At the start of this school year, a retiring first grade teacher shared with me her favorite moments of teaching. She described the miracle of first grade as a majority of students enter the room as non-readers and yet somehow through a variety of twists and turns, they each in their own way become readers. It is in this story essence of this blog truly comes forth. Teaching, as well as life, is a blend of scientific artistry. There is no set formula for a child to become a reader. We have tools, we have resources, but we do not have an exact recipe. There isn't a list of steps in which #37 states upon completion of these previous 36 steps and doing this now the child is a reader. It isn't like programing the alarm clock or entering the code on a garage door, when upon completion of these specific steps the child will become a reader. Learning is not a product of a recipe from the back of a Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. Learning is a blend of scientific artistry. Tools, knowledge, and ideas when put into the hands of an expert becomes a fanciful product. It is the expertise and freedom the artist has; the relationship between the artist and the canvas that creates the learning moment. Furthermore, the freedom and tools we provide can allow for the learning moments to be standardized and palatable or gourmet and exquisite. It is our choice as teachers, principals, and district leaders to decide if the child learns to read through a series of worksheets and stale texts or through delightful stories and exquisite visuals. It is our choice to decide if our learning experiences are likely to lead that child to their "Home Run" book that encourages them to be a reader for a lifetime. Becoming a reader is a leap of faith. A trust by the teacher, the student, and the parent that you will succeed, you will magically break the code. A journey in which we will add a little bit of this and a dash of that to get you there.
As we drove to our first gathering this weekend, my wife who is also an educator and I were discussing Common Core learning experiences in the car. Although our children sitting in the back on their iPads, the eldest interjected into the conversation that the Common Core was easy and boring. It's just more skills and worksheets that they make you do. He's ten and he's bright. He picked up on what was being labeled Common Core and hit the nuances of it from his experience. For him, the Common Core was like Michael and Jane serving castor oil or gruel in Mary Poppins. As we look at the corporatization of learning in the United States, we are given many static recipes to promote learning. They are "scientifically researched" that when implemented with "integrity and fidelity" will provide "valid and reliable" results. Each of these recipes lacks the leap of faith. They don't trust the artist to look at the canvas and adjust to the medium in front them. The results are Betty Crocker and not gourmet. Our children often walk away and find it to be boring stuff.
This corporate experience of learning is a choice by district leaders, school leaders, teachers, and parents. Yes, it is admittedly being pushed on us from all sides. However, the Common Core State Standards can be accomplished without using static recipes and tasteless learning experiences. We as leaders and practitioners can decide what resources to use, how to use them, and when to stop using them. We can create and build our learning if we wish and have the internal stamina to stand up to the constant electronic bombardment of Common Core aligned sales pitches. We choose the learning experiences and we get to decide whether the medicine is served in castor oil and gruel or with a spoonful of sugar.
The Common Core State Standards make many assumptions about the pace and order students should learn things. If we look at them as targets and recognize that our children will not learn them at the same pace or in the same way, they are more likely to be palatable and we are more likely to help our children to be successful. Furthermore, if we focus on growth and moving children forward in meaningful ways through this Common Core journey, we can create experiences that engage children and ourselves. We can have every tool available to us, but it is us the learner and the leader that cultivates that tasteful experience. Learning is a leap of faith, one in which we must have belief if we want to be successful.
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