Debunking Common Core Math

     On Friday, after a long day of school where I had lost my voice, the internet had been out all day, it poured and the kids were stir crazy, I decided to "zone out" for a minute and check Facebook, to clear my brain and take a time out before getting some other work done. This was both a positive and negative choice. Positive because it inspired this post, which I believe is truly important and probably the only thing I have to say worth sharing at the moment. Negative because it did not give me a "time out," and instead put me in a foul mood. Why? Because people post things like this on Facebook, and it drives me crazy:

Source

Source
Don't even get me started on the grammatical error in the
first image, which has gone viral and been on news
 shows. It should say "old fashioned" because
it is past tense. Ugh. 

     It drives me crazy to read so many people bashing Common Core, telling their kids it's not important, spreading viral posts with incorrect information, and worst of all, giving the public another reason to trash the teaching profession. It's exhausting to be a teacher, and it's even more exhausting to come home and see my social media overrun with comments about the "Satanic" Common Core. I fully believe that if you take away one thing from reading/glancing at/or "National Geographic"-style picture stalking my blog, it is the following:

Our society should not have a single problem with Common Core math. 

("problem" pun intended)

     There, I've said it. And in this post I'm going to tell you why it's true. I've learned that in order to change someone's opinion, you need to have authority. You'll read this with your own perspective, and maybe you'll think that I am full of it, so let me try and set the mood by telling you 3 reasons why I'm qualified to tell you what you should think about Common Core:

1. I am a teacher; I teach math to 7th and 8th graders. Specially, I am one of 4 Special Ed teachers at my school, and I  work exclusively in inclusive math classrooms. I work with THE best team of Math teachers who are true experts in their field, who teach responsively to their students' performance (using myriad data), who care about the education of ALL of their students, and who do all of those things while being ethical, responsible, team players, and most of all, fun to work with. Therefore, we all enjoy our job, we take it seriously, and we perform our job requirements to the best of our abilities. Can you say that about you and your coworkers? Honestly? I can.

2. I have a Master's degree in Special Education (from a top 50 School of Education). "Special Education" is the art of educating those whom society labels "different," and who have qualified to meet the Federal guidelines for having a disability which affects their ability to access "typical" education. Part of my master's program was spent learning about all of these federal guidelines, regulations, and the legal paperwork that takes up a large part of my time at work. I take my job seriously because if I do not, I can cost my school district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention losing my job and teaching license. The other part of my master's program was learning how to teach the core content areas (Math, Reading, Writing) as well as adapt grade level work to meet the needs of students with varying disabilities. I took an entire class dedicated to learning to teach math using the Common Core.

3. I have read the Common Core. I've used it daily. I've used the extended standards as well, which are the Core standards broken down into their most basic pieces (for students with severe disabilities). I have taught Common Core Math Standards from Kindergarten to Grade 8 in my 4 years of teaching (including teaching summer math at a private school). I'm very familiar with it.

Hopefully by now you understand that I know what I'm talking about. No, I'm not saying you should take my word as Gospel, but I am suggesting that you should refrain from slamming anything I say until you've done your homework.

So, with my preface given, let's get into the reasons why no one should be complaining about Common Core Math. 

1. Common Core Math is a SET OF STANDARDS. Here's an example of a first grade math standard in Common Core: "Standard 1.NBT.2.A (NBT = Numbers in Base Ten) Students can understand that the two digits of a two digit number represent amounts of tens and ones." And that's what the whole of Common Core Math looks like! It is a list of COMMON standards, organized by the 5 principles of mathematics, which outline the skills students should have in order to have what is globally considered to be "an understanding of mathematical principles and processes." That's it! We use it in the US in order to make sure that students in the same grade levels in different states are learning the same material in their math classes. This also makes our federally mandated assessments more representative of how each state is performing, but that's an aside.

2. Common Core standards are NOT NEW. The standards were essentially developed in response to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) surveys done in the 1990s. The TIMSS done in the 1970's (which showed the US was performing VERY poorly in mathematics instruction) sparked a movement into researching and developing new methods of teaching in order to develop this mathematical understanding our country was lacking. By 1996, when the 1995 TIMSS results came out, the USA was STILL lacking. There were many countries outperforming us. We scored 13 points below the international average in math performance, and we trailed the leading countries by more than 100 points. We were the country pioneering computers, laptops, and the internet, and our math scores were completely non-competitive internationally. Our government and math education researchers got to work trying to find a way to shift mathematics education across the country. The Common Core standards were developed and educators continued the research to make sure the standards were relevant and appropriate. In the early 2000's, the standards were presented to the states as a way to improve their mathematics performance. The subliminal tagline included was that if states compelled teachers to teach to the standards, they would improve not only test scores, but individual student mathematical reasoning skills. This was over 10 years ago! The wave of parent outrage over not being able to help their students with homework, which has become commonplace in the media in the last 2 years, is NOT due to Common Core! Which brings me to my next point...

