The present year witnessed the implementation of the Common Core State Standards across all grades in Kanoelani Elementary School, located in Waipio on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. This introduction of the common core curriculum aligns with the school’s commitment to a cohesive approach to learning across different grade levels. In a kindergarten class, Matthew Fujikawa engaged his young pupils by reading them a story about a duck and some soup, prompting them to wonder about the plot. The curious children contemplated whether the duck went astray or if it had sustained any injuries. In an adjacent class, Tracy Takazono questioned her first-grade students about the communication between mama bat and Stella Luna in a storybook illustration.
Meanwhile, in a fifth-grade classroom, teacher Patty Kenny conducted an exercise that required her students to complete a sentence related to a Black Friday experience: "On Black Friday, I dropped my packages when someone in the crowd__________me." The students responded with words like "hit," "shoved," "pushed," and "enforced." This led to a discussion about the appropriateness of the word "enforced." Interestingly, despite teaching different grades, the teachers at Kanoelani Elementary synchronized their lessons by focusing on prediction and inference on the same particular day.
This alignment serves as a platform for teachers to collaborate during their professional-development planning sessions. They can share insights and reflect on their teaching strategies, identifying what worked well and what required further improvement. To facilitate this collaborative effort, Kanoelani Elementary allocates two days annually for planning and collaboration, in addition to 21 hours of professional development, which can be imparted in one-hour increments. It is important to note that this time for professional development is separate from a teacher’s regular classroom preparation period.
"Professional development centered around the common core is crucial," emphasized Principal Stacie Kunihisa, acknowledging the significance of continuous teacher growth to effectively implement the common core curriculum.
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