Miriam Martinez

Kindergarten Teacher | Albuquerque, NM

Miriam Martinez is a kindergarten teacher in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico and a member of the first-grade cadre in our Common Core in Albuquerque project.

She is also a member of the American Federation of Teachers' English Language Learners (ELL) Cadre, which advises Colorín Colorado on ELL issues.

In these video clips and journal entries, she shares her reflections on the Burro's Tortillas lesson plans and the reasons that she optimistic about the Common Core.

Video Interviews

Biography

Journal Entries

The promise of the Common Core State Standards

I was one of the people in the 90's that did not embrace the standards movement, not so much because I did not believe in them, but because I saw how they lost steam and we all went back to business as usual once we were done with the task of unpacking the standards.

This time around I'm hopeful. The promise of the standards this time around is that of true collaboration among colleagues. Collaboration to exchange best practices, share curriculum tenets, and engage in conversation about different teaching and learning styles. The promise of the standards this time around is that the scripted curriculums we have been subjected to will fall by the wayside. And lastly, the promise of the standards this time around is that of the creation of lesson sequences and units that are rich with culturally relevant content.

Meaningful experiences

As I reflect on the work we have done so far, I am still a fan of augmenting the lesson sequence with critical empowerment. As primarily a language teacher, highest on my priority list is meaningful learning experiences that build literacy. I am ever conscious of the fact that my students tend to be economically disadvantaged, and consequently at a low experiential threshold for experiences greatly correlated to student achievement.

My priority is to engage them in meaningful experiences. I believe I can achieve this by making one of the broad learning objectives for students the awareness of the various opportunities that exist and to let them explore its constructions with purpose. This understanding will help them see the powerful potential of schooling on their lives.