I guess
it is about time I shared my thoughts on the Oklahoma Academic Standards. I
don’t know why—if legislators truly cared what actual educators thought, most
of #oklaed’s blogs wouldn’t need to exist. We could all sit down to tea and
intelligently discourse on educational issues. Hey, I can dream, can’t I?
I’ll
preface by saying I chose not to apply to work on the standards. I’ve spent
enough time on English committees. I’ve witnessed heated fights over the
minutia of comma placement and managed to alienate an entire department when I
dared suggest teaching more YA in traditional classes. Therefore, while I know
and esteem many of those on the committees, I steered clear, but I did read
every draft (all grade levels), gave some feedback, and compared the standards
to PASS and Common Core (because I’m a nerd). I have no vested interest in
OAS—they aren’t my babies; I didn’t give birth to any of them or fight for any
of them. However, I’m now joining the fray to support my English colleagues as
we grapple for continuity for our students.
Let me
backtrack a little and give everyone my credentials. It’s sad people can’t
simply trust me as a professional, but I don’t mind sharing my resume before I
share my opinions.
I
finished my degree later in life and entered the teaching profession not as a
doe-eyed, idealist, but as someone who had already spent much time reading,
researching, reflecting, and pondering my role as a teacher (much of that done
outside class). I student-taught with an 11th grade English teacher
at Bartlesville, and spent a lot with PASS. Between college, student teaching
and my 5-year stint at Bartlesville, I used PASS for about 6 ½ years for
lessons and as we wrote (and rewrote and rewrote) benchmark tests and tightened
vertical alignment. I saw first-hand how general PASS is, but I knew from the
beginning that standards would be my minimum—that I would always aim beyond the
standards. Why? Because English, especially high school English, is so much
more than a standard, and there is so much more to teach, through English, than
any standard or test could measure.
From
Bartlesville, I took a job in Sperry. I started their pre-AP English program
that year with 8th graders and taught traditional 10th
graders, which was also the first year 10th graders HAD to pass
their English II EOI (end of instruction) to graduate. Generally, the ones who
didn’t pass were the ones who refused to even try in my class. I make it super
difficult to fail my class because my class is about more than a grade. To the
best of my ability, I want to prepare students for whatever path they choose in
life. Again, standards and tests don’t mean much to me. I have a much bigger
picture in mind for my students.
During
my 5 years at Sperry, I worked with the Curriculum Director to expand their
pre-AP English program to encompass 6th-10th grade. I
recruited so I had about 25-33% of each grade enrolled in an AP class. Not
because I think AP is the shizz, but because I genuinely saw students hungry
for something different, something more than worksheets and the status quo.
Something more than “learn figurative language” or “write a narrative essay.” I
also served as Vertical Team Leader for the English department (covering 4th-12th
grade) and Team Leader for 6th-12th pre-AP/AP English. I
worked to help Sperry achieve vertical alignment and to transition to Common
Core, which I also read on my own time (all grade levels, exemplars, and
supplements). I built websites and worked with teachers to help them create
lessons and make that move. To me, it was not a big deal. I was already
teaching like CC endorsed. So, I gladly helped other teachers.
Additionally, I have been a
school board member for Oklahoma Connections Academy (a public online school) and
taught 6 semesters at Oklahoma Wesleyan University (Comp I & II, Intro to
Lit, Secondary Methods, English Methods), I’ve done AP summer institutes,
participated in 3 of the 4 sessions of the OKSDE Summer Convening, presented at
conferences, taught PD sessions, and had Levels 1 and 2 Audit Training for Curriculum
Managements Systems, Inc. And I’m only in my 11th year of full-time
teaching.
Educating
is what I do.
Which
leads me to the Oklahoma Academic Standards…Standards are important to help
give teachers a framework of goals. Standards also help unify teachers and aid
in vertical/horizontal alignment. Standards support new teachers when they
don’t know where to start or end up. Standards assist teachers in discussing
the important questions about curriculum: Why are we doing this? Is this the
best way to teach this standard? How do we get from point A to point B?
