Common Core State Standards

I took a huge stack of Instructor magazines and Reading Teacher journals from my desk and dove in this afternoon. I subscribe to several educational magazines/journals, yet when they come in the mail, I just put them aside and don't read them because I feel like I never have the time.

Now, I have all the time in the world--until Baby Sneaker blesses me with her presence that is!

One article I came across in Instructor magazine was about Common Core State Standards. I've definitely heard about them, but until today I had never really tried to learn more about them. The article lists 4 links to check out, so I did.

www.commoncore.org

www.corestandards.org

illustrativemathematics.org

nctm.org

I actually only checked out the first two and the second one is where I found pdf documents that actually list the new standards. It was really interesting to check them out.

Some of the goals behind the common standards are to increase the requirements for higher level thinking among students (which hopefully then puts less emphasis on standardized fill in the bubble tests) and to build more consistency in standards across states. I would be interested to see how current state standards compare across states because in some regards I feel like our current standards for Kindergarten here in Oregon are higher than the ones I just viewed. Yet, there are some differences that give me hope for some good changes in the future. It will be really interesting to see how these common core standards play out in terms of instruction, report cards etc. 

One of the main things I noticed was that many of the Kindergarten standards begin with the words "with prompting and support..." I kind of like that it's acknowledged that kids in Kindergarten still require prompting and support. We seem to operate Kindergarten just like First Grade these days, so I wonder how the new standards will affect that. In some grade levels I think that maybe standards do need to be more vigorous, yet in Kindergarten I think we are already operating at maximum capacity in terms of what we are asking kids to do (especially in half day classes!).

 I also like that the math standards place emphasis on two mathematical areas and encourage extended practice in just those areas. Our math program bounces around so much, that I think it would be refreshing to take a step back and really reorient ourselves to be working on what matters.

On the one hand I think that common core state standards are just another way to streamline education and push for everybody to be doing the same rather than crafting instruction that fits our kids. Yet, at the same time, I think consistency among states is a good thing and I think the process of creating common standards will create more clarity in what is expected of students at each grade level.  

What do you think? Is your state adopting the common core state standards?

back to school

Today was the first day that my kiddos were in class and I was not. What a weird feeling to wake up knowing they were already in the classroom working away busily and I was just at home waiting for my baby to come.

Yep, that's right. Still no baby.

I kind of thought that by this point I would have already had her which would mean that I would be otherwise occupied and wouldn't really care much about what was going on at school.

But, I pretty much sat around the apartment today with not a whole lot on the agenda, so I was a little nostalgic for my small friends.

Just a little.

Mostly I am happy to be on leave and enjoying these last days of relaxation. I really really want this baby to come, but I recognize that life is about to turn itself upside down, so these boring aimless days are worth savoring.

Mr. Sneaker got me a Kindle over the weekend, so I re-read Catching Fire over these past few days. I already have an iPad, which means I have a Kindle app, but it just bugged me that amazon came out with a whole lending library for Prime members that I could only access if I had an actual Kindle. The app just doesn't cut it. So I asked Mr. Sneaker if he thought it would be worth it to just get a Kindle too since they're not all that spendy and they are a bit smaller and lighter than the iPad. Mr. Sneaker loves all things technology so he was happy to oblige me. I LOVE my iPad and wouldn't trade it for another device, but the Kindle is great too (and works better in the sun, which actually came out today!). I also really like the fact that I can now access books for free with my Prime membership. I can only get one a month, which barely keeps up with my rapid reading pace, but I know once Baby Sneaker comes I won't be reading as much. It's just during these open days of the waiting for baby time that I can speed through a book about every other day.

I have another appt. tomorrow to check in with little baby girl. Hopefully coming out soon is on her agenda!!

Bebe

Nothing.

Tuesday I tried reflexology to make the baby come.

Nothing.

Yesterday I tried pineapple core and spicy Indian food.

Nothing.

Ok, the food wasn't that spicy and I heard that doesn't work anyway.

Today I am going to go downstairs and walk on the treadmill for an hour. I might even go hog wild and up the speed past 3.0 miles and hour.  I ate the rest of the pineapple just now as well.

I did end up getting the Bringing Up Bebe book about the American woman living in Paris who writes about French parenting habits. It's actually really interesting and a pretty good book to read as I am getting ready to embark on this journey called motherhood.

The author talks about how French babies "do their nights" (sleep through the night) usually by three months because French parents do "the pause" and wait 5 or 10 minutes before getting them at night. She talks about how this is based on the idea that all people wake up in between sleep cycles but it doesn't necessarily mean they need something. If they learn to connect their sleep cycles and go back to sleep, then they will quickly be able to do their nights at a younger age. I don't really know how that works in relation to breast feeding and keeping up a good supply of milk because she also says French women don't breast feed, but every mother has to figure out what's best for herself and her child. You can really only take parenting books for what they are....it's not gospel.

She also said that French women are very careful about what they eat during pregnancy and typically get their figures back by three months at which time they go back to work because being a stay at home mom isn't common in their culture. This has a lot to do with the government subsidized creche (daycare) that parents have access to. The cost is on a sliding scale depending on family income.

