Philosophy Paper Proposal

The Common Core State Standards are standards that are set to ensure that children throughout the United States are learning the same material in each grade.  They are learning goals that outline what students should know and be able to do when they complete a grade.  The common core sets academic standards in Mathematics and English.  The Untied States created these standards to ensure that students in high school would be ready for college, a career, and life, no matter what state they live in.  Throughout the years, the United States education progress, especially in math, has fallen and lost ground compared to international academic standards.  People believe that this is happening because of the inconsistency between the states academic standards.  Different states have different standards of what students need to learn in each grade.  The Common Core State Standards were set up in order to try and fix this issue.  The standards explain the knowledge and skills children should be learning from kindergarten to the twelfth grade.      

       I believe that the Common Core State Standards are a useful and helpful tool that will improve the education system throughout the United States.  There are many children in the United States that have to move from state to state every year.  With the Common Core State Standards, they will be neither behind nor ahead of the students at their new school.  These standards set a certain curriculum that each grade must follow throughout the country.  I believe that the common core will make the United States an even playing field in the education system throughout the world.  The common core will improve the United States education rankings internationally.  Although it may be difficult for the teachers and students to adjust to this new way of teaching and learning, I believe that within a few years it will greatly improve the education system in the United States.

                  While I believe that the Common Core State Standards will improve the United States education system, there are many people that believe the opposite.  Many people throughout the United States are opposed to this new way of teaching students. Teachers, students, and parents all believe that it will be a difficult transition.  The common core is a way of teaching that teachers are not used to.  It is also a way of learning that the students will have to adjust to.  The common core is a middle ground of current state standards.  Because of this, the common core may improve education standards in some states, while in others it will be lowering the standards of education that are already set.  Currently, the common core only has standards set in the subjects of Mathematics and English.  The Common Core State Standards do not have standards set for Social Studies or Science.  Because of this, students in different states may be on the same level in Mathematics and English but they could still possibly be on different levels in Social Studies and Science.        

Field Blog 3 - Gearity Elementary School

While visiting Gearity Elementary School, I had the opportunity to observe a preschool classroom.  The room was very colorful and there were many posters and drawings done by the students on the walls.  The room was separated into many different sections.  There was a reading section, a science section, an art section, and a toy section just to name a few.  There was also a carpet at the front of the room where all the children could come and learn together.  They started their day off by saying what day it was and describing the weather.  When doing the weather for the day, the class sang a song together while one of the students got to look out the window and tell the class what the weather was like for the day.  After they had finished with the weather, they worked on the alphabet.  Each child got a turn to go up to the teacher and show her what letter their name started with.  Then each student got to choose what section of the room they wanted to play in first.  During this time, some of the children were reading books, some were playing on iPads, and others were playing with the different toys around the room.  While they were playing, they got to rotate to all the different sections around the room.  While the children were playing, the teacher was going to different sections of the room and either playing or reading with them.  When it was time to clean up, the teacher got their attention by turning off the light.  They then all sang a song together while everyone helped clean up.

Blog 10

Throughout this blogging experience, I have learned many different things about the field of education.  I believe that when walking into a school and classroom students should feel welcome.  Teachers should arrange their classrooms so the children feel comfortable in the room and want to learn.  They should use posters and drawings done by the kids to make the classroom feel welcoming and not like a prison cell.  I also believe that when teaching, teachers should focus on what their students need in order to be successful in the classroom.  Teachers need to be enthusiastic and show students that learning can be fun.  They need to make students understand that school is not just about memorizing information for tests.  Teachers should get students involved by doing hands on projects.  Knowing that everyone of their students has the ability to succeed, they need to adjust their teaching methods to accommodate and improve how their students learn.  If a student needs extra help, they should be willing to do whatever it takes so that they can be successful.  Their goals should not just be to fill the students with information.  They should allow students to use their creativity and form their own opinions.  I have also learned how important the relationship between students and teachers is.  Teachers should always be themselves and try to form a solid relationship with all of their students.  While they may form friendships with their students, they should maintain a teacher-student relationship.  Ultimately, teachers should focus on their students and put the students’ needs first.