Common core dumbing down the US?

[muir]

this is the kind of discussion this topic warrants, not the paranoia @muir pedals.

It's not paranoia if it's true

 

[muir]

mea culpa

Is that a request?

[video=youtube;KG7Bs_BCC5w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG7Bs_BCC5w[/video]

 

[Stu]

what follows is an example of Muir pretending to talk about one thing but really only talking about the "hidden agenda" of the .....What ever it is

Well, to get back to talking about the Common Core, I see some giant positives and giant negatives, and this is coming from someone who is within the system (and is completely against "the system" and "the man").

Positives:
-one could theoretically apply to any college/university/training/job and have theoretically the same chance at education as anyone else in the nation. This is highly important because just because you grew up in a poor area or a crazy-ass state like Texas wouldn't leave you far behind what is expected of you at any grade level
- schools have to be sure their curriculum isn't shit just so that their graduation rates are high (and trust me, shitty curriculum are not uncommon, but that's due to a plethora of different reasons)
- higher-order thinking is valued and important in the common core (and it's really fucking valuable to any population that can think for themselves) That question about adultery is actually really good for a fourth grader. If it weren't for marital infidelity, any fourth grader that can answer those questions is doing really well.
- there is absolutely NO common core curriculum. No rich fat-cat is deciding what your second grader is going to do on Tuesday. All of the approach is left up to the states, districts, and individual teachers. Almost all of those examples are given without context, and quite realistically, information missing. That being said, any problems in questions/approaches is left to the individual creator to defend. The CCS has no curriculum.
- when implemented with a rational approach and fedelity, it can show significant gains. My students, while their grades are lower, are showing marked improvement in high-order thinking and cognitive levels (but, this is English and not math. I cannot speak to the success of CCSS in math). Their grades are lower (and my day is filled with complaining) because they haven't ever been asked to think beyond the text.

Negatives:
- parents are stupid, like really fucking stupid, and I'm tired of wasted time listening to half-hour rants about how Obama is destroying the nation with space alien gold when what's actually pressing and important at that moment is that your kid doesn't know how to spell his name, and he's 18!
- there is almost no uniform or even rational way to truly implement CCSS into the classroom. I've spent 5 days out of the classroom this year rewriting curriculum for the district. My education in pedagogy comes from the top school in the US, so I've been asked to do a lot of the footwork. It sucks and it's exhausting. I should be with my students, not writing curiculum for classes that I won't teach
- there is no real help from the state government to implement CCSS (that I have witnessed) this means a loss of productivity at the expense of the students
- many people have no idea how to actually change and adapt curriculum to fit the CCSS
- why does the federal government have such a big say (and you can't argue it doesn't; $$$ means everything in education) in what I teach Jimmy tomorrow, and why is my job on the line if my students can't show "growth" that is measurable on a stupid fucking test given once a year? A real education is about so much more than that


Overall, I cannot speak for or against it. On one hand, I finally have the justification to ask my students to think beyond the text. I don't give a shit about whether or not you know why George killed Lennie in Of Mice and Men, but it means a whole hell of a lot if you can take a position and rationally build an argument that is sound and built off of logical thoughts and reasoning while analyzing the action of characters in the context of the social and economic background of a certain historical period all in order to persuade your reader. On the other hand, fuck standardization and standardized testing, fuck the man, and fuck being told what's important and the only "true" way to get there. Essentially, especially from the educator's standpoint, you're damned if you do and your damned if you don't.

Sidenote: the biggest threat to our nation is smartphones and the scary-fast integration of technology into our most basic functions. I'm pretty sure my kids would die if they didn't have their phones. I'm talking about immediate death.

You have my sympathies man being on the front line of this one

Common core will make kids dumber...it is about homogenising minds

The whole agenda of bill gates, the rockefellers and their other co-conspirators is to create a centrally controlled economy

Common core is about killing original thought....it is about creating the worker bees of tomorrow....creating a hive mind

They want everyone thinking the same way and that same way is going to be the way THEY want everyone to think

We're talking 'Brave New World' stuff here

They are control freaks and they want TOTAL control over every aspect of our lives ('totalitarianism') see: common core, NSA spying, codex alimentarius, agenda 21, SMART meters, the 'internet of things', RFID chips etc

You and me have been discussing this stuff here since 2009!

We were both saying the bankers were corrupt and then the banking scandals proved it, we said the politicians were corrupt then the expense scandals and other scandals proved it, we said the corporations were taking over and we have seen plenty of proof of that since, we said the state was spying on us and snowdens revelations proved it, we said there would be a backlash from the people and then we saw the occupy movement and protests all around the world etc

We've been talking about all this for years....and now it is all materialising in front of our eyes

Common core is just another aspect of this whole thing....this is a struggle over how our society is going to be shaped and run

The corporate elite...they're control freaks.....they want everything in nice neat boxes...like an electrical circuit....but we're humans damn it....we're not neat little categories...we're not robots and the more we give into these guys the more uncomfortable our daily lives are going to get because we are going to find ourselves more and more controlled, more and more stiffled, more and more hemmed in on all sides by rules, regulations and barriers both tangible and intangible...they're building us a prison...a matrix of control

BAMF is a known and well regarded forum member who is exactly what he says he is, a well educated educator in the US.

