Standards Organization

Monday, January 7, 2013
Ever since I started in my master's program, there has been a HUGE emphasis on standards. All of our lesson plans that we had to write had to be based upon a standard. Therefore, I became super familiar with state standards and common core standards.

Common core standards are a new set of standards that are the same throughout the US. Currently, 45 states have adopted them and they are slowly making their way into the curriculum. These new standards were devised to make it easier for teachers, parents, and students especially when changing schools/states. Previously, each state had their own set of standards and while they were very similar, there were also some large differences. The common core is a way to try and "sync" school districts across the US so that third grade students in California are learning the same content as third graders in Massachusetts for example.

USC did require us to use Common Core if our state was adopting it and that meant I needed to read up on them. I did part of my teaching in Utah and then finished in California and that meant two sets of standards plus the Common Core. Both California and Utah are adopting the new standards and are phasing them into the classroom. I am a super organized person and need to have print-outs of everything. That meant printing out all of the standards I needed.

I cut manila folders in half and used those as my dividers. Then, I labeled the dividers with the standards and started filling in my binder.



This worked super well for me because as I was planning lessons, I could quickly reference my standards without having to look it up each time on the websites. I broke down the standards into subjects and it became a very handy reference for me. I plan to keep the binder updated as I progress in the teaching world because this is a method that works well for me.

I know that in most teacher edition books, they have the standard already listed. You could also create a checklist of sorts where you check off each standard as you teach it. In this manner, you are sure to hit all of the content you need to and you know when/how you taught the standard.

Standard Links (also on the side):


~ Ms. Longo

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