Some say the ship has already sailed. Some say the train has left the station. But others say they never knew the train was in the station, and they wonder why they are passengers on a train they never booked tickets for, and how it could leave the station when no one knew it had arrived except the drivers.
Still others say that the ship is in trouble. When it sailed, the skies were clear. But uh-oh. Is the crew rebelling? Are the passengers? What about those rough seas?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here is a 2nd grade question.
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He apparently has more paper clips than I do in my class room as we spent most of our money on CCSS materials and not basic office supplies!
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Who cares about how many paper clips are in a box? The ridiculous scripted for-profit “lessons” are what the reformers call rigor. Send a workbook to Arne and Bill.
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I love this–hilarious, cary444!!! 🙂
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The only thing missing from that convoluted Common Core Math equation is a “Staples” product placement blurb.
Ridiculous.
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Shouldn’t a problem titled “Stretch your thinking” at least be about rubber bands?
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SomeDAMPoet… no because this is the allotted “fiction” reading for the month! Yup makes for darn good literature!
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Even without doing the math, this hurts my brain trying to keep the facts in line while I get to the point.
Is it age/developmentally appropriate? I don’t know. What comes to mind is every word/math problem joke I’ve ever heard, and the punchlines are that the question makes no sense, or causes one to go around the world to cross the street.
Meanwhile, here in NJ, a teacher friend went to a common core presentation just this week. As I mentioned in a post on another topic, that teacher said the curriculum was developmentally inappropriate in asking elementary kids to do work way beyond their understanding…like reading Of Mice and Men in the earlier grades. Perhaps that was close reading/out of context, but I don’t think I’d want my 3rd grader reading any of it….there is time enough for books that make you cry.
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Lennie killing a puppy and then breaking the neck of Curley’s wife will turn Read-Alouds into nightmares!!! Now children, don’t try any of this at home!!!
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Populate every possible blog with these stupid examples. great way to kill the common core. Reformat this and send it to every state legislator who likes the common core.
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Perhaps Coleman should live out the rest of his days in a jail cell that looks like a school room and be forced to solve common core style problems like the one shown in this article and be allowed to read only close read texts – no literature and if and only if he reads forced to follow a host of strategies mandated for understanding… not good enough to read for the sake of reading and enjoying the experience. We can put him on the hamster wheel we call RTTT and he can enter the imaginary world race as if all other countries are our “enemies” and we have to beat them at standardized testing by religiously following common core principles! I also reserve a like hamster wheel and “ed reformy” school room-like jail cell for Duncan, Gates, Broad, Bloomberg, Klein, Rhee, Fordham Institute “ed reformy think tankers etc…
Sure wishing the “ship” sinks in my neck of the woods.. it is not even close to sailing away.
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I believe the common core is flawed based on the many articles written by experts, not because people are posting problems that they believe are terrible.
The problem posted above is not that hard and my child who is two weeks into third grade figured it out rather quickly. Since it is labeled ‘stretch your thinking’ (it would be interesting to see problems 1-3), I believe this problem is for the students who have solidly grasped the concept of place values up to hundreds. The problem just requires an understanding of place values and some simple addition/subtraction.
If the common core goes away and there are still questions such as the example above assigned to students, what will people do?
I will say that since so many experts are against the CC, I do believe it needs serious revamping or elimination. However, posting these kinds of problems does not convince me that the CCSS is flawed because most of the lousy math problems that I have seen posted don’t seem lousy to me.
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Your comment brings up the real issue. Free citizens should be able to apply or ignore these or any other prescriptive standards and associated teaching materials as they see fit. There is no reason the intellectual lives of public schools should be governed more strictly than in private schools, which have to be accredited but whose teachers are free to teach as they and the community they serve judge best.
The main problem with Common Core standards is not their many defects, but the coercive way they are enforced through high-stakes tests.
We regulate restaurants by requiring them to meet basic standards of food safety, not by forcing them to use particular recipes. And the best meals are prepared one by one, by individual chefs cooking according to their best judgment of the qualities of ingredients they have chosen. That’s also how teachers in private schools work. And our corporate and political leaders choose that model for their children, while forcing the rest of us to consume the intellectual equivalent of processed food.
