With the metamorphosis of the crumbling STAR into the more mature CommonCore, the state has thrown teachers a curve ball, leaving many red eyed underclassmen wondering if they will still get to enjoy a literary endeavor through Jane Eyre, blush through grammar dancing, and revel in a timed essay. There is a lot of confusion on if and/or what the changes will be in the upcoming years, but never fear, The Point is already on the topic and harassing the head of the English Department and senior English teacher, Mr. Peterman.
Sitting behind his desk paging through a 400 page novel without pictures, with an air of nonchalance only matched by the holy Leonardo DiCaprio in (11th grade required reading) The Great Gatsby, Mr. Peterman assimilates right into the schema of erudite mentors. Through an intensive Q&A, the dirty details of the dawning future were risen to the surface.
TP: What’s the basis for the changes? “We are trying to implement changes, but they lack originality and are all CommonCore based. We need to add technology; we want to try and collaborate in order to make sure we’re meeting our benchmarks for writing.” The largest way this will affect Sea Kings will be through the BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device days. Already a frequent sight in ‘13-’14, the upcoming years in the English department will require a laptop or other smart device for students. Though many students have found ‘2048’ to be a better usage of their technology, teachers are using these to retrieve prompts off of collaborative sharing sites like Dropbox, present musical Prezi’s on a SmartBoard, and upload works to TurnItIn.com for simplified grading and originality check. The kinks with internet connections have all been worked out, save a few unique individuals.
TP: In the broadest scheme of things, what’s the idea with CommonCore? “The idea with common core is that you can supplement text, and we are giving a little more flexibility to teachers who want to supplement text.” Applying critical reading and inference skills, ‘supplement’ means to add, subsequently raising questions of certainty for the future years of the famed required reading. Unluckily for the stubborn readers, there is a very educational plan for the short term future. “We are trying to add more nonfiction and trying to figure out how to do that. We’re not getting rid of fiction; not the classics. however, we have our eye on nonfiction and how to incorporate that into the classroom.” Keep in mind all of these changes have the students best interest at heart; although they may seem mundane, these improvements will be beneficial in years to come. The most direct reason for these changes? “Because CommonCore demands it… we’re trying to follow with that mandate. I agree with [CommonCore], and I also agree colleges and business are asking for more nonfiction.” Statistically proven time and time again, students are more likely to read a book and pay attention to a subject if they enjoy it, and high school students tend to enjoy fiction more than nonfiction prose. This solid and conclusive data raises the burning question: “Is there an underground society against fiction?” “I love fiction, but we want to educate kids.”
Gathered through many speculative sources online, are there going to be any drastic changes to the percentage of grammar and essay writing? Although this may seem like a very pleasant change for Sea Kings, it is a completely blasphemous assumption. “Grammar doesn’t go away; it stays the same, and if anything, it gets more rigorous, and essays will be staying the same.” To the current underclassmen of Palos Verdes High: those pesky newcomers will, theoretically, not be having an easier time than you did in your former years.
The next step may include leaping from the light of regular practice and ignorance into the shadows of the unknown and allowing Palos Verdes High to delve into deeper and much more enlightening education, but Sea Kings will meet this wave in stroke. Until The Point returns next year to give you (Big Brother/Staff are watching) earth-shattering news in the ecofriendly form of mutilated trees and plastics, adieu.