Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/669580
I M P L E M E N T A T I O N I S A J O U R N E Y Cathy Sinnen, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at Toddy Thomas Middle School in Fortuna, is enthusiastic about Common Core. "Yes, finally! Woo-hoo!" exclaims Sinnen, a member of the Fortuna Elementary Teachers Association. "Good teachers have always known what's good for kids, but we've been held down by NCLB and forced to rush though miles and miles of curriculum. Now, with Common Core, we have the flexibility to do interesting projects, and students have the time they need to understand concepts in depth. Learning has become fun again. It's turning children into thinkers and problem-solvers. It's awesome." While the 21-year teaching veteran from Humboldt County is enjoying the transition, she sees it as a journey — not a desti- nation — that will take time to fall into place, since each grade builds on another. She is pleased that her district adopted new math textbooks, and that teachers could review them and weigh in before adoption. Although things are going well, she says, teachers need more time to collaborate and reflect. What is helping: Educators are visiting one another's classrooms to observe standards-based lessons. T H I S L E S S O N A T Ma r t i n Luther King High School in Riverside is an example of the California standards implementation at its best. It h e l p s t h a t Va n Me t e r s e r v e d o n h e r d i st r i c t 's Common Core committee overseeing the rollout, and was a Smart er Balanced "teacher ambassador" for math, trained to provide professional development to colleagues. She is also a member of the Instruc- tional Leadership Corps ( I L C ) , a p a r t n e r s h i p b e tw e e n C TA a n d S t a n - ford University designed to support educators as they implement Common Core standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. VanMeter enjoys incorporating new math and English language arts (ELA) standards into her marine biology lessons, exemplifying the cross-curricular collaboration that is an integral component of the standards. She says implementation is, for the most part, going smoothly in Riverside City School District, but there have been challenges, too. In some schools and subjects, the transition has been more difficult. "As I travel the state and speak with our members, I see great progress in some areas after this first full year of implementation," says CTA President Eric Heins. "And often that progress depends on how involved teachers are in the implementation. It's clear that it will take time, but we know that taking time, thought and care is worth it for our educators and our students." A survey recently released by the research agency WestEd finds that teachers are for the most part embrac- ing the standards — yet still points to implementation as a frustration for many educators. We talked with a few members on how they were dealing with the rollout. 25 April 2016 Toddy Thomas Middle School math teacher Cathy Sinnen, with student Annalou Garrett, says the Common Core rollout is a journey, not a destination, that will take time to fall into place.