He points out that much of what the core attempts to address needs adressing

he also points out the foibles and folly of attempting to govern education with standardized testing.

He makes clear the the Fed Gov has more influence than its dollars warrant.

But all Muir wants to do is get "behind" the issues being discussed in order to let everyone know that there is a "hidden agenda" being put forth by malicious entities bent on destroying our humanity ....much like the parents of the 18 yr old that can't spell his name.

 

[muir]

what follows is an example of Muir pretending to talk about one thing but really only talking about the "hidden agenda" of the .....What ever it is


BAMF is a known and well regarded forum member who is exactly what he says he is, a well educated educator in the US.

He points out that much of what the core attempts to address needs adressing

he also points out the foibles and folly of attempting to govern education with standardized testing.

He makes clear the the Fed Gov has more influence than its dollars warrant.

But all Muir wants to do is get "behind" the issues being discussed in order to let everyone know that there is a "hidden agenda" being put forth by malicious entities bent on destroying our humanity ....much like the parents of the 18 yr old that can't spell his name.

I'm well educated!

I'm not pretending anything..i'm very clear about what i'm saying

I think its a bit rich of you to drag bamf into our wee quarrel though stu...

Also please note that Bamf seems a little pulled in two directions but concludes as follows:

On the other hand, fuck standardization and standardized testing, fuck the man, and fuck being told what's important and the only "true" way to get there. Essentially, especially from the educator's standpoint, you're damned if you do and your damned if you don't.

It's difficult for educators because the waters are being muddied out there by the cabal and their smooth tongued propagandists

But from where i'm standing its all pretty clear whats going on here...we are being sleep walked into a drastcially different society...one where our rights and freedoms are going to be severly curtailed

And when you follow the money it always leads back to the same ol'people

 

[Stu]

He points out that much of what the core attempts to address needs addressing

he also points out the foibles and folly of attempting to govern education with standardized testing.

He makes clear the the Fed Gov has more influence than its dollars warrant.

I read his post, a few times. I clearly see that he is ambivalent as he clearly states. He presents himself as a person who approaches the issue without a preconceived notion as to its final merits.

Muir takes this as license to continue his demagoguery, expounding on his familiar theme of "new world order"ism

 

[muir]

I read his post, a few times. I clearly see that he is ambivalent as he clearly states. He presents himself as a person who approaches the issue without a preconceived notion as to its final merits.

Muir takes this as license to continue his demagoguery, expounding on his familiar theme of "new world order"ism

Well to be fair i did start the thread stu...

But have you watched the film i posted which shows interviews with many education professionals called 'building the machine'?

Also did you read the info i posted about the role of rockefeller money behind common core?

How do you get round those facts?

 

[Stu]

I don't accept the framing of those facts, and I don't watch any vids you post (i mean, really)

 

[muir]

I don't accept the framing of those facts, and I don't watch any vids you post (i mean, really)

well for crying out loud!

How are you ever going to gain any extra perspective if you don't listen to other peoples views?

 

[Stu]

I learned my lesson watching your 9 11 vids.

There is no limit to what a fanatic will say in a webcast
none

 

[muir]

I learned my lesson watching your 9 11 vids.

There is no limit to what a fanatic will say in a webcast
none

I challenged you to show me a video of a plane hitting the pentagon (the most cctv'd building in the world)...i'm still waiting to see that vid stu

[video=youtube;SFz7gLz7CVk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFz7gLz7CVk[/video]

 

[Stu]

I challenged you to show me a video of a plane hitting the pentagon (the most cctv'd building in the world)...i'm still waiting to see that vid stu

sorry, just another win for you!

 

[muir]

sorry, just another win for you!

If you want to see it that way

I'd prefer that you could see what i'm talking about

 

[Stu]

What you are talking about is the notion that the modern world is being manipulated by a wealthy few into mass slavery

did i get that right?
did i miss something?
is there a nuance that I don't see?

 

[muir]

What you are talking about is the notion that the modern world is being manipulated by a wealthy few into mass slavery

did i get that right?
did i miss something?
is there a nuance that I don't see?

There's knowing something and then there's understanding it

 

[Stu]

I understand that in the US we need to improve education

It has to be a priority

the core is a step, is it a good one, is it bad, how far does it go, how do we change it?


These are worthy questions.

