Welcome to my first ever blog!  With my experience in the Elementary Education program, I have begun to understand and been able to observe the importance of following all of the standards in the classroom.  Some of these standards include the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards, the Standard Course of Study, the National Elementary Teaching Standards, and the International Society for Technology in Education Standards.  As the world evolves the schools evolve and the education changes, making the roles of the teacher change to fit the needs of the students.  The teacher needs to continue to evolve what they know in order to be able to provide the students with the adequate information needed for their educational growth.   For instance, when I was in school there was more focus on handwriting and arithmetic, where now there is more focus on the use of technology and critical thinking.  I work at a daycare right now and this week we have had many teachers out for vacation and I take over their classes when they are absent.  Although, I normally do not know who is off and who's classroom I am going to have until I arrive at work.  This does not allow me the time to adequately prepare a lesson for the class and to meet the individual needs of the students.  Being able to adequately prepare a lesson and determine the differentiated instructions for the individual students is very important for the educational success of the students.  The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards highlights the importance of the "teachers taking responsibility of the students learning so that they can adequately lead their classrooms."  The standards also state the importance in "knowing what you are teaching, knowing how to help the different learners in your classroom, and the use of technology in the classroom to help students learn the content being taught."  I have learned to come into the classroom that I am going to be teaching for the day, no matter which class it is, and have been able to determine thus far which activities will be most beneficial for the age groups' learning and have learned how to match it with what they are learning that week.  When I am helping the students with the activity or lesson I observe the students to make sure they are all on track and if one student is struggling I go to them and try to find a better way to help them learn the content.  I have also been able to use my iPad to help find educational videos, stories, and songs to incorporate into the students day.  They have really enjoyed this aspect that they do not usually encounter with their everyday teacher.
             I was able to find an article on the "struggle elementary teachers are having trying to incorporate the common core math standards into the classroom."  Instead of the focus being on all of the students getting the right answer the focus is now on the "process and not the solution."  Which is different from what many of us have been taught.  I know in my years of school it was all about did you get the right answer and very little focus was on how you performed the operation to get the right answer.  The link to the article will be below if you would like to read more about the elementary teachers struggle to incorporate common core.  I learned that all of the four groups of standards mentioned above all interlock and are similar to one another.  They all have the same ideas and work together to provide the student with the best education possible.  The Standard Course of Study tells the teacher what they are required to teach the students and the other standards help the teacher to know how to teach the students and what the best methods are to use in their classrooms.
            I have also been able to see during my observations in the schools what it is like to have a classroom that has a teacher who leads their students, empowers them to be the best that they can be, and who incorporates technology to help their students learn the material.  I have also been able to see a classroom where the students do more of the leading then the teacher, there was no technology being used, and I could see how the students seemed to struggle to answer the questions more so then in the other class.  I have learned that it is important to be a teacher that continues to educate yourself so that you can lead your class confidently, you should be prepared, teach the lesson to fit each students individual needs, and incorporate technology into the students learning.  I believe by incorporating all of these standards and more into my future classroom I will be able to help my students to be successful in their educational journeys.  I hope that I learn how to incorporate all of the standards into my future classroom so that I can not only better myself as an educator but I can also make sure I am providing the upmost education to my future students.  I am enjoying these education classes and look forward to learning more each and everyday and making more connections along the way!

Links: Article-   http://hechingerreport.org/elementary-school-teachers-struggle-with-common-core-math-standards/

North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards- http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf

Standard Course of Study- http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/