EDC 665 - Week 5 Blog

Identify a standard that impacts your local environment or practice. Reflect on the value of the standard and its intended affect on student learning.

I am a bit unclear about whether this "standard" needs to be a content standard or whether it is the literal interpretation of the word standard as a set of rules or ways expected of being achieved...

I will answer the question in both manners.

I teach 4th grade and use state standards to guide my teaching of content. My students obviously are taught more than the standards give, but I do use them as a guideline to teach. In addition, our textbooks are aligned to state and national standards. In 4th grade math, I teach a high, gifted group of students. Currently, we are finishing up a unit on fractions and moving on to their relationship with decimals. A standard I am recently addressing is:

1.5 Explain different interpretations of fractions, for example, parts of a whole, parts of a set, and division of whole numbers by whole numbers; explain equivalents of fractions.

I see enormous value in teaching this particular standard, but really in teaching all of the standards. The reason is because I know my students will be using this material in their daily lives (I am a fan of Ms. Foster's grocery store wisdom -- saving money in the grocery store... how to compare ounces and get the best deals) and I often use life examples to illustrate the point among other manipulatives, etc. In addition, students will see this material in upcoming grade levels, in college, and beyond. I feel it is my duty to expose them to the content they will need to pass the tests (sadly) to get into college and create successful life opportunities for themselves. Although 4th grade grade is not significant grade wise, I feel that my job is to prepare them with as much as I can so the rest of their schooling is made simpler for them and one less thing to have to force into "learning" later.

Answering this question from the other perspective, a standard I use in my daily environment/workplace is this: Work amicably with other teachers as peers to create better learning environments and ultimately better learning opportunites for students that achieves success.

Our school/district recently went to a PLC model ---professional learning communities, out 45 minutes early/week for teacher collaboration to ultimately raise student achievement. Not necessarily student test scores, but achievement in all areas. We want our students to be successful. This is absolutely valuable. As professionals, we should see value in our students always achieving higher than they did yesterday. Not in a manner that pressures or hinders learning, but that teachers and staff commit themselves to constantly working on their end to better the opportunities for students to fulfill their own standards at an above optimal level. Being a teacher who is simply "okay" with status quo is not acceptable for students.