South Dakota teachers from across the state came to Pierre Thursday to receive awards and engage with lawmakers. One issue of concern for many teachers who came to the capital is the continuance of Common Core Standards. Last year many lawmakers voted to do away with Common Core standards completely.
Ann Noyes is a 5th grade elementary teacher in Pierre. She supports the Common Core standards and says they have made her a better teacher.
NOYES (:22) I’m better at asking good questions to students and looking at their different thinking processes and being able to look at a problem in a variety of different ways and have different strategies introduced and say oh hey I really like that strategy I’m going to use that the next time I come across a problem like that.
Noyes says Common Core allows teachers to adapt the standards to their individual teaching styles and the individual learning styles of their students.