Despite the fact that we just had a break, I think it's fair to say that we didn't really have one at all. As our professor instructed; "continue to work on your projects so things don't pile up on you." From a personal prospective, I have found it useful (for any class in this cohort) to do a little bit of the required work every day. This way you're getting the work done, but it doesn't seem overwhelming. Also, if I procrastinate, I've found that it results in losing valuable time with my family, or late nights that wreck the next day. Time management is key. In that same respect, our latest portion of our portfolios that had to be turned in were our professional standards. I found it beneficial to cut the assignment into two sections. This way I could focus on how the standards relate to me, along with what artifacts correlate to those standards. By showing what standards we've covered, we are creating an essential part of any portfolio, which is demonstrating achievement based on a largely recognizable set of criteria.
The topic of discussion during our class time dealt with the significance of standards in education. I thought it was fairly interesting how things such as politics and the almighty dollar can muddle an otherwise simple concept: Teach the students worthwhile content. From my professional educator's prospective, that's what I want to know; "what should I teach them?" With different local governments and test vendors vying for power and acceptance, it really isn't all too surprising that it took the United States this long to adapt the Common Core Standards. However, now that it is largely accepted, I feel the education system in our country can finally start working together to decide what is important for our students to learn.
