“Why am I learning this?” and “Will I ever use this?” are two of the most common phrases heard by teachers in the classroom. And they are valid questions. Why waste time learning material that isn’t important?

Quality education and empowering students with a  deeper understanding of what they need to learn are the general ideas behind Common Core standards.

These standards were developed by the best educators and leaders for the benefit of California’s students. With the Common Core, teachers are now better able to communicate with students not only what they need to know, but why. This puts students in charge of their learning.

These methods are started in early grades and carried out through all years of schooling. Students are encouraged to set personal goals for themselves, and critical thinking is stressed to push students to become better problem solvers.

The standards are created to be useful through school, and even long after. The California Department of Education’s website states, “Teachers, parents and education experts designed the standards to prepare students for success in college and in the workplace.”

With this system, all students are supposed to have a clear understanding of what they need to learn and what is expected, and testing is supposed to be quicker with usable results.

Incorporating technology into the classroom is believed by some to be an important skill at school because of the technology-rich future that is to come. Schools are preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet, while preparing them to solve problems that can’t even be imagined yet.

Common Core standards are universal among different learning or teaching styles. Teachers are able mold  these standards into way that works in their classroom. These standards are slowly being worked into the classrooms of many schools across the U.S, and one day may be the only way teachers and students know. Vista teachers, for ahead of the game, have been implementing them for two years now.

Check out the new California standards here.

Learn how our district is implementing the standards here.