Posted by Ashley Andrews, Esq.

Our own member, Chris Haddow, was finally made legitimate when his beautiful and brilliant better half, Jeanette Johnson, took the podium as today’s speaker. Tony Parille, member extraordinaire for all of his amazing work on this year’s programs, introduced Ms. Johnson, who is an Instructional Resource Specialist at Oak Avenue Intermediate School in Temple City. In an exceptional presentation, Ms. Johnson apprised us of what we can expect to see in the California public school system in the coming decades. Specifically, she addressed the Common Core, technology and changes to the school setting.

What is the Common Core, you ask? A set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy. These standards outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live – how about that? Public school education with a purpose. Knock your socks off?

The Common Core is controversial and some states have gone so far as to opt out of adopting it. Last time I checked, Texas is one of these states – just saying. Ms. Johnson elaborated and informed us that the Common Core provides ways for parents to understand what is expected of students and how best to help them.

The Common Core calls for changes, or “shifts,” that must be met in areas of study such as English. One of these shifts, for example, is “reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from texts, both literary and informational.” Seriously? Please God, tell me that this is just putting in writing what is already taking place in schools.

We can also expect smarter, balanced testing in our public schools. For more information, go to www.smarterbalanced.org for some examples of this type of testing. Some of these examples reminded me of the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, which means, if you are having a low self-esteem day then don’t-go-to-this-web-site.

Of course, technology in our schools will also require some updates. Expect one to one device to student ratios and devices such as interactive white boards, chrome books and tablets. To prove that the changes to our school system will be ultimately pervasive, even the furniture will be changed to modular furniture so seating structure can move. So, instead of the annoying kid kicking your chair from behind, he can now kick you directly in the shins.

So, where are we headed? Using entire campuses as classrooms. Schools are preparing by ongoing professional development. In classrooms, they are practicing with smaller units of lesson plans, students are writing more and giving explanations, and principals are being trained to help staff.

What can parents do at home to help children prepare for the Common Core? In English language arts, read to your children, ask “why” questions, ask the child to cite evidence from reading to support his/her opinion. In mathematics, help your child see connections to real world applications, push your child to know/memorize basic math facts, and be aware of what the child is learning. Go over fun facts like 1 + 1 =2, except in the case of the I.R.S. where 1 + 1 = 1.9 for them and .1 for you. For more information, go to www.corestandards.org.

What will soon be obsolete: desks, desktop computers, role of standardized testing, centralized institutions, and paper. Paper! School buildings will be home bases and not institutions for all learning. Teachers go out into communities to teach. For 12 things that will become obsolete, go to www.thedailyriff.com. I predict that a certain retired dentist, who sits in the corner at our lunches, is on the list.