Is it the tool of the over lords to enslave our children?

how does that question remotely address improving our education system

it doesn't. its stupid

 

[muir]

I understand that in the US we need to improve education

I agree

It has to be a priority

Agreed

the core is a step,is it a good one, is it bad,

If a time traveller brought hitler back and put him in charge of education and he came up with a new system....would you be suspicious of it? Because the rockefellers and gates and their ilk have been implicated in some pretty dark stuff

how far does it go,

It goes to the top. It goes to the UN. It goes to an idea that exists at the moment in the minds of a group of old men

It's an old idea

how do we change it?

We need to have a look at what we prioritise as a society

Do we want our kids to grow up in debt and working all the time....stressed out, medicated and feeling hopeless?

Or do we want our kids growing up without stress, without debt as part of a community in which they feel they have a stake?

These are worthy questions.

Absolutely

Is it the tool of the over lords to enslave our children?

All signs are pointing to that

how does that question remotely address improving our education system

There is something going on in our society.....we're seeing lots of signs of it

We've seen the occupy movement and associated protests of many forms. People are questioning whats going on and why.....they know something is wrong but they can't quite put their finger on it yet....the deeper they scratch the more they realise how much they have been deceived which makes it a difficult process

The process is under way though and the more people who can see what is really going on the more resistance can be offered to the unsettling changes that are occuring

Strength in numbers is the key. Its a game of numbers. There is a critical mass that can be reached where if enough people are aware and active then positive change must follow. So each side is fighting that war of hearts and minds...that's why they invest so much in the media. One side is trying to drown everyone in deceit and the other side is trying to unravel all the deceit but by working together online huge strides are being made...working people have learned more as a community through the internet in the last 10 years about how things work than they have in the last 100 years (where they were duped into 2 world wars)

it doesn't. its stupid

It does.....knowing whats being done and taking the right actions at the right time is what will turn this thing around

 

[Stu]

I have kids, they are good in school, it is a priorty

we are lucky, my wife and i are smart and educated and make good money

in my country, the chances of getting a great education where these prerequisites are not met are slim.

I would like to see that change and am open to changes, tolorant of new teaching approaches, administration approaches both nation wide and locally.

I have moved my kids out of schools that were not performing.

For me this is not an abstract fantasy nightmare that I play with in my over stimulated, super subjective mind.

Your arguments are one of a charlatan

BTW this is stupid

If a time traveller brought hitler back and put him in charge of education and he came up with a new system....would you be suspicious of it?

 

[Stu]

and , you win , i am done here.

 

[muir]

I have kids, they are good in school, it is a priorty

we are lucky, my wife and i are smart and educated and make good money

in my country, the chances of getting a great education where these prerequisites are not met are slim.

I would like to see that change and am open to changes, tolorant of new teaching approaches, administration approaches both nation wide and locally.

I have moved my kids out of schools that were not performing.

For me this is not an abstract fantasy nightmare that I play with in my over stimulated, super subjective mind.

Your arguments are one of a charlatan

BTW this is stupid

I'm a father too

All these discussions about school, debt, vaccines...this stuff is very close to home for me

I'm not fucking around. I mean what i'm saying here...and i'm living by it

If i'm the only guy in my town who objects to these changes i will be steamrolled...its like i say...strength in numbers...its the only way

 

[Lerxst]

Actually now that I think about it more, they might be trying to have a point but it is a bit misguided.

I figured out the Jack number line problem and it's really not that hard. The idea is trying to teach how to do subtraction in chunks and find out how Jack did it wrong. Jack skipped subtracting a 10 on his number line.

The problem here is that the paradigm is trying to take the abstract and make it concrete.

I picked a random problem and did it in my head: 1000 - 983 which was quite easy to solve using chunking. The way I do it in my head is not entirely different from the number line method they tried there. The issue is that my internal visualization of it was vastly different - the visual picture of arcs bouncing over a number line is nothing like the mental picture I have. In my brain I pop the stack of numbers 'head on' so it doesn't look like a number line, it feels more like a rolling odometer. Trying to switch to this new forced visualization was quite difficult.

I can get the idea with the number line they're trying to show how to really solve the problem and not just do it by rote. It ends up confusing because understanding something itself is an abstract visualization so forcing a number line approach is not necessarily any different than any other approach.

Line arcs are obviously not numbers and cannot be numbers unless one is mentally prepared to abstractly accept them as representation of numbers. Bringing back the abacus or something would probably be more relatable, at least to transition with the understanding and not just force everybody to jump straight into it.

I solved that problem in a dyslexic form of math compared to the route they intended. 316 + 100 = 416 +10 = 426 + 1 = 427. I was always taught to visualize the 1's, 10's 100's and so on. Also a reason, as you mentioned, I can do binary in my head. Common core seems aimed at slowing people down and punishing those who can do it faster, better and more naturally.