NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards

This was my first time on the website. We use the standards contantly in our common planning and in our planbooks. We are aware of what we teach in Fair Lawn that relates to the required standards but luckily we are given the creativity to incorporate those standards.

I sent the site to my friend. I asked her to read it and tell me what she thought as a parent. She said it was easy to understand and navigate. Some of the educational vocabulary was confusing at times but she could figure them out as she read.

I think the state wrote very clear standards but dropped the ball on areas that needed to be revisited in grades. For instance, phonics should never be "demonstrated" as it says in the 3rd grade Reading. Demonstrate suggests that it was taught and should now be mastered. It should be a constant spiral like math. This would be confusing for a first year teacher who would think that students are done learning and revisiting vowel patterns. The seasoned teacher can see this and know that is must be continuously taught.

The website gives some ideas to help the new teacher if a program does not exist, but leaves them in the dark for lessons on most of the site. For the seasoned teacher, it is wonderful because it gives a basic objective to cover in the school year and leaves them with the power of creating the lessons.

As far as student interest, there are ways to plug the standards into lessons that are students generated. Through careful planning of student interest classes, a teacher can cover the standards with creative thinking. That's if we were so lucky to have that time and creativity.