Why I Teach:
As I sat in my 9th grade Honors English class, I knew that I would be an English teacher someday. I loved the feel as the ink rushed out of my pen as I scribbled my ramblings and stories. I fell in love with Kafka, Elie Wiesel, The Iliad. My teacher was passionate about life and enthusiastic about seeing me develop as an avid writer, reader, and person. Since that time I have found that I owe a lifelong love of literature and the English language to great teachers and authors who have inspired me to be. I teach because I care about people. I teach because I believe in education. I teach with the hope that I can share some knowledge from those who have taught me. I teach because there is beauty in language, literature, and the world. If I can help you find some of that, I will consider myself fulfilled.
A Few Fun Facts About Me:
I am a Charles Dickens loving, Little Mermaid watching, snowboarding, chicken and dumplings eater, who loves hanging out with my husband, the color yellow, dogs, Christmas, garage sales, boat rides, cooking, traveling, geeky nerd conventions, and watching The Walking Dead (or other zombie movies in general).
My Thoughts on SAGE testing and the common core:
I agree with SAGE testing and the common core for a few reasons.
1st - Utah has adopted the common core, but SAGE testing is unique to Utah. As a state we voted to not take the national test that the common core offers. SAGE is a test specific to Utah. When you opt out of the test, you are opting out of one of the things that Utah has done to not be common.
2nd - As a state, Utah is behind in education. The new common core requires teachers to expand their teaching beyond what the state core offers. If a better set of core standards was offered in Utah, I would not support the new core. That being said, for me the fact that this increases student learning outweighs the fact that it is common.
3rd - The test is based on student ability vs. student knowledge, or the lack thereof. What this means is that when students take this test, if they get a question right, they get more challenging questions. If they get a question wrong, they get less difficult questions. The purpose for this is to make sure that they are always staying within their level of ability. If we are comparing the CRT to SAGE, the SAGE test gives students a better chance to show their skill level.
4th - The new core solves the problem of what happens when a student moves to a different state. Before the common core, what was taught in each grade was left to the states. The various degrees of learning did not align. I learned this as a 9th grade student in Oregon moving to 10th grade in Utah. In Oregon, getting a C grade truly did mean proficient and getting an A was very challenging. When I came to Utah, the level of difficulty decreased. What was once a hard class became simple and soon I was in AP classes to make up the difference. If you think about kids moving from Utah to more rigorous states, that would leave them very far behind.
As a teacher I have not seen anything that does not promote learning from this core and test. It is for this reason that I stand behind the common core and SAGE testing.
As I sat in my 9th grade Honors English class, I knew that I would be an English teacher someday. I loved the feel as the ink rushed out of my pen as I scribbled my ramblings and stories. I fell in love with Kafka, Elie Wiesel, The Iliad. My teacher was passionate about life and enthusiastic about seeing me develop as an avid writer, reader, and person. Since that time I have found that I owe a lifelong love of literature and the English language to great teachers and authors who have inspired me to be. I teach because I care about people. I teach because I believe in education. I teach with the hope that I can share some knowledge from those who have taught me. I teach because there is beauty in language, literature, and the world. If I can help you find some of that, I will consider myself fulfilled.
A Few Fun Facts About Me:
I am a Charles Dickens loving, Little Mermaid watching, snowboarding, chicken and dumplings eater, who loves hanging out with my husband, the color yellow, dogs, Christmas, garage sales, boat rides, cooking, traveling, geeky nerd conventions, and watching The Walking Dead (or other zombie movies in general).
My Thoughts on SAGE testing and the common core:
I agree with SAGE testing and the common core for a few reasons.
1st - Utah has adopted the common core, but SAGE testing is unique to Utah. As a state we voted to not take the national test that the common core offers. SAGE is a test specific to Utah. When you opt out of the test, you are opting out of one of the things that Utah has done to not be common.
2nd - As a state, Utah is behind in education. The new common core requires teachers to expand their teaching beyond what the state core offers. If a better set of core standards was offered in Utah, I would not support the new core. That being said, for me the fact that this increases student learning outweighs the fact that it is common.
3rd - The test is based on student ability vs. student knowledge, or the lack thereof. What this means is that when students take this test, if they get a question right, they get more challenging questions. If they get a question wrong, they get less difficult questions. The purpose for this is to make sure that they are always staying within their level of ability. If we are comparing the CRT to SAGE, the SAGE test gives students a better chance to show their skill level.
4th - The new core solves the problem of what happens when a student moves to a different state. Before the common core, what was taught in each grade was left to the states. The various degrees of learning did not align. I learned this as a 9th grade student in Oregon moving to 10th grade in Utah. In Oregon, getting a C grade truly did mean proficient and getting an A was very challenging. When I came to Utah, the level of difficulty decreased. What was once a hard class became simple and soon I was in AP classes to make up the difference. If you think about kids moving from Utah to more rigorous states, that would leave them very far behind.
As a teacher I have not seen anything that does not promote learning from this core and test. It is for this reason that I stand behind the common core and SAGE testing.