Common Sense about Common Core

Today, I would like to share some common sense about Common Core. Below, copy and pasted from corestandards.org, is the Mission Statement of Common Core:

"The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy."

Okay, soak that in for just a second. You're probably asking, "Well, what's wrong with that?" I'll tell
you.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/114854-heart-wrenching-viral-photo-of-frustrated-little-girl-shows-what-common-core-does-to-children/

This picture has bee circulating on Facebook recently and if you haven't read the story behind it, I encourage you to follow the above link and read about why Common Core has this little girl so upset. There are also a plethora of news stories, blog posts, and others talking about woes created by the Common Core System. If you're looking for the story of someone personally touched by Common Core, please follow the above link because that isn't what my post is about.

Yes, both of my younger sisters as well as my boyfriend and his three younger siblings have been personally affected by Common Core Standards. I am among the last of the untouched. And while I have seen my second grade sister's standardized homework and heard my junior sister and senior boyfriend complain about pretests and post-tests and standardized exams, I have remained unscathed by the system. But as a college student and someone who has seen a little bit of the real world, I have plenty to say about it.

So, let's back up for one second. I have dealt my fair share of standards from OATs, OGTs, ACTs and
a whole lineup of state teaching standards. They are a pain. A pain for me, a pain for teachers, and a pain for colleges to decipher varying state standards. I am an intelligent person, so this is not coming from someone who doesn't test well and feels played by the system or someone whose genius doesn't lie in traditional meanings of the word, but someone who scored a 30 on the ACT and received above average scores on all of my standardized tests. Despite all of that, I believe that standardization stifles intelligence. Some of the greatest minds to ever walk the planet never finished school. Great, out-of-the-box ideas come from deviant thought processes that are stifled by comparing everyone to each other and bringing them down to the same thought level. It's wrong to force students to think inside a box.

Common Core also fails to prepare anyone for the real world. In real life there are no "ten sticks" to help us with our math and thinking like a robot is not what the real world needs. The world needs fresh, new ideas and people who think differently than anyone else to solve problems and help the world grow. As a college student, what would really help kids prepare is great teachers being allowed to just teach. Teach them good writing and communication skills, how to take notes, how to handle college loans. Teach them good professional skills and about the Constitution and how our government works. Teach them how to read a syllabus and hold them accountable for their homework and other responsibilities. Don't teach them how to think the exact same way as that other kid trying to get into Yale. Who does that help? No one.

If you need any more persuasion against Common Core, check out these videos. The first is a student from Tennessee and the second is a mother from Arkansas. 

I could say more, but I don't think I need to. These videos and the story above are more than enough. If you graduated from the Class of 2013, feel fortunate to be untouched by Common Core, but we need to protect our siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews, and all of the kids that will be working with or for us in the years to come. We have to fight Common Core. All of us Americans. Together. United we stand. Only we can make our politicians, who answer to us, repeal Common Core. Remember that without us, the politicians are powerless because we legitimize their power. Let's take the power back and fight Common Core!

Super Bowl Bust

Well, as many of you know, yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. For football fans across the nation, this is the holiest day on the calendar. Parties stocked with soda, pizza, wings, salsa, and other foodstuffs strategically places around the TV so no one misses the action, not just of the game, but of the famous Super Bowl commercials as well. If you went to the bathroom and missed the Doritos Time Machine commercial, well, sorry about your luck.

Though my mom loves football and my boyfriend is an ex football player, I hate the sport. I think it's needlessly dangerous with more and more NFL players and former players coming out with reports of brain damage from concussions. I also find it impossible to understand the game. Garrett, my boyfriend, teases that I need Dr. Sheldon Cooper, main character of the hit TV show The Big Bang Theory, to explain the game to me. In my own defense, before he quit football this past year, I understood all of the downs and many of the flags and calls. I know what a two-point conversion is - sort of - and I certainly know touchdowns are worth 7 points. Much of my previous knowledge of the sport has been lost due to the fact that I no longer need to have interest in it since Garrett no longer plays. That being said, I have only been watching the Super Bowl since 2011 because the guy I was "dating" at the time is a huge fan of the Packers. So I watched. And when Garrett and I started dating later that year and watched our first Super Bowl together, we made it a tradition. So now, I am a religious watcher of the Super Bowl - possibly against my better judgment.

My family had our first "Super Bowl party" yesterday. Party used loosely as it was me, my mom, my two sisters, Garrett (whose practically family he's at my house so much), and my sister's friend, Mitchell. We did have food like it was a party though. Ha! My littlest sister made Broncos decorations and told everyone at least twice, "We're rooting for the Broncos because Peyton Manning is in the NFL and played for the Colts. He's....defense.....and a quarterback." Well....she almost got it right. We did root for the Broncos because we like Peyton Manning.

Now, I can stand watching football when the game is good, which is why I agree to watch the Super Bowl. You expect the game to be great when the best offense plays the best defense, but no. This was probably the worst game I have ever seen and my high school's team was 0 and 10 my freshman year. From the first snap, everyone knew the Broncos were going down.

At least the commercials were good, though I will say that I was disturbed by the Go Daddy commercial at the end of the Super Bowl. Just as I was about to cry from the adorable, heart melting Budweiser commercial with the puppy, I see half-naked, bulky, unattractive man. Eww. But many of the commercials had us all snorting with laughter, one of the best being that glorious Doritos Time Machine commercial. The Turbo Tax commercial was also a hilariously genius stroke of marketing brilliance. We also enjoyed the Pistachios commercials, particularly the second one, the McDonalds commercial, and the pre-game Super Bowl commercial. Great commercials this year. Much better than last year. I would also like to give an honorable mention to the Coke commercial. Beautiful show of what America is about with America the Beautiful in different languages. I loved it.

Finally, I would like to say Bruno Mars rocks. He was fantastic. The show, the camera angles, the tribute to the troops, AND he played my jam, Runaway Baby! Fantastic halftime show after years of what I think were disappointments.

I hope you all had your own fun Super Bowl parties with good food that would put all of your New Years Resolutions to shame. I hope spending time with your friends and families made up for the terrible game. I hope you laughed until you cried until you laughed at some of those commercials. And I dearly hope you didn't go to the bathroom during the Doritos Time Machine commercial.

Thanks for reading! Happy Monday!