The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble

In the article "The Common Core's Fundamental Trouble" by Valerie Strauss, the common core is looked at pretty negatively. Although the standards are tighter and smarter and can produce more progressive learning environments, there is not enough research to prove that these standards are actually going to work. They are also falsely named. Instead of being "state" standards, they are more of a "national standard." Doubters of the common core believe the same thing is going to happen that happened when No Child Left Behind was instated: children are going to fail. Strauss believes that there should be more trial runs on children before our whole national school system risks miseducating all of the students.
I agree with Strauss. Not enough investigation has been done to show that the Common Core is going to be effective. There are going to be people who have doubts about anything, and no curriculum is going to work for students who live in Manhattan, NY, and students who live in Baxterville, MS. There should still be more research, accommodations, modifications, and structured lesson plans for teachers who are going to be thrown into teaching these standards to their students.  

The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards

The article "The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards" was posted in the Huffington Post by Diane Ravitch. This article was about all the downsides of the common core. The federal government is trying to implement these new standards to get these students college ready, when there is no proof that the common core is going to work. For instance, only 31% of the students in New York passed the common core standards test, showing that the common core isn't as effective as said. The main reason that all of the states are even adopting these standards is because the government is basically bribing states to do so. According to Ravitch, they should be paying states to have programs that are more needed rather than changing the curriculum that isn't broken.
I agree with this article. I think that the federal government should have done more research about the common core before they make every state have to use it. I think if the government has 4.35 billion dollars sitting up for education, then they should not have done all of the budget cuts that they did. They should look at the statistics from New York and maybe try to implement the standards in doses. It is not going to be fair for 5th graders to suddenly be expected to know everything that the common core had them learn in the previous years. If it was up to me, common core would start with the 2014-2015 kindergarten class and slowly begin to work it's way to 12th grade so that no other grades will be at a disadvantage.

How Teachers Are Integrating Tech Common Core

The article "How Teachers are Integrating Tech Common Core," written by Fred Sitkins is excitingly promoting the use of technology in the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The author is very excited about the switch because using technology in classrooms is going to help children learn on a deeper level. Starting in first grade, students will be posting their writing and other works on the internet for other children to see and to learn from. Teaching with technology will also allow more opportunities to allow students to be engaged in learning as well as allow students to teach other students via the internet.
This article makes me excited to be able to teach students technology. There are many apps on the iPad that will allow me to integrate my lesson plans. I think using technology and iPads are exciting to use in general, and when students are learning by using computers and iPads, I feel like they are going to have more fun and are going to actually learn things. I just worry that some school budgets are not going to be able to afford to have these technological innovations, and in the long run their students will suffer because of it.

Introduction

My name is Tiffany Smith, and I am a junior Elementary and Special Education major at the University of Southern Mississippi. I graduated from Oak Grove High School in 2011, and I have lived in Hattiesburg, Mississippi my entire life. When I graduate from USM, I plan to teach 5th grade math at Oak Grove Upper Elementary school. I am currently a waitress at Conestoga Steakhouse,where I have been employed for 4 years. My hobbies include hanging out with friends and reading. Books that I have enjoyed reading are 50 Shade of Grey, anything written by Nicholas Sparks, Gossip Girl, and other chick-flick or romantic novels.