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As a private school teacher, my choices in lesson plans and support material have become more limited, not expanded, by Common Core. The CC material is so scripted and uses the same format and language regardless of the subject. Often, there is more emphasis in the lesson plan about what standards are being met instead of content. It tends to be too tedious, fabricated, and boring.
I checked out a book from our public library about photosynthesis for possible use in my class and as I read it, I could recognize the typical CC language and structure. Sure enough, when I looked closer at the cover, I saw that it was from the Core Library. Some of the content was age-appropriate (grades 3-6) but then it jumped to material that was more of a high-school level. Why are we okay with standardizing how we think?
I spend more time looking for resources and lesson plans that do not follow this format. I wish more private teachers/schools/affiliations would speak up and support all children and teachers. All I can say is that this whole mess is shameful.
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The ship may have already sailed but Common Core will end just like the Titanic… At the bottom of the sea…irrelevant and forgotten in winds of time… CCSS already can’t claim to be national standards… There are too many defections from the standards and/or the common assessments.
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Love your comparing CCSS with the Titanic!
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. . . and whereas the Titanic was “unsinkable”, the Common Core should have been “unthinkable”.
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Extending the metaphor, while we may take some comfort in the Titanic going down, we should recall that it took almost all the proles down with it…
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from the old folk song
Oh, they built the Common Core, to sail the ocean blue.
For they thought it was a standard that Gates could ram right through.
It was on its maiden trip, that a teacherberg hit the ship.
It was sad when the Common Core went down.
Chorus
It was sad, so sad.
It was sad, so sad.
It was sad when the Common Core went down (to the bottom of the….)
Duncans and Rhees, Pearson Testing lost their fees.
It was sad when the Common Core went down.
Oh Obama smiled and winked
As the ship began to sink
And he said “The scores are surely going to stink”
So he S.O.S.ed Bill Gates
And he sealed both of their fates
It was sad when the Common Core went down
Repeat chorus
They were not far from the shore, ’bout a thousand miles or more,
When the states refused to teach the Common Core
So they canceled all their waivers, and burned up all their “savers”
It was sad when the Common Core went down.
Repeat chorus
Oh, the teachers saved the weak, as the ship began to leak.
And a band of VAMmers played their mathy hymns
With, “Nearer my God to Rhee”, they were swept into the sea.
It was sad when the Common Core went down.
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Fabbo song … some damn poet
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BEST ONE YET!!!! I laughed until I cried. Thank you for that.
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The Common Core battle is going to shift to many new fronts.
Take the Smart Schools Bond Act. The bond funds technology to administer the PARCC tests without alerting parents. The bond does not mention the Common Core, nor does it name the members of Smarts School Commission (e.g. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt) or the investment review board (e.g. Education Commissioner John King). To make matters worse, the bond funds things that need to be funded such as additional classrooms. In my view, though, the good things are the worm to make voters eat the bait.
Here is an op-ed I wrote arguing why New Yorkers should vote NO on the bond.
http://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/09/01/view-tampio-smart-schools-bond/14810825/
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Mr Tampio, thank you for the lucid article. Not a NY resident, but it’s worthwhile to know how states approach agendas. Wonder if other tech CEOs want to work w. NJ after M Zuckerberg’s experience. Will tell NJ Fordham students I meet to take your courses–your explanations are terrific.
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Wow, great op-ed. I am a New York resident and thank you for bringing this latest boondoggle to my attention. I’ll vote no and circulate your wonderful article.
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Unfortunately, the passengers did not know the destination of this sailing ship. Now that most have an idea that it is heading off to no where, most will man the lifeboats. Hopefully, even the crew will abandon this ship and it will wash up against some rock and sink.
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The ship is a submarine with an open sunroof and it is taking in water. The rats are putting on life vests and leaving, some of the crew are inflating life rafts.
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I’ve already decided to send email to my parents, explaining to them how they can opt out their children from the Smarter Balance tests.
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Sadly the ship is at dock and filling with “enslaved” passengers in my neck of the woods.
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Oh, and late last night (4 am?) I saw a commercial about Arne Duncan’s upcoming tour. It looked like it was coming to about 10 free lunch cities.
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I hope all in the following cities protest big time at each stop. But more likely than not the stops will be during the school day, highly scripted (and even then the Dunkster is bound to stick his foot in his mouth) and audiences carefully chosen.
http://www.ed.gov/blog/topic/bustour/
Atlanta, Ga.
Carrollton, Ga.
