Core Standards in the Classroom

     When looking at standards in the classroom during my service learning, it's very easy to see that Math and Language Arts take the majority of the focus. However, I have noticed many different elements of science and art in the various assignments and activities. I believe that language arts and math are the core of any elementary curriculum, and that is why they tend to get the majority of the focus. Language arts takes into consideration all different aspects of language, from reading and writing, to grammar and spelling. There has however been a big push for teachers to begin integrating  fine art, science, and other subjects into the core teaching of language arts, math , social studies, etc. This push will allow a multi-tiered approach to different subjects, and I believe in turn will help students feel more involved and excited about what they are learning. 

    There are also many benefits to having common core standards in place across the country and specifically within the states. One of the biggest benefits I see, is that teachers are able to focus attention, create lesson plans and work together better as whole as they strive to teach these core standards to their students. I truly believe that having a community of support is extremely beneficial for both teachers and students. One of my student learning teachers also pointed out the fact that its very helpful for students who move into or to other schools. Having schools that follow a learning path allows for smooth transition as concepts are built upon one another rather than skipped around, hopefully allowing students to moving into a new classroom with previous content knowledge for the furthering concepts already learned even if they move districts or even states if they follow the standards.
     The standardized testing that takes place to measure students growth in the core areas of math and language arts, is also extremely beneficial in helping parents and teachers to look at comparison and see the growth between concepts and years. It is also a successful way for teachers to see the positive outcomes of their teaching and make changes to any areas they see concern. However, it is always up to the parents if they want to have their students participate in the testing. I was not aware of this till speaking with the teachers, but every parent has the option of opting their student out of taking the standardized testing if they do not agree with it. However, as a parent of 5 children, I feel like the benefits of this testing is worth the time and effort involved in taking the test, allowing me and their teachers to see the growths they have made and any areas of improvement that may need to be focused upon for the coming year.