Also, French parents feed their kids four times a day. 8:00, noon, 4:00 and 8:00. Kids don't snack. They eat meals that contain multiple courses including vegetables, different cheeses and desserts consisting of fruit or fruit puree. Therefore, the author observed that French children develop a greater patience, especially when it comes to mealtimes, and therefore can handle themselves better in restaurants because they are not used to instant gratification. She talks a lot about kids' behavior in terms of French kids not having meltdowns and behaving better in public. She attributes this also to the fact that in France parents make sure to continue fulfilling their own needs which means that kids often have to wait for their parents to tend to them rather than always getting what they what right away.

I think I can finish the book today and overall it's been a pretty good read. Like I said before, it's not like this is gospel about parenting, but having lived in Europe it is really interesting to learn about how parenting and child rearing differs culturally. It's really awesome that the only things on my agenda today are to read and get some exercise.

Oh, and to have a baby! Stay tuned....

Not yet

Still no baby...

My official due date is not until March 31st, so she's not actually late yet, but I was really thinking that my hour long reflexology session yesterday was going to kick labor into gear. I actually told the girl to do whatever tricks she knew to make labor start and she did...I just think that the body is ready when it's ready and all the "tricks" that people do only work if the body was ready for labor anyway.

No such luck. She's not ready to come out.

I baked some amazing cookies yesterday with a recipe I found on Kevin and Amanda. Gooey S'mores cookies with pulverized graham crackers, chocolate chunks, and mini marshmallow bits. Yum! I am going to make another batch today because the batch yesterday only made about 14 cookies and I have more ingredients so why not make more? I have a lot of time on my hands.

Speaking of which...when I am working, all I want is more time. When I have a lot of time, I feel a bit aimless. I finished the draft of my dissertation proposal and sent it off to my advisers even though they are both on spring break vacations right now. I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget in the craziness that will ensure when the baby comes. Now that the paper is checked off, I don't have anything really pressing to do.

I need a good book to read! Any suggestions?!

My in-laws suggested that new book called Bringing up Bebe about French parenting and I definitely want to read it, but I am thinking something more fluffy for right now would be better. I am considering going back to my endeavor to read all 100 novels from that list of 100 novels every teen should read. I read a good chunk of the titles listed back in Germany, but never finished. Now seems like a good time to try again. That would require 1. finding the list and 2. walking to the library. That could potentially be on the agenda for today.

I was so convinced I would be in the hospital by now having the baby, but now I am starting to think that she is going to be an April baby for sure. I went to the doctor yesterday and he confirmed again that all I need is contractions and things will move along, but he wanted me to schedule an induction date just so it's on the books. I guess it's just typical procedure to do so. Since my due date is 3/31, he said they usually schedule one week after that, so I have an appt. on April 7th at 6:00 am to be induced if she doesn't come before then. I really do  NOT want to be induced and wouldn't necessarily mind waiting more  exactly one week beyond my due date, but I think if I really wanted to push it back I could decide that at my next appt. The doctor just said that when the baby is late it's important to monitor and check just to make sure the baby is still doing okay. Sometimes there can be complications from being in too long, so they prefer to induce at 41 weeks instead of letting the baby stay in until 42 weeks. Fingers crossed she just decides to come out on her own before April 7th!

This reminds me...

The apartment is clean thanks to Mr. Sneaker's help last night.

A loaf of banana bread is baking in the oven and making the whole place smell delicioso.

My roller crate that I have used all year for carting stuff to and from school is officially put away.

I've got a pedicure with Jilly and reflexology on the agendas for today and Tuesday.

Life is good. :0)

This reminds me of life in Germany when I only worked part time and had so much more time during the week to get stuff done. I still have my paper to work on, but the fact that I do no have to get up for work tomorrow makes that seem like a small hurdle. I've been working on it a bit this morning and I feel good about being able to get it done before baby Sneaker comes (unless she decides to make her appearance later today!). I have the feeling she's gonna be an April baby, but we'll see....

Any time between now and her arrival is about glorious indulgence for me because life is about to change!

It's Official

No, Baby Sneaker is not here yet, but I am officially on spring break and that makes me a very happy soon to be mama! I had a great last day with both classes and the PM class blew me away with a very sweet baby shower that took place during the last 45 minutes of my day with them yesterday. The moms got together and planned a hand print painting activity for the kids, a snack, and lots of presents for me. The kids were so cute when I was opening presents and kept on saying "awwww" when they saw each item. I told them Baby Sneaker is going to be very spoiled and they weren't sure what spoiled meant. I told them and then they kept agreeing as I opened each gift that yes, she was going to be very spoiled.

One of the moms that came for the shower made me this beautiful cupcake arrangement.

The kids had to eat a store bought snack, so they got frosted cookies (2 each...lucky little things) and then one asked if they were getting cupcakes too. One of the moms said, no those are for Mrs. Sneaker and her husband and one little guy exclaimed, "you have a husband!?" I chuckled to myself thinking how else would I explain this big baby bump??

I met some friends at the movie theater by my school to see The Hunger Games after school and it was really good. We read it in our book club last year (along with the other two in the series) so we decided to go see it as a group. It was a bright and sunny afternoon and the perfect way to start spring break.

I still have some paper writing to do, so I am not completely in relaxation mode, but it is nice to have some time (an unknown amount considering Baby Sneaker can come at any time now). I will make sure to work on sleeping, relaxing, and enjoying life with every moment I have until she comes. Then a whole new kind of enjoyment will begin.