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We feel in order to teach beyond the learning standards we need to bring in the students' identities as well as social issues that matter to them into our lessons. Students should be given opportunities to co-create projects and have more student voice and choice through project based learning. If we base our instruction on topics/ideas that matter to them, students will engage and be motivated to take ownership of their learning. We feel these steps will help students learn beyond the standards.

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We can align identity work to skill work by planning as a grade so skills are taught and developed across the academic disciplines, not in isolation. We can provide more opportunities for project based learning across the content areas. We will include students' identities by planning projects based on their interests.

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We think through this new way of project based teaching skills can be embedded throughout the day not in isolation.

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We believe that students should have ownership of their learning, which at times, can be difficult due to having to teach to the standards. This is why it is so important to move beyond the standards and tap into the identity of students to keep them engaged and to make the lessons relevant to them. Allowing students to bring in their own cultural identities, interests, and having diverse literature will make it possible to teach beyond the standards. This needs to be done throughout all of the subject areas, not just literacy or social studies.

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We can align identity work to skill work by using the learning styles and preferences of our students to bring their interests into the curriculum across all academic areas. Skills should not be taught in isolation, but connected across the different content areas. This will hopefully allow students to question the material that is being taught to them and encourage them to be critical independent thinkers.

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First we need to know our students' needs, likes, wants and strengths. Next, by creating  and administering a survey, being open to students' suggestions and having authentic conversations, we can determine this. Finally we need to be risk takers.
As far as teaching beyond the standards, some ideas include: Project based learning, Field trips (virtual and in-school) and having students create their own questions and answers related to the material they just learned.

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As we survey the students to find out their needs and likes, we can meet as a grade and have conversations about how to incorporate this information into our units within our curriculum. Perhaps we can plan some of our units by using a common theme that can carry through all subjects based on Identity.

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This is a work in progress and will take time. It will be a trial and error where there is always be room for improvement. Perhaps we can share what we know with the upcoming grades' teachers so that have a foundation to build on?

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One quote that resonated with us from the text was, "We need to be designers in curriculum, instruction, and leadership to get it right with those who need it the most."

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We can teach beyond the learning standards by providing engaging activities through inquiry based learning so students can find their own academic voice.

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Identity work can be aligned with skill work by providing opportunities for students to develop emotional coping skills.

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We can teach beyond the learning standards by incorporating more personal and cultural experiences. Inviting parents and family members in to help authenticate cultural/ student identity. Focusing on student strengths academically and “street smarts.” In turn being open to a variety of alternative assessments.

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We can align identity work to skill work by embedding thematic curriculum across curricular areas. If everyone were to be in sync the students skill level and engagement would increase.

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Thought: It’s going to take time in order for the students and teachers to get into the groove of working across curricular areas with a focus on culture and skills the students need. There will need to be a gradual transition in order to be successful.

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In 3K and PreK most of this work is already embedded into our curriculum through read alouds.  To teach beyond the standards we expose students through discussion, visuals and activities during our center times to help the students to learn about others and themselves.  We also include parents in teaching diversity by having them share their cultural traditions through family pictures.  We introduce songs with multicultural themes and lyrics in different languages.  We ensure that our toys, books  and materials are diverse.

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We can align identity work to skill work by using our parent surveys to help expose the students to real world experiences that they may or may not have experienced.  We can use this information to help the students share and learn with each other.

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In accordance with the text, first grade agrees that we cannot continue to design new frameworks that only serve the mainstream and are designed to advance skills alone. We need to design a curriculum that looks beyond the learning standards and serve all our students. Students need the skills to access knowledge learned with useful applications. Students need to act on the knowledge they have learned beyond the learning standards.

One thing we took away from this article is the statement on page 97 that states ”Close and accurate thinking, and to acquire a facility of classifying and arranging, analyzing and comparing our ideas on different subjects” could  easily be language written in the Common Core Standards or other learning standards. Beyond the learning standard we should constantly adopt new approaches for students’ growth. We must prepare our students beyond standards, beyond textbooks, etc and use ideas within their communities/ environments where learning becomes more real. Knowing each student by name and nature is a must which is often beyond the standards that are implemented in our daily lessons. We must continue to have close and accurate thinking that stimulates students' interest but also see their strong and weak points.

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There are many opportunities across content areas to include identity work. One example is in writing. The text provides an example of students writing their own biographies in math, science, language and social studies as a way to learn what experiences they had and need to have with content level learning. Some questions to consider asking are, “When did you fall in love with math, science, literature or social studies?” and “In what ways do you learn math, science, literature or social studies best?”

Another way to include identity work in skill work is through “The Urgency of Your Pen.” Ask the question, “What issues are the most urgent of your pen?” This question provides students with the opportunity to think about their identities and determine the social issues in their communities or the world that need the most change or improvement. These issues then become the subject for learning within the different content areas.

Identity work can also be found in math. Mentor texts should be selected that support students’ reading, writing and thinking skills while also developing students’ skills, identities, intellect and critically. Use mentor texts and word problems in math that allow for identity work. Engage in word problems that search for truth and errors, that show key words and symbols, that encourage students to interpret information, while also modeling problem solving.

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Aligning identity work and skill work can and should be included in our classwork daily on any subject area we teach. It's great to know that we now incorporate cultural awareness in our classroom curriculum so that students can express themselves through their ethnic background and that we can redirect our role as an instructor to a facilitator. We do agree with the section of the article on page 91 “THe Urgency of Your Pen” It is our job to implement the skills students need as we demonstrate interest in their welfare, respect their perspectives and assuring them of the help that will be given to them both socially and academically.  In other words we give them the opportunity to express themselves with “The Urgency of Your Pen “ in their minds through the skills implemented.Our units of study such as Social Studies lend itself to various reading alouds and other resources that cater for aligning identity and skills students need to develop, respect for each other's culture as they gain the skills needed to show academic growth.

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We can teach beyond the learning standards by allowing students the choice of how to learn with technology. Students can take ownership of what they are doing when they are choosing the topics to learn about and the pathway that is most conducive to their own learning. We can also teach beyond the standards by making learning as collaborative as possible.

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We can align identity work to skill work by bringing in the interests of the students. For example, we can ask them to share what type of job they are interested in and then let them research how technology has changed that job. We can also allow for them to share with us how technology has changed their own lives throughout the last 2 years.

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This is definitely time consuming work for both teachers and students. Giving students more ownership will take time to adjust for everyone involved.

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It is very important for my students to enjoy exercise as they will then create a positive mindset with it. I allow my students to learn different games and skills so they can be life long learners even after they leave my class.

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It is important for teachers to learn and understand the literacy and culture of the students you are teaching. Putting my student's perspective in mind while the teachers plan lessons helps give the students reliability in the work/skill.

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Makes me think of what does "identity work" look like in Physical Education?