Common Core State Standards and its implementation has been a hot topic of debate, but despite backlash, some teachers find it useful and helpful. 

Meaghan Freeman, middle-school English teacher in New York, is one of those teachers. In an article on TheAtlantic.com, Freeman shares her sentiments towards Common Core, and wrote that it doesn't "kill literature."

"I wondered if we teachers were going to kill any kind of thought or creativity in American society," Freeman wrote. "Am I perpetuating a society where adolescents can’t focus, just read snippets of articles, and get their information 140 characters at a time? Who will write the next great American novel? What will happen to Hemingway and Vonnegut and Lee? I went to college and got a degree in English literature. I spent four years reading, talking, and writing about books. I wanted to spend the rest of my adult life teaching kids to do the same."

Freeman wrote: "Common Core allows me to do exactly that- and more."

Freeman said that there are English teachers, like Michael Godsey, "who are questioning Common Core cite these same concerns about literature in the classroom."

"They’re reluctant to put away Animal Farm, The Outsiders, and Out of the Dust. And they should be!" she wrote. "It is still our job as teachers to expose kids to great works of literature, to use them to teach valuable life lessons, and to reach kids in ways that video games can’t. It is still our job to teach kids to have individual thoughts and to evaluate others’ ideas and experiences."

According to Freeman, "there is nothing in the Common Core that says literature cannot be used."

"There is nothing that says there’s no place for creativity and individual expression," Freeman wrote. "In fact, after three years of using them in my classroom, I’ve found that the standards acknowledge that I am an English teacher and that they trust me to do my job. The naysayers are right. I don’t need to be given a book list. I don’t need to be told what themes to teach. I don’t need to be told how to reach my kids. I do need help adding nonfiction to my curriculum. I need appropriate and valuable strategies to help my kids comprehend and analyze nonfiction texts—that’s the material that my literature degree didn’t adequately prepare me to teach. My state and the Common Core trust me to teach the literature, and they push me to expose my students to more challenging and diverse texts."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor