As 2013 Kansas Teacher of the Year and Language Arts classroom teacher, I fully support the Kansas College

and Career Readiness Standards. I can tell you these standards are the basis of the classroom curriculum that: Exemplifies more rigor than standards under the No Child Left Behind Act Provides opportunities for deeper levels of thinking as students are required to incorporate personal reflection, engage in discussions with multiple perspectives, and investigate real world connections to the curriculum. o Real World Connections may include one or more of the following in a unit of study: Investigating ties to current events around classic literature and historical documents Speaking with industry and university experts Creating solutions to real world problems Designing community service projects tied to curriculum Dialoguing with other students around the globe on literature themes, historical perspectives, economics, culture, scientific research, and mathematical and statistical data. Opens up student voice and choice rather than 100% teacher directed learning. Provides a scaffold for student presentations to authentic audiences Encourages cross curricular studies Before the Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards my 9-month school year was limited to 2 extensive novel units, 1 large research project, 4 essays and 9 weeks of preparing students for the Kansas Reading Assessment. Now language arts classrooms allow for deeper exploration and research while tying in collaborative writing with technology, social studies, current events, research statistics, presentation skills, and multiple perspectives. For example, the Holocaust Unit includes: Reading the classic memoir Night by Elie Wiesel Discuss the themes of the memoir that are relevant to todays society in this case bullying Research bullying issues and current events of ethnic cleansing around the globe using nonfiction news articles about Syria and North Korea, case studies, legislative bills, court documents 9 week global discussion with other 8th grade students in China, North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, New York, and Wisconsin to research and design bullying solution action plans Public speeches to site councils, school boards, and hopefully even legislators on our research By no means is this less rigorous nor does it lightly cover a topic. Now Andover students move to solve real world problems, use their creativity and critical thinking skills, present to authentic audiences, and have a better understanding of the Holocaust impact on a society. I strongly recommend you do not pass HB2621. Kansan teachers are moving in the right direction for learning, exploration, thinking, and professionalism for our students. Denying us this progression only reduces the possibilities for dynamic classroom experiences. Thank you, Dyane Smokorowski 2013 Kansas Teacher of the Year Andover USD 385 Andover, Kansas