FTF Update: CCSS, Teaching or frustrating?

Today’s post originally was published on 8/31/14 and addressed the levels of frustration that appear to be the goal with Common Core. I wanted to do an update on the organizations reported on in the original post.

To access the original writing in its entirety:
https://www.commoncorediva.com/2014/08/31/frustration-the-new-teaching-tool/

For our purposes today, however, I’ll be taking excerpts from it to compare with what’s happened since first reporting it. My first excerpt tells you how I stumbled upon the Teach.org (our first update)

“While listening in on the radio, I overheard an advertisement from the organization “Teach.org”. I was sitting there happy as can be when what do my ears hear, but , the voice over the airwaves proclaim that frustration is to be considered a new tool in the classroom! Really?! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out natural frustration is one thing, but to seek to provoke it?!”  When I first dove into researching them, I shared with you to ties to Common Core, as in what organizations, funding, etc. So has anything changed? Let’s see..

The Teacher Pathway personalization tool:

Teaching is one of the 16 career clusters we’ve seen in the Career Clusters/Career Tech Education. What’s a bit different on this website, is that you can’t get any information about the teacher pathway until you supply data like email, etc. Here’s a cutesy video Teach.org has featured on YouTube about WHY becoming a teacher is great in this modern CCSS aligned age:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBcIi6hY14s&w=560&h=315]

Not sure about where you live, but I can tell you the teachers in NC currently having to teach CCSS have their own Top 7 reasons why they are frustrated, not feeling called or creative at all. Oh as if a Top 7 reasons why teaching in today’s educational realm isn’t enough, maybe Arne Duncan’s call will be!! Check this out:

Then, there’s TED:

Part of my original post, ” In all, 52 different speeches that somehow connect CCS to TED. No thanks, I’ve seen pigs dressed up before. Looks okay, but the stench is still there. Trust me, if you have ever been on a farm with pigs, the smell of poop is unforgettable. But, being the Diva I am, here’s the link so you can see for yourselves: http://www.ted.com/search?q=common+core+standards ” *Note: TED stands for ‘Technology, Entertainment and Design’. So, has anything changed with TED? Let’s see…

Pared down:

Oh, TED no longer has 52 different speeches connected to CCSS, but ‘he’ does have more contributors working for ‘him’ with CCSS ties. Should you care to see who they are, http://www.ted.com/search?q=common+core+

100K in 10, the next group:

The original post shared much, but I want to look at the funding groups. Please be sure to read the original to discover what other revelations there are. Here’s the excerpt, “Funders for 100Kn10: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Foundation, New Schools Venture Fund are just 3 among a list of many. Why I offer a look at these is simple. We have already established the connection between Gates, UNESCO and Common Core Standards. The Carnegie Foundation is connected to Common Core Standards so much so that….” Has there been an update since this post first appeared??

A fresh video, same agenda:

On the 100Kin10 website, you’ll find a short video on the “About Us” page. Be sure to watch it, BUT, if you haven’t read the original post before watching it, you won’t be capturing the full message of the ‘collective’, the ‘aligned’, the ‘conjoined’ that STEM and CCSS really are. However, take into consideration, some of the same folks funding CCSS, fund STEM as well. See the video at, http://www.100kin10.org/page/aboutus

Finally, New Schools Venture :

In my original writing, here’s a tidbit of what I shared, “So, about that ‘frustration’ factor as a tool? If it were me, as a teacher, I wouldn’t seek to create frustration in students. Life naturally stirs our emotional pots as it is without our help. I offer this psychology view of frustration: Frustrations can create aggressive inclinations even when they are not arbitrary or aimed at the subject personally.”

Changes? Here we go! On their website, http://www.newschools.org/ventures, it appears more partners have been added. At least one partner is one of the groups listed above (100Kn10). Teach for America is also one of the Ventures. If you aren’t aware of how CCSS friendly TFA is, be sure to look it up. Another change? The original white paper I referred to has been removed. However, since our topic is frustration, here’s an excerpt that can give you a glimpse as to why students are frustrated with CCSS, “Common Core standards are aligned with college and work expectations, and include rigorous content and skills. The standards are benchmarked to those of other top-performing countries to guarantee that our students are competitive in the global marketplace” What I did find were several pro CCSS articles. Among them, a slam against an opponent of CCSS. In the blog article it appears to be the same old, same old. As is “CCSS are JUST Standards”, etc. Read it for yourselves and then ask who has the more vested interest in your students, you or New Schools Venture? http://www.newschools.org/blog/mowing-down-the-mistakes-of-confused-common-core-opponents

Students, Parents, and Teachers who are frustrated:

From Spokane, WA: http://youtu.be/HijPJKmzmTY

From TJ LibertyBelle, a classic for those who oppose CCSS: http://youtu.be/FHetioUW4lI

From my readers: 11/14 commenter said this about CCSS, “I recently had to complete a comparative education project for a graduate level education course. The country I was assigned was Germany. If you study the educational history of Germany, you will discover that Germany has a dual track system. In elementary school, students are tested and the results of those tests of ability and aptitude determine the type of secondary school the student will attend. The type of secondary education the student receives determines if the student will enter into a vocational track or a college track. Basically, this type of system maintains the status quo and limits upward social and economic mobility. I see the very same thing happening in American education. It is quite disturbing to see this happening in country that once had a well-respected and high achieving educational system. It seems to me that the type of changes the “centrists” as they call themselves are implementing are intended to keep the poor in poverty and maintain the wealth, status and power of the rich and elite. We are moving more and more towards a socialist/fascist ideology that will do away with the freedoms and rights we were granted in the Constitution.”

12/14 teacher said this about not only CCSS, but my speaking out against it, “I am all for what you have been doing!! I teach and can verify what you are saying. There is great upheaval in the schools, teachers, students. The admin is being asked to pass info to teachers( test data, collecting data) everyone is worried about new testing and results. Teachers are scrambling to find ” practice” even though they know not what to practice!! Teachers are having trouble making sense of the math, it’s wrong they know, but feel they are being told to teach it!! I will keep reading your info and I try to tell teachers they are confused for a reason. I tell them this is illegal, but most just follow orders.”

12/14 veteran shared this resource for warriors, as well as wrote:

“You, as anti CCSS warrior, you HAVE to watch this over 1 and a half hour You Tube video that details for you much about not only the “Core Ready Schools”, but information about the in-depth goings-on of Aspen Institution as well as their partners.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y8CYPS_jJbk