected to know by the end of a specific grade. These standards put the pressure on our society to keep up with other countries. Many other countries are out-performing the United States. In order to prevent this, the government created the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to set the bar for our schools.

To me, this is somewhat confusing. I love organization and I will take whatever guidelines I can and follow them but the confusing part is that it is not mandatory. Although I do not like to be forced to do something, what is the point in setting standards if you are not going to require states to follow them? Right now, each state has their own set of standards. This can be difficult for a child or moves to a new school and was once ahead in their class is now behind because of the varying standards. I checked Minnesota's Department of Education website and at this time, they had not adopted the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. So what is the point in having common standards if not everyone follows them?

This video is a summary of someone for setting the standards and someone against setting the standards. I thought it was interesting to hear their comments.

One thing I haven't heard yet, until this video, is it better for the students to have standards? Do our children truly benefit from having to meet standards more so than not? I think it would be different for each child. For one student, it might be motivation, for another student it might be discouraging. Either way, as a future and hopeful teacher, I'll have to find the right balance in my classroom. I will have standards that I have to meet but I have to make sure that my students don't feel the pressure. I want my students to feel a "healthy" pressure or motivation to do well. I don't want the standards to set the tone for my classroom.