Thoughts about state standards

Today, as I sat typing our relatively new ELAR standards into an Excel document, I started thinking about them.

I wondered, how often do teachers sit down and THINK about what the state (or whomever) says we're supposed to teach our students?

Granted, I haven't been in the classroom for a while, but from what I read today, these standards aren't as overwhelming as they seemed at first. When I first saw them last spring, I was terrified that no one would ever be able to get everything done. Now that I study them again, I realize they're manageable.

In an ideal classroom.

What about places like my school, where the majority of families are (understandably) more worried about food and clothing than they can be about providing vocabulary-rich experiences for their children?

What about the third grader who comes to school with his worn-out shoes on the wrong feet because nobody at home taught him any better?

I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just saying we have our work cut out for us. We must meet the standards somehow.


Link to our state standards:
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/...110/index.html