Birmingham, Ala.
Huntsville, Ala.
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Nashville, Tenn.
Memphis, Tenn.
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In New York John King is driving the CC Titanic full steam ahead. I love that Teachout said she would fire him as one of her first tasks as governor.
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Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale
a tale of a fateful trip,
that started from this Common port,
aboard a leaky ship.
Bill Gates was a mighty money man,
The Skipper brave and sure,
reformers set sail that day,
for a ten year tour,
a ten year tour.
Well, the parents started getting rough,
the leaky ship was tossed.
If not for the money from of the clueless crew
the Standards will be lost.
The Standards will be lost.
The ship’s aground on the shore of this
untested testing isle
with Arne,
the Skipper too.
The billionaire and his ego,
the DC star,
Coleman and a shaky plan,
here on Duncan’s Isle.
Here’s the tale of clueless castaways,
they’re stuck for a long, long time.
They’ll have to make the best of things,
it’s an uphill climb.
Bill Gates and his Skipper too
will do their very best,
to bash teachers, kids, and their schools
with their tricky tests.
Just a coffin waiting for the one last nail
like Ford’s Edsel car,
it’s bound to be an epic fail
So join us here each spring my friends,
no reason left to smile,
with all these clueless castaways
here on Duncan’s Isle!
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Very well done!
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Boy, this post REALLY brought out the poet in people! Well done, all!
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What is the title of your song… “Hooligans Island”?
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A perfect title.
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DAM. Wish I’d thought of that
The perfect analogy for ed reform.
“The billionaire and his ego”
Hahhaha
You can just picture Bill calling himself “Lovey” when he looks in the mirror every morning, day and night.
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The Commisioner has frequently stated that the State Education Department has literally been building the plane in the air when it comes to the Common Core Modules. Please note that parents across the nation are opting out of the flight . There is great turbulence in the air. The creative children have noticed that it is NOT a plane that SED is attempting to build. But, rather, the vehicle is so flawed and heavily laden that it has now been identified as a submarine. We are no longer racing to the top– the klaxon has sounded— SED has built a submarine. Ready your depth chargers!!
Marge
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This morning, a friend showed me a picture of his daughter, in a pink dress, on the steps of her school bus on her first morning of kindergarten. He’d been to a back-to-school night and was concerned about homework and the common core. I spent a little time trying to persuade him not to have her do the homework, not to buy into the test prep, not to teach her to bubble (since when is that a verb, anyway?). This is someone in a farming community a couple of hours north of NYC. How much damage will the common core do, even if it is on its way out, before it leaves entirely?
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To every elementary teacher that has told their 5, 6, 7, or 8 year old students that they can no longer celebrate birthdays in class because it would interfere with their goal of college and career readiness: GET OUT of the business. And to every administrator that encourages and supports this idea, the same.
The opportunity costs of this 13 year old, failed reform movement are incalculable. Shame on us all.
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“The opportunity costs of this 13 year old, failed reform movement are incalculable. ”
Opportunity costs is too nice of a phrase. “The immoral harm done to many, many innocent victims, the students of this 13. . . .”
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To answer your question: “since when is that a verb, anyway?”
verb
verb: bubble; 3rd person present: bubbles; past tense: bubbled; past participle: bubbled; gerund or present participle: bubbling
(of a liquid) contain bubbles of air or gas rising to the surface.
“a pot of soup bubbled away on the stove”
synonyms: sparkle, fizz, effervesce, foam, froth More
“the champagne bubbled nicely on the tongue”
boil, simmer, seethe, gurgle
“the milk was bubbling above the flame”
make a sound resembling this.
“a bubbling fountain”
(of a person) be exuberantly filled with an irrepressible positive feeling.
“Ellen was bubbling with such enthusiasm”
synonyms: overflow, brim over, be filled, gush
“she was bubbling over with enthusiasm”
(especially of a negative feeling) become more intense and approach the point of being vehemently expressed.
“the fury bubbling up inside her”
Origin
Middle English: partly imitative, partly an alteration of burble.
