NJCCCS and NETS

I have worked for three different schools in the past few years. One school was a Catholic School which abides by archdiocesan standards, the second school was a charter school which did not adhere to the NJ core curriculum standards and the school that I currently work for has the curriculum for each subject in total alignment with NJ standards as well as bench marks in place to test progression for each quarter.

Working for a school that does not have any direction, that is any alignment with NJ standards was extremely difficult. I was given the task to create the curriculum for the charter school with teachers from other grades. It was our task to align our math curriculum with state requirements. The task was a difficult one, but necessary. As we plowed through the material, we recognized how important teaching and student mastery was for each instruction being taught in each grade level.

When I went to work for the current district that I currently work for, I was impressed with the level of organization and the ease of teaching a subject where the teacher was given direction. The Core Curriculum Content Standards are extremely necessary to ensure that all students receive the same education for each grade everywhere in the state regardless of where they come from. It is very difficult for the teachers to achieve this task due to time constraints and situations that arise that are beyond our control. We must, however, try to meet all tasks specified in the CCCS.

Regarding technology, it is extremely important that our students be taught with innovative tools and learn all how to use the technology available to them. However, technology must not take the place of the core subjects such as math, language arts, science and social studies but must be used to support and enhance these subjects. I was a programmer prior to teaching and worked with computers, etc for twenty plus years, however if I did not have a solid academic background, I would never had been successful in a career in technology. It is important to find a balance between teaching traditional academics and introducing technology as support, as a tool and as a subject in itself.