Core Connection
The administrators stuffed in suits strut through our school clenching clipboards, nod plastic smiles|
Speak words like “common core,” like “standards” & “benchmarks”.
But those of us who live in these rooms, who know each other's stories & share apples and granola bars because there was no food in the house after dad was arrested–
We nod & smile back–
Our secret knowing:
Core is community
Core is complex
Core is connection.
After bullshit banter,
The suits slip out, sip bad coffee, fill out rubrics on clipboards.
We close classroom doors,
Proceed to spin magic uncommonly connected at the core.
– Maureen Geraghty
This poem was written by Maureen Geraghty, a teacher at Reynolds Learning Academy in …show more content…
Every child learns differently, and at different paces. Common Core is a very cookie cutter type of program that does not cater to those students, nor to the gifted students who are finding the program too easy because it is not adaptable to them. In some schools, recess is being done away with, so children as young as kindergarten can have more teaching time. Though the Common Core does not suggest this, for many educators, it was the only option as there was not enough time in the day to accomplish what was needed. This has resulted in behavior issues and obesity. However, Common Core is supposed to identify the skills that students are struggling to learn, and help address them through Intervention. Also, because Common Core is a nationwide program, children will all be learning the same standards at the same time. If a child needs to move, their new school will be using the same standards. From a college standpoint, professors will have a clear idea what students should know when they enter their freshman year, and educators will understand what content in needed to teach children in each age group, from pre-k through high