When we focus on the importance of standards in the modern teaching world, we are choosing to consider the foundation of our student’s educational experiences before giving any credit to the fluff and shine of modern ‘educational’ tools and resources.
With resources available at the click of a button, Amazon Prime delivering our last-minute crafting needs straight to our classrooms, and an endless supply of ‘educational’ games to choose from, the number of directions you could choose to take your classroom can be overwhelming.
In order to navigate all the options, you need to get very clear on what is most important in your classroom.
To me, teaching will always need to be like building and designing a house. Some houses are both well-built and beautiful, but some of the prettiest houses could also be hiding a terrible foundation.
Pretty doesn’t always mean better.
Fun doesn’t always mean better.
Yearly Curriculum Edits
It is never a teacher’s goal to make teaching boring; in fact, teachers should go out of their way to find ways to make lessons more engaging. But, if pretty and fun take precedence over focused learning and teaching to the standards, we are doing our students a huge disservice.
Each year in the spring, I encourage teachers to spend time revamping their curriculum, taking a close look at their assessments, and editing their plans for the following year to make sure that all of the standards their students are expected to know and understand are being covered and mastered. This yearly activity places importance on standards and reminds you to put the standards first at all times!
Read this blog post to learn how I plan my curriculum by breaking down the standards.
These standards checklists are a huge part of that process and have a front-row seat in my computer’s ‘recently viewed’ files.
With all of the different activities to choose from, teachers can’t get distracted by the pretty exterior, flashy clipart, or quirky themes. A resource that isn’t standard-aligned does not serve your students, just as pretty tile and a rainfall showerhead only upgrade a bathroom if the plumbing is correctly hooked up and the suitable materials are used to adhere the tile. When all of the bright and shiny new resources try to distract us, we have to stay focused on what matters most… the foundation.
Standards are the foundation of education, and we need to stay laser-focused on the importance of standards throughout the year to make sure our students are getting the education they deserve.
If you’ve completed your classroom edit for the year and found that your tools regarding a specific middle school ELA standard have been lacking, check out our grade-level standards-based resources in the store.
Our goal is for each resource in these product lines to focus on introducing, breaking down, teaching, reviewing, and assessing each standard for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade ELA.
- Click to take a closer look at our 7th-grade standards-based resources!
- Click here to see the 8th-grade standards-based resources!
- 6th-grade standards-based resources coming soon!
Whether you are in your 30th year of teaching or your first, keep the importance of the standards as the basis of your teaching and resource decisions. It is okay to have fun and find great, standards-based games and activities, but do your due diligence and make sure the resources you’re using actually meet the standards and meet your students where they are!
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