Finding Who You Are Within the Standard

What do you think about when you hear the word, “standard?” General… authority-driven… just normal? To me, the word seems lackluster, but it encompasses a multitude of meanings when placed in the education system.

When reading Teachingto Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, we learned that the Common Core State Standards were initiated for the students, so teachers are held accountable for each and every student and the progress they make in the classroom (Beach, Thein, & Webb 4). But, when you here the word “standard” you don’t necessarily begin thinking about a positive go-get-‘em, fist-pumping attitude.  Instead, the words “homogeneous” and “standard” become interchangeable (Beach, Thein, & Webb 11), and when these words begin to merge into one another, you hear other words like “restriction” and “limited.”

So how do teachers break this barrier? Well first of all, don’t think of the Standards as a barrier. Beach, Thein, and Webb state that “the Common Core State Standards set general goals for student learning but they do not specify what or how to teach” (Beach, Thein, & Webb 4). Three years ago, I would have said, “Well, why not? Give me an outline, a schedule, something!” Now, my mindset is completely different.  I’m thinking, “What’s fun about that,” and I’m silently nodding my head as I read, “The needs, abilities, knowledge base, and interests of teachers and students vary from school to school, from classroom to classroom, and even within every classroom—they cannot be standardized” (Beach, Thein, & Webb 10).  I, honestly, feel like tattooing that quote on my forehead, so I’ll never forget it and so everyone can see it.  As teachers, we take the Standards and involve them in OUR created lesson plans and then implement it in our one of a kind classroom. 

The Common Core State Standards were not made to be set in stone, and Troy Hicks reminds us in CraftingDigital Writing that the educational world is not and should not be static.   As more digital and electronic features and devices become prominent, teachers shouldn’t look at the change as a burden they must fit into the Standards but as an outlet to express or even enhance the Standards.  We, as teachers, should use these tools as an asset that can help fit the Standards to the student’s needs, which will also NOT be set in stone. In fact, the needs of our students will encompass a wide range. How wide? Immeasurable.   

In the short time I’ve been student teaching, I’ve already learned there’s no golden lesson that will touch every student in the same way. They all have different opinions and different ideas, which stem from different environments—environments that will be different from your own! The Dynamics of Writing Instruction mentions that a teacher should understand his or her own beliefs, and I think this is helpful not only because you will begin to comprehend why you think a certain way but it will also teach you to think about why a student thinks a certain way (Smagorinsky, Johannessen, Kahn, & McCann). Once this technique is mastered, the Standards can be used to benefit the students, as it should.  When you figure out what works for the students, you, and your classroom, you will go above and beyond the Standard in a go-get-‘em, fist-pumping kind-of-way by finding who you are as a teacher within the Standard.