The "Dreaded" Common Core

Growing up in the Cleveland County school system in North Carolina, I remember when the common core was created. Many teachers disliked it and so did many parents. All these years based on what I've heard others say about it, I thought common core was a bad thing. For my first blog post, I want to discuss how I learned otherwise.
In the second week of my first education course, the words common core came up in discussion. Right then, my thoughts jumped to all the teachers I had in high school who would start class that year by saying, "Well, you'll have to work with me because we're now required to teach common core and everything is new, so I'm learning the material with you." That was intimidating in itself because it's not a good thing to hear when your teacher tells you that they aren't even sure what they are teaching you. My professor asked me in my education course, "Why does the common core have such a bad reputation?" My answer was what I always thought and that was because teachers were given a set list of expectations that they had to teach and there were certain things that the students needed to know by the end of the class. Both of the professors quickly informed me that it's always been that way ever since the beginning of teaching. That was not why people dreaded hearing the words "common core."
People all over have somehow associated common core with the federal government. They believe that the government created these standards for students in all states. When in reality, that is far from the truth. Common Core was created by local stakeholders. This was very interesting to me, so I took it upon myself to come home and google "Common Core NC."
The first few hits on Google were the actual documents that showed the common core standards, but as I went down a few hits, I came across a Facebook page dedicated to stopping Common Core NC. With interest, I clicked on it to see what people were saying about it. In the about section of the page, it mentioned that Common Core standards were created by the federal government so that they could have control over public education. Quickly after reading that statement, I went right to the main common core webpage. In FAQs, the first one was addressing how people hear that common core was created by the federal government and whether the accusations were true or not. Right there on the Department of Public Instruction website for NC, it stated that the common core was created by local governors and state superintendents.
With all this to say, I am now confident that I will not be afraid to teach the common core in my classroom. Common Core was just a revised set of standards that allowed the students to critically think on a topic rather than just memorize it. After being in college for a year, I can see how critical thinking skills being taught at a young age can further prepare the students for their life after high school. It proved to me that there are so many things out there in the education field that people have made false accusations about just because they have taken someones opinion to heart instead of reading the facts.
Websites Used:
https://www.facebook.com/StopCommonCoreNC/about/?entry_point=page_nav_about_item&tab=page_info
http://stopcommoncorenc.org
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/core-explained/faq/