More Standards than We Can Define

As I being to dig through the new Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, I must admit I am a little intimidated.  The sheer number of standards is a little overwhelming.  I have spent the least amount of time going through the CCR standards and am therefore still unfamiliar with them.  However, their very name has me concerned.  College and Career Readiness?  What does this even mean??? My problem biggest problem is the fact that we are supposed to apply these standards to every student but each student's required "readiness" will undeniably be different.  A student who wants to be a doctor will need different skills than a lawyer, or a mechanic, or a teacher...the list is endless.  Every career requires a different set of skills.  For general purposes, I think these standards mean we must do our best to equip our students with the tools they will need to navigate the "real" world in either a career or college.  This includes being able to read and comprehend documents of all types that may come into their hands be they business related, social, or technical in nature.  Students also must be able to communicate through writing and speaking.  This may include the ability to speak in public while conveying the point and not throwing up on the stage.  This may include being able to type a professional email detailing your business concerns.  Regardless, students must be able to communicate clearly, concisely, and effectively.  I do not know if these are the skills CCR covers, but I sure hope so.

As for other forms of literacy, I hope my students will be socially literate when they leave my classroom.  College and careers both require the ability to work with other people.  Therefore, students need to be socially literate, able to communicate, collaborate, and compromise when working with others in a classroom or work setting.  This means I will be using a lot of group work in my classroom to help establish these skills.  I also hope my students will be culturally literate when they graduate.  They should know what's going on in the world.  They should understand cultural references to important works of literature and history.  My focus will be on introducing students to the literature aspect of our society's cultural canon.

College and Career Readiness will mean something different for each student.  As teachers, all we can do is give our students the best tools possible to navigate the general world and hope the student knows how best to apply their resources to their individual situation.