What is the purpose of curriculum and what role as teachers do we have in this purpose?
The purpose of curriculum is to provide teachers with a road map for the year. Here is point A, and if I want all my students to be at point B by May 24th, these are the places I need to visit before that day. The purpose of curriculum is also to identify essential elements of academia and life skills that when mastered correctly, will prepare students in becoming successful, helpful, and positive members of society. As a teacher I feel my role in this purpose, is to connect the ever growing objectives, into real life situations. Why do I need to know how to divide fractions? What will reading ever do for me? These are questions I get from frustrated students daily, and it is my job to make them see their necessity in every day life.
How much control do we have over curriculum? How much should we have?
Answers will vary for this question, but I will respond according to my own state and district. The curriculum is given to us ready made by a district curriculum team. We do not have control over the material that is mandated to be taught during the course of our year. However, we do have a say in when and how we teach the curriculum. I believe that with too much control, teachers would feel even more pressured and stressed than they already are. Personally, I like writing my curriculum map, and then being able to check off standards as I teach them. I also enjoy the freedom to cross curriculums and teach objectives in new and exciting ways. Music with math, science with reading, and drama with social studies…I can hit several standards while reinforcing all the learning styles in my classroom.
What does the curriculum that I have in my classroom look like on a day to day environment?
I teach only reading and math interventions. This being said, I rarely get into the higher standards of each subject. The majority of my time is spent catching students up on the fundamentals that somewhere along life’s ride, they missed. It is important that I diagnose the specific problems each student is facing, and then mold the curriculum around their needs. I guess you could say I utilize more of a backward design approach. : ) If you were to enter my classroom at random, you would probably have to do a double take. I normally have 1 group reading independently or 1 on 1 with an aide, another group practicing skills via the play station, yet another involved in discovering learning with a scientific based intervention lesson, and then a final group working on computers. The students get their interventions, but in a style that is supportive of their learning preferences.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really like the example that you give how curriculum can look so different depending on the student. I like the snap shot of your classroom where you are following basically the same curriculum but have adapted it to individual learning styles and interests. I imagine that sometimes this feels like a giant three ring circus in our classrooms. I am a literacy teacher and I think the biggest hurdle in our field is how to differentiate curriculum for all students- it is not an easy task.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you hit different types of learning styles in your intervention groups. That is awesome. I have to ask you said play station are you talking about the game console? If so what type of games are they working with? I am curious about that! :)
ReplyDeleteAll the games came over from the migrant program in my district. They are all educational...mostly phonics, comprehension, and fluency games.
ReplyDelete