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The ship may be leaving port but they will have rough seas. However, they will survive those seas because there are no other ships who can handle the seas. The lack of a viable alternative has Common Core winning by default. My new book is heading to the publisher at the end of September. Brainstorming Common Core will give many ideas and a process to finally, as James Anderson would say, develop both the philosophy as well as a system of education which really does respect the intelligence and abilities of ordinary people. Keep an eye out for the release of the book at http://www.wholechildreform.com
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Stossel had an excellent program on the Common Core on Fox News. An engineer was shown how primary children will be trained to do basic math. He was horrified. There will be a lot of damage due to the Common Core. I can’t even think about it.
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This is just like the untested new math of the 1960s. That educational reform died so completely that no one today can even describe what it. Was like. I went to a school that taught it and then moved. My new school taught the traditional math curriculum. I ended up lacking so many skills that I needed a year of tutoring.
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My Dad received graduate level training in that new math in the late 60’s. He said he felt bad for the students in his high school classes who learned one way the year before and the new way the next year. He said that entire generation was hurt with that new math and then they scrapped it.
Fast forward to today. He teaches Algebra at a community college in Dayton Ohio. The college had the instructors pilot a new program 5 years ago where students learned in groups (like common core). The program failed. Why? Because the hard working students did all the work and were expected to teach the low performing students who didn’t work and never learned .
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The Common Core can’t sink fast enough for me. I don’t understand why more people don’t tell the emperor he is not wearing any clothes.
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Just think. A naked emperor steering the Good Ship Common Core.
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I am guessing all that “nakedness” is going to cause a lot of sunburning on the open seas of this “sailing ship” – imagine all that exposure to sunshine! But then again maybe the skin care corporations are in on the deal and profiting by the sale of sun screen and whole lines of skin care products (which of course the schools must fund so that the emperor and all his/her minions can continue steering the ship naked)!
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“I don’t understand why more people don’t tell the emperor he is not wearing any clothes.”
Because the vast majority of educators are GAGAers!
Going Along to Get Along (GAGA): Nefarious practice of most educators who implement the edudeformers agenda even though the educators know that those educational malpractices will cause harm to the students and defile the teaching and learning process. The members of the GAGA gang are destined to be greeted by the Karmic Gods of Retribution upon their passing from this realm.
Karmic Gods of Retribution: Those ethereal beings specifically evolved to construct the 21st level in Dante’s Hell. The 21st level signifies the combination of the 4th (greed), 8th (fraud) and 9th (treachery) levels into one mega level reserved especially for the edudeformers and those, who, knowing the negative consequences of the edudeformers agenda, willing implemented it so as to go along to get along. The Karmic Gods of Retribution also personally escort these poor souls, upon their physical death, to the 21st level unless they enlighten themselves, a la one D. Ravitch, to the evil and harm they have caused so many innocent children, and repent and fight against their former fellow deformers. There the edudeformers and GAGAers will lie down on a floor of smashed and broken ipads and ebooks curled in a fetal position alternately sucking their thumbs to the bones while listening to two words-Educational Excellence-repeated without pause for eternity.
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Just think. Students will be able to annotate stories such as “A naked emperor steering the Good Ship Common Core” but not be able to figure out what it means. That’s because the emphasis is on Craft and Structure which are quantitative measurements but not Meaning and Intent which are qualifying measurements and harder to test. Tossing out literature and poetry in favor of info texts so students can cite explicit evidence tops the list of Common Core grievances for so many English teachers . . .
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ootc,
Your usage of the term “measurements” belies just how insidiously embedded the edudeformers’ linguistic terms are in our everyday usage in discussing the teaching and learning process.
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Yes, Common Core and its tests (especially the tests) warp education in ways that only we teachers can see. That’s why I call the curricula they are spawning “mutant” curricula. Where else in the world have we ever had curricula that look like this? Certainly not at Andover, Coleman’s alma mater. Thus, as in the New Math debacle, the whole country is recklessly being used as guinea pigs in a likely-to-fail experiment. Teachers can see this, but lay people cannot; that’s why we teachers need to speak up.
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If any teacher added up the administrative and technology costs to implement the Common Core math, they would realize why their paycheck is so low. Common Core is a waste of district funding, a waste of time, and will harm the children who have to endure the process. In the end it will fail but the harm to children is permanent.
Why torture the kids?
Only one answer–profits for large corporations who have lobbyists.
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Please help me abolish common core. I have started a petition. Please sign it and share with everyone. Our children’s future depends on it. Thank you for your support! https://www.change.org/p/chris-christie-and-john-wisniewski-and-joseph-vitale-abolish-common-core-2
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