This post reminds us that literature speaks to us about life in ways that informational text can never do. That is why a story like Yertle the Turtle resonates with us long after we first read it and long after the informational text has been forgotten.
The post is about a kindergarten teacher. He is worried about how the Common Core will affect the children with the greatest needs.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I did a similar blog recently!
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Nice! Thank you. It’s just totally nuts out there re: political lala and grab for control and money.
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“I admit that I’m not too sure which Common Core standard was covered when my students learned in Social Studies one day about a brave turtle named Mack who was tired of being stepped on.”
They learned about life which cannot be reduced to a “standard” .
Thank you for this post which includes an authentic description of what it means to teach our precious kindergarten students.
My grandchild will enter Kindergarten in the fall. I can only hope she has a similar teacher who truly understands what it means to be 4-5 years old.
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So it appears that the educator who loves to teach and help the eager minds of children grow and mature to be the best of themselves, are truly romantics. That education has morphed into a business, like all other businesses, measured for profit and productivity.
No more and no less. Children are to be regulated and sorted much like we do on farms. Animals in zoos will get better care and more concern for their differences and needs for survival.
I have lost all patience in the walk around what is happening to our children, to our teachers, to education, and to anything that resembles the Truth as we would hope it to be. Time is growing short and children are being thrown on the scrap heap of society.
Shame to all who are doing it and those that can not find their voice to stop it.
Oh! I am an advocate for the disabled. Enough said!!!!!!
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Kindergarteners are like popcorn, all over the place and full of enthusiasm. This teacher hit the nail on the head in his description of these tiny titans coming together en masse and consuming every particle of adult attention available in a room. Their attention spans are often less than a nanosecond and keeping them involved requires a special bag of tricks including music and movement. While elements of Common Core are being incorporated into the kindergarten curriculum, the testing element oops, I mean assessing element seems to me to be a real stretch and a frustration buster outer for students and staff alike.
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Thank you to Diane for sharing my post “A Plain Little Thing” at David Chura’s outstanding blog, Kids in the System. To those who have taken the time to read and comment, I really appreciate your feedback and, mostly, commiseration.
For anyone interested, I wrote a piece a while back in honor of the Chicago public school teachers called “They walk the line”…
http://deconstructingmyths.com/2012/09/02/they-walk-the-line/
Keep the faith and keep blogging!
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