PASS
did not provide this as much because they were too general. CC sought to do
this, but it became politically incorrect to seek to unify students as
Americans instead of by individual state. CC was also not perfect, and their
standards for lower grades were not completely developmentally appropriate, but
they were an improvement over PASS.
On a
side note, I remember heading to the second year of OKSDE Convening a few days after
the legislature screwed us by repealing and outlawing Common Core. I will never
forget sitting in a room of passionate, dedicated educators and realizing all
our hard work (from the past year of Convening and within our own districts)
was now illegal. Seriously, it was that ludicrous. We sat silent and stunned
for part of that first day. What we had done was work on curriculum and lesson
plans, but much of that had to be scrapped lest it bear the “taint” of Common
Core. Figurative language and punctuation are not copyrighted by Common Core,
but our legislators were so freaked out, we almost didn’t dare use any of our
original work. Asinine.
Now I
feel as though I’m experiencing some bad déjà vu. Once again, our legislators
are playing around with education: by threatening the standards—standards
written by Oklahomans for Oklahomans, using Oklahoma values (whatever the hell
that means) because Oklahoma legislators like to play god whenever they can.
Enough!
Stop swinging your private parts around and pissing on things to prove what
big, bad lawmakers you are. This is not about you. This is not about me. This
is about creating continuity and stability for our students. This is about
unifying all of our children under a common set of standards to prepare them to
take their places as working, productive, and VOTING members of Oklahoma’s
community.
Please
do not tell me that is who you are thinking about, and you’re protesting
because you want “what’s best” for Oklahoma students. This ceased being about
our kids when you let outside forces and your political party dictate adopting
CC then reject CC.
You
want standards because you don’t trust me as a professional to aim for the
highest I can with my students. Well, I want you to stop wielding your power like
a homicidal maniac in a bad horror movie and listen to your consciences. No,
don’t listen to your political party that has insidiously wormed its way into
your mind and is passing as your conscience. Don’t listen to the power and
ambition blinding you to common sense and the voices of people who know
better—we, the educators. Stop letting ALEC and ACHIEVE seduce you like sirens.
Remember what happened to those who answered the Sirens’ calls. Stop punishing
our children with ROPE’s agenda. They have given up on public schools and
public education. They would b*tch no matter what as they tried to hang us with
their ROPE.
I know
you have bad feelings since we, as educators, fought viciously over ESA’s. We
are incredibly passionate when it comes to our students and our work as
professionals. We get incredibly angry when anyone threatens those students.
But, please, do not let your hard feelings blind you from doing something so
easy and so obviously right: approve the standards.
I won’t
speculate on what outsiders have promised you: ALEC or the Waltons. I won’t
foray into conspiracy theories about alleged goals of privatization of education.
I know you would never sell your fellow Okies and their children for 30 pieces
of silver. I will not deign to imagine you have political aspirations outside
of the state you say you love—and are hoping to impress future contributors and
supporters. I know you wouldn’t grease your pockets using Oklahoma students and
educators. I know these must be the musings of my cynical side.
Many
educators have written about and recorded videos about OAS. Letters of support
have been written. I am simply adding my voice to those in a show of support.
If you want lessons and exemplars, approve the standards, and I can promise you
both. Exemplars will take some time as teachers have obviously not yet utilized
the standards with their students, but we can and will do it. If parts need to
be modified/revised, that can also be done. But it’s much easier (and faster)
to fix mistakes or edit existing work than to start fresh.
It is
time to stop fooling around with public education. It is time to approve the
standards so teachers can spend the summer writing lessons and working with
their districts to implement them. It is time to help education rather than
hinder it. A “YES!” to the standards wouldn’t cost you any money, but it would
boost morale and help unify our state in a time when we are dispirited and
splintered.
For
once, be an advocate for the students and educators in your state. You say you
care about us, but your words are cheaply given and easily taken back. If you
want your constituents to ever trust you again, now is the time to hear the
majority and approve the Oklahoma Academic Standards. To do otherwise simply
shows us more of your true colors—those of lawmakers bent on dismantling public
education and profiting off the destruction.