The part in Chapter 6 that I could relate the most to was "Map the Curriculum". "You were hired right out of college, obtained a job a few weeks before the school year started, and were told that you would be teaching 9th & 11th grade. You were given copies of the state and local objectives, teacher editions, and maybe even paired with a mentor. But when all was said and done, you needed to develop lesson plans, activities, and assessments for a curriculum that was largely unfamiliar to you." This scenario was actually more than I was given as I started my teaching career. I was given the very rough, incomplete lesson plans from the previous teacher for one class and nothing for the other 4 classes I was responsible for teaching. I had to contact the textbook publishers so I would at least have a few teacher editions and student textbooks so I could pull resources and ideas from. It was very scary. Now that I have a good handle on the content for each of the courses, I have been able to put together a curriculum map for each course. Like the book said, I think of it as a working document. It isn't something that I feel pressure to stick to exactly in regards to doing the same activities but I do cover the same objectives each time I teach the course but how I get from A to Z sometimes varies.
Another key point I pulled from this chapter is "Make work meaningful." That is SO important. I hate feeling like I have to do an assignment just to do something or fill time and I don't want my students to feel like that. By making the material something that the students can relate to on some level makes it come alive and the learning is brought to a whole new level.
Finally, the last two points - "communicate frequently with parents" and "involve the guidance department" are two things that are very much stressed at our school. It is expected that as soon as we see a dip in grades, motivation, behavior, etc, that we contact parents, as well as copy the guidance counselor, learning services, and the associate principal on the parent email. The idea of customer service and parent communication is one of the key foundations for us as teachers at our school.
I agree with making work meaningful! Essential questions and authentic learning activities can really make learning meaningful and it would be great if all these things were done in all classrooms. It sounds like you are trying to make your classroom experiences relevant to your students!! Do you have to use essential questions or "Big Idea" statements in your curriculum maps?
ReplyDeleteI love the "mapping the curriculum" concept. I, too, came into a position fresh out of college without any curriculum. I had one generic rubric to use and that was it. I was teaching 4 different preps of art to 14 different sections. I was freaking out! The teacher that was in my position before was still in the district and working full time at an elementary school but didn't leave anything to "go off of". (our district decided to have full time art at all buildings!!) I was literally left out to dry! I contacted our CNI director and he said, we are redoing the art curriculum in 2-3 years...can you hold out till then??!! :(
ReplyDeleteI survived and learned A LOT along the way. Just this last spring we re-did our curriculum and we included a basic curriculum map. I wish I would have had this map when i first started as it would have saved me time, money and energy!
I can definitely relate to how you talked about starting out, Becky. I now have a curriculum map, for the first time in my career, and I've been teaching for 12 years. It is definitely a work in progress, but at least it's a guide, and I know it will help a new teacher so they don't feel as lost as I did my first year!
ReplyDeleteBecky,
ReplyDeleteI could relate to the feeling of being a fish out of water, but I had several careers before I landed in teaching. Being out of school for quite a while gave me a sort of culture shock when I found myself in the world of education. I agree with you and the book, in that, we have to evolve with the times. If we are stagnant and locked in our ways with the entire syllabus laid out year after year, we are not doing our jobs correctly!