3. Nothing in Common Core says to teach using "new methods." The shift in curriculum and the reason that Common Core standards focus on concepts such as the above mentioned "numbers and operations in base ten" (which means adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing using 10 as an anchor number) is to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts in order to more easily manipulate numbers and complete operations mentally instead of needing paper and pencil. The reason many adults can't help their children with this homework is likely because they are not competent in the understanding of the topics themselves. Yes, they learned the algorithm to add and subtract, but can you explain, using mathematical vocabulary and sound reasoning, what exactly you are doing when you "borrow" while using those algorithms? Do you know what an algorithm is? (An algorithm is simply a set of steps to follow to complete a process, by the way) The Common Core standards dictate that students should develop a deeper understanding of number sense, and yes, as education innovates and evolves in its practice, there are new methods developed for teaching these concepts. However, their sole purpose is conceptual understanding, not practical application. The Common Core does NOT dictate that students balance a checkbook using tenframes; in fact, it dictates that students learn the standard algorithms (or "old fashioned" way) of performing all operations. Instead of teaching first, and hoping conceptual understanding comes later, Common Core starts with the concepts and ends with the algorithms. Which isn't a crazy statement in the slightest! If you were a mechanic, wouldn't you start with understanding the parts of an engine before you learn the steps to repair one?

4. Lastly, I agree that some of the new methods may not be great methods for teaching these concepts. However, I'll repeat that Common Core does not mandate using any specific method to teach specific standards. New methods are typically distributed by school districts or district math coaches, who are not infallible, and who are absolutely able to fall under poor guidance. Individual teachers as well could be using bad methodology (can I call it math-odology? No?) because most districts forego training due to strict budgets. The previous school district I worked in adopted Common Core standards across all subjects (Did you know there's Common Core Language Arts too?? Surprise!) during my first year there and did zero training on Common Core standards or the vertical standards map (which is how the standards build from year to year) until the next school year! That's like me requiring a restaurant to abide by new health standards and then giving them the details of the standards a year later. That is what is ridiculous. Teachers should be able to explain Common Core to their parents, and supplement them with information that parents can use in order to be able to help their children with homework. If teachers aren't educated in the standards, though, well, no wonder parents are upset!

Blogs, like this one, exist to share opinions. Social media in general exists so that people can share their feelings, thoughts, medical concerns, and opinions.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I respect that, but just because teaching "seems like an easy job" and has a reputation of being the profession you choose "if you can't actually do anything" doesn't mean that people uneducated in education topics have the rights to rail so hard on a SET OF STANDARDS which guide instruction.

Get informed, people, before you rant. And PLEASE, cut your teachers some slack! They are superheros in the midst of some pretty crappy circumstances right now, and your rant about how they're failing your child, when actually they are giving your child a better understanding of concepts that you were deprived of learning, is the last thing they need to see at the end of a long day of TEACHING. Respect the teaching profession and engage in purposeful, forethought dialogue instead of hateful rants. 

A Star Wars Birthday

     When my older brother turned 26, my younger brother and I baked him sugar cookies, cut them out in weird shapes, and decorated them with dinosaur sprinkles. We were so very pleased with ourselves- there's nothing like celebrating youth, right? Well, my husband turns 26 tomorrow and after seeing a friend throw a themed party for her boyfriend's 26th, I told my husband he was having a themed birthday party. His response? "Uh, okay. Sounds good." My response? "Yay! Planning a party!!"

The decal was a gift Hubs
received at the party

     So, I set to work. We own a ton of Star Wars stuff, so choosing a theme was a no brainer. I didn't want to have to go out and get a bunch of themed items for a party, so I worked with what we already had. Which happens to include: 2 Star Wars cookbooks, pillows I made when we got married, Star Wars trivia and books, some "art" my husband had made for a contest in his chemistry lab (photos of nanowires that he had colored to look like scenes from Star Wars), 3 sets of Star Wars pancake molds and a set of Star Wars cookie cutters/presses. Clearly, we were set. I spent about $5 at WalMart to grab a black vinyl tablecloth and some glowsticks and balloons, and called it a day for decorating.

