Hello friend,
I would like to blog tonight about one interesting change, for teachers, in how we approach lesson planning, and that is in regards to the Common Core (link here), but more specifically I would like to address the connection to College and Career Readiness.
This is a big part of the Common Core, and one that I quite like; here's a link to our State Dept. of Education's webpage on this. I teach in Massachusetts (USA), and DESE stands for the "Department of Elementary and Secondary Education," which is a fancy way to say the Mass. DOE (its old name) ... the Mass Dept. of Education.
What I quite like about the inclusion of standards connecting to College and Career Readiness is that it keeps teachers focused on what kinds of skills and knowledge students will need as they enter college, university or a career. I enjoy helping my students think about their futures, and inspiring them to believe that anything is possible. If I could think back to my own adolescence, I honestly can't remember if anyone ever told me "you can be whatever you want to be; you can be a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, whatever... it is possible." I share this now, because I remember thinking "I could never be a doctor or lawyer... I'm not super smart." For the adults reading this, I'm sure you can think of a doctor or lawyer you've met in your life, and thought "gosh, how did he ever become a doctor ...?!" It may seem funny, but it's so true... I have met a few professionals who I realized weren't fantastic in their fields, but somehow someone believed in them enough to say "You can be a doctor..." "You can be a lawyer." In my ELL classes, at the high school level, I have consequently made a conscious decision to regularly connect my lessons and units to how my students can go above and beyond their own expectations, goals, and dreams. We do lots of language and grammar, and reading and writing in ELL, and so I often talk about how they could easily study linguistics at the college level, and easily become linguists, or college professors who study language and linguistics. Once an ELL, always an ELL, I say ...but in the most positive light of course... meaning that you will never lose that understanding of the Universal Grammar in your first language, and how you have come to understand how we communicate, in the four domains of Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening.
Finally, let me share that I think all teachers can find time to talk about students' possible future career paths, so that students can start to chart a course or at least consider possible options. Furthermore, with new and emerging fields, students do in fact need many 21st Century Skills.
Thanks for reading!
Please share, re-tweet or comment. :-)
P.S. Oh, and just for fun, here's a fun picture of me, on a recent family vacation, and on a Florida Everglades Gator Air-boat Ride (see the gator behind me!?) ... :-)
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