A Real Teacher is Not Common

This morning I was reading some articles regarding the Common Core. For those of you who aren't educators, these standards have been set so that teachers and students have a consistent and clear understanding of what is taught in the classroom. The idea behind the Common Core seems to make sense - every student (basically) receives the same skills to grow into a productive member of society. In some ways, this is the gift that we give any child that steps into our classroom. The problem that many educators have with the Common Core is in the assessment. How do we know if the child has obtained the skills? Do the standardized tests really tell us what our students know? My answer (along with nearly every educator) is plain and simple: no.

I hear a lot of teachers talk about having to rush through lessons because they are a part of the Common Core. "I've got to get through this by Friday. I don't have time for a snow day!" We scramble and lose sight of what matters: our students. As we (and I'm just as guilty) rush through conjunctions in order to discuss semi-colons, are we really focusing on what knowledge is being obtained by our students? This rhetorical question has been bothering me for quite some time.

The fact is, some of the things our students really need to learn are not a part of the Common Core. Kindness, compassion, how to treat others. I don't see those listed under any standard, but don't we need those to be productive in society? Better yet, how do we teach those? We model them. We take time to listen to our students, even when we have a 46 minute lesson on personification to teach.

Don't forget what matters. Real teachers are all different. They all have something special to share. We are not in a profession of "common."