     For inspiration, I (of course) turned to Pinterest. Good news? Pinterest is full of Star Wars party ideas. Bad news? They are all posts with titles like "For your 5 year old's birthday party!" and when I thought about how much work would go into some of the decorating ideas, for just a few hours of entertaining mid-20's PhD students, I had to turn away from Pinterest. I only took away one idea: I'd seen a "Pin the lightsaber on Yoda" game, and thought that would be fun, especially after some guests had enjoyed a drink or two. I was little bit over the lightsaber hype after my Pinterst excursion though, and wanted to change it up, so things got a little nerdy. I had to ask the hubs for clarification on vocabulary before I decided on the exact title, and we settled on "Pin the Superlaser Cannon on the Death Star." Also, a Death Star is easier to draw out on posterboard than Yoda, for sure.

The Spread.

     My next focus was obviously planning the food. We were having a later party so I just wanted to prep some snacks. I picked out of the cookbooks a few dips and a cookie recipe. The dips were fairly tasty, and I really liked the "Darth Maul Dip" which was actually roasted red peppers, garlic, and cream cheese all food processed. You then, of course, sprinkle poppy seeds on top over the mold of Darth Maul's face and add pearl onions broccoli stem slices for the eyes.

Wookiee Cookies and cupcakes. From this party,
I learned that Wookiee is, in fact, spelled with
two "e"s at the end. Who know? 

     I had planned two cookie recipes, but Joe said he wanted cupcakes instead of sugar cookies. Bummed about not getting to use the cookie press/cutters, I got a little crafty with the cupcakes and made fondant cutouts with the cookie cutters. And then...I painted them! It was the most fun I've had decorating cupcakes. I definitely needed a smaller brush. The irony is that I thought about painting the fondant and how I already had brushes and gel food coloring, but I'd forgotten that almost all of my paintbrushes have been used on ACTUAL PAINT. Oil and acrylic. Probably not good to use them on food after that? Nope. I did have a few brushes that hadn't been used yet, and I chose the smallest one to use on the fondant, however it was not quite small enough for the detail in the cookie press design.

Phone picture of the painting setup. You add vodka to the food coloring/gel, so that it dries faster when you paint it
on the fondant. Just a little goes a long way! Other than that, it's just like painting with watercolors. 

Close up of the Yoda cupcake; I'm shamelessly proud of mixing the perfect Yoda-green on the first attempt. 

     Lastly, I made some "Yoda Soda" which is actually one of my favorite party recipes. Even for actual grown-up events like bridal and baby showers, jewelry parties, etc., you can make this soda. So I will end with that recipe and instructions! Happy Birthday Hubs!

Adding a striped paper straw
when serving is a way to make
this a fancier drink!

"Yoda Soda," or, the tastiest party drink

Ingredients:
- 1/2 Gallon of Lime Sherbet
- 2 Liters of Sprite

Directions: 
Scoop out the lime sherbet into a pitcher or punch bowl. Fill the pitcher or bowl 1/4 to 1/2 full with scoops, not packing the scoops or trying to save space. You will need room at the top of your pitcher. Then pour Sprite over top. As you do, the soda will foam up. Pour the Sprite until the foam reaches just under the top of your pitcher or bowl. When the foam dies down, add a few more scoops of sherbet, and repeat adding Sprite and sherbet until you've mixed your desired amount of punch. Pour into glasses (or scoop out of punch bowl with a ladle) to serve.

Clip Show

     My husband and I are Netflix "binge watching" all of the seasons of Malcolm in the Middle. We do this, during the school year; it's nice to have some time to snuggle up on the couch after a long day at work. Last fall we made it all the way through the Castle series, seasons 1-8! We may sound lazy, but we really only watch an episode at a time, and some evenings we won't end up watching due to other commitments. So really, I guess we don't "binge watch," we just become series monogamists? Maybe? Is that a thing? 

     Regardless, while watching Malcolm in the Middle, we rediscovered the lost TV art of the Clip Show. Aka, when you don't have material for a whole new episode but you have an episode spot in the season to fill, so you do a clip show of previously filmed stuff and make it a new episode that's sort of a flashback. 

     I have some new posts in my brain, but don't have the material juuuuust yet to write out those posts. So I'm doing a clip show of my own and sharing some old photos I took that are still entertaining to me. Here we go! 

These are my mother's crazy dogs. She actually has more dogs than this, but at the time, I was taking random pictures with my then-new DSLR camera and happened to catch this mirror shot of all of them looking at the same thing. The mold on the mirror (it is a relic from my great-grandmother's house, and I believe it has been cleaned since) gave the image an antique-y feel, and I just laughed when I zoomed in and saw all of the dogs looking at the same thing! They are VERY energetic and crazy entities, so this moment of stillness was a rare occurrence.  

