The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts Instruction in Grades 6-12

What can I say? The common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a foundation, a skeletal structure that has room for organs, muscle, nervous systems and blood irrigation transit-ways. CCSS as a “standardized approach to curriculum” does not stand on its own. It is merely a framework from which instructors can pluck class expectation relevant guidelines to use as a starting point. As a fledgling educator, I intend to use the CCSS as such; adding to the overall curriculum or lesson plan by providing sources, assignments and experiences relevant to the unique student body reflective of the backgrounds, interests and innate knowledges of myself and of my students.

I hazard to say, “An educator is equally educated by the Acolyte as the Acolyte is educated by their educator.” An instructor who is actively learning from and alongside his or her students has greater potential of activating the students’ innate knowledge, yielding lessons that draw from relevant, prior experiences and command the interest of the student body thus creating an environment within which both the students and educator may, together, create progress toward their aspirations indicated by known expectation.

This “Core curriculum” is exactly as it appears to be; it is a core, and cores only have use when extensions are slotted into place. The CCSS is only useful when an instructor actively builds their lesson plans around it rather than trying to patch together a myriad of potentially unrelated topics creating a ragged “skin-suit” with no backbone just flapping in the wind; critical information is hazard to being easily lost on the students’ minds. 

Educators serve the purpose of creating standards and facilitating the experience of the students that are achievable and build upon the strengths and inadequacies of said students as they pertain to each student individually. While an instructor may not always satisfy the role of “life coach”, the instructor should be at least held responsible for presenting and providing instruction in the use of various life skills and tools from which students, through their own understanding, acquire a respectable level of proficiency and with it, build relationships and actively communicate effectively with others over a myriad of mediums.