Understanding and Applying Standards

            Before this unit, I would have said that Common Core or state standards were good guidelines to direct my teaching, but were not the bottom line. My perspective is influenced by working at a private school – while we do refer to the standards, we are not legally bound to teach to them, and my students and I are not subjected to standardized tests which would assess my students’ mastery of the standards. However, I did already feel familiar with the standards for my grade, kindergarten, and I still often found myself wondering what on earth the standards were actually saying. The jargon is excessive at times.

            The most valuable skill I am taking away from this unit is having a process for breaking down the jargon of the standards into measurable objectives and activities.  That is to say, not only can I disassemble some standards that may have confusing language, but I now am able to develop standards-based activities, lessons, and units. This is an empowering skill to have. Currently, my school purchases curriculum for all subject areas that I teach, but someday I may work in a school that requires that I develop my own full or partial curriculum. Or, as is probably more likely, I am at least prepared to develop supplemental or thematic units that are standards-based. I especially found the process of diagramming the standards into three components (“what”--main idea, “how”--skill, and “context”) very practical and easy to understand.

Also, after understanding what the standard says, writing out proficiencies helps me be sure that I know what my students need to know to meet the standard and how I can measure that. The process of unpacking a standard (or more), backwards mapping, and then developing SMART objectives basically leaves me with a unit outline that I can then add to or hash out into a full unit. The unit has a strong “skeleton” that I can be confident is assuring that my students learn and meet the standards.

            I did struggle with developing five SMART objectives for the one standard I chose to focus on. I wonder if that standard alone was too simple for five objectives, or if it is just generally more difficult to do at a kindergarten level (because what kindergarteners need to learn is less complex than, say, a seventh-grader), or if it is generally just a bit of a difficult task for a new teacher. That being said, it was still a helpful practice that challenged me to see how much content I could pull from one standard to make sure that my students are fully meeting it.

            Overall, I found this unit very helpful in making the standards feel more “approachable.” It also gave me a basic system to develop my own lessons and units, and be sure that I am assessing my students accurately. I will definitely remember these processes in my future standards-based lesson-planning. 

References: 

How to Unpack a Standard [Online video]. Imperial County Office of Education. Retrieved from https://www.mydigitalchalkboard.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Content?action=2&scId=100028&sciId=829