This is another of my mom's pets- she is a camera ham, she loves attention, and she loves naps in front of open windows. She was being very cute one day years and years ago, and looked right at me when I took the picture. This photo was taken at my childhood home. It was an old farmhouse without central heating or air conditioning. In the summer, the windows were always open. While we endured the heat, humidity, and suffered on the breeze-less nights, the cats were in heaven. Except of course for when they tried to swat at bugs outside the screens and then knocked the screen out and fell out the window, or just hit their faces on the screens. Cats may always land on their feet but I'm not convinced they're a very intelligent species...

Senior year of college some friends and I went camping during spring break. Wild and crazy, I know, but we were the kind of students who had spent all of our previous spring breaks on volunteer and mission trips. Plus, we were flat broke. I worked at the gym on campus and got discounts renting camping equipment. The four of us decided to venture out into wild and wonderful West Virginia and camped around the Blackwater Falls area. We hiked the Seneca Rocks area. It was early March, so everything was cold and icy, but starting to have that fresh Spring glow.
















More pets...what can I say! I love capturing various animal expressions. This is a former roommate's dog, Bubba, who is unfortunately no longer with us. She left to explore Europe for a bit and I stayed home and hung out with Bubba. He was so depressed without her! He would lay around by the doors, sleep in her bed, and refuse to go outside unless I was going with him. I tried to spoil him with treats, trips to the dog park, and snuggles, but he was still downhearted. This picture captures his depression so well. I love it. I miss this guy!


This photo was from my grandparents' house one Christmas many years ago. I have not been back to visit them for many years, and I am deeply sad/sorry/regretful about that. Hopefully that changes soon, but for now I'll take the nostalgia of this photo. I had just gotten my DSLR that winter and I was trying out some of the editing and filtering.

There's nothing particularly exciting about this last picture, but it's really memorable for me. When I was in high school, I went on a field trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, where we were supposed to complete a photo scavenger hunt. It was one of the best field trips I've ever gone on, as a student or teacher. We had certain requirements for the scavenger hunt, and it was exciting to see what each group had put together when we returned to school. I later attended college in Williamsburg, and while taking a random walk down DoG street one day, I remembered the photo I took for the scavenger hunt, and recreated it.

Indian Inspiration

The "India" challenge on my baking list was one I was really looking forward to completing. I think that Indian recipes are often so much simpler than what I often cook or bake. I love the aromatic spices of Indian culture and the flavors they produce! Another great attribute of Indian recipes is that they are often nearly-vegan to start with, so if you are adapting a recipe to fit certain food specifications (allergies, dietary needs), it's simple enough to find a recipe that will easily fit your needs.

These cookies I made, for example. They are called Nan Khatai cookies and I used the recipe found on Blend With Spices. The directions were clear and simple. The ingredients were few and readily available- the only catch was the Cardamom. I don't use cardamom often, so when I went to the store and saw that the tiny 3 ounce container was $15 I went on a mini rant to my husband in the middle of the baking aisle. He just looked at me like "uhh....." which is understandable. It's probably the same look I gave these two college girls once when they stopped me in the same baking aisle and asked me if they could just melt butterscotch chips and use it as salted caramel. Uhhhh....

My little jar of Cardamom

What I ended up doing was going to the local Co-op grocery store, where you can buy many herbs, spices, and baking needs (cocoa powder, etc.) by the ounce. They have containers or you can bring your own. They also have these little plastic bags you can use and twist tie closed, which is what I used, and which makes you feel super sketchy when you go into the store to by an ounce of cardamom which looks like some other substance, and then you leave the store just carrying around your little bag of "ground spices." Sketchtastic. Worth it, though, to only pay 92 cents for cardamom, instead of $15.

Step 1: Mix dry ingredients. Step 2: Add wet ingredients

Step 3: Drop onto cookie sheet

Anyways, these cookies have a basic recipe with few ingredients. No refrigerating the dough, no extra steps needed- just mix, bake, and done. They tasted delicious! I might use less cardamom next time, because I found the taste to be a bit overpowering. However, the almonds on top help to smooth out the taste of the cardamom, so don't skip on the nuts if you make these!


I thought I'd blog the process of these cookies, you know, step by step style. I realized as I was uploading pictures that I took really boring and non-descriptive photos of the process. I also realized I need to edit the lighting in the photos because my kitchen has this one horrible fluorescent tube light and everything in the kitchen- cabinets, appliances, counters- are an off white color, so there is little natural looking light. When I take photos without flash, they come out a little dull. I could definitely have edited these photos and skipped this whole paragraph explaining myself, but I'd rather get the post up! I'm sure I'll regret that later...Enjoy for now!

And, voila! Cookies.