Oh my! Curriculum is a daunting task. These decisions shape our students' futures. If curriculum isn't written well, it can't be taught well. Luckily, we now have some well written standards to work with. After today's session, I feel I better understand the elements of the standards design, such as, the Inquiry Questions section and the Nature of.... section. In my position, the Vertical Progression tool will be an important document as I work with all the grades.
I was thrilled when Amy asked for the CELP standards for our English Language Learners. Andi Murphy and I have been waiting, trying to decide when to roll these standards out to the classroom teachers. We have materials and handouts ready to distribute when the time is right. Thanks for all your time and energy you are putting forth on this team.
Curriculum can be a daunting task. We will go slow to go fast. I though Barry and Stephanie had a very informative presentation. Do you think we should write curriculum or see what other districts have done?
I believe we put together a committed team of staff and tour other school districts. Lets not reinvent the wheel but create whats best for MCSD. What do you all think?
I agree, there is a lot of good work already being done in this area. Many resources are available, one example is on the Common Core Website (commoncore.org). You'll find a lot of information about common core including examples of the work being done: http://commoncore.org/free/ (this is the First Edition and it's free, but the second edition is available for a small fee).
The first chapter of the book the CDE recommended to us (Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom) is freely available from the publisher as a preview to the book at:
The first couple of chapters remind us that the intellectual development is a major focus as we are going to prepare young people for the 21st century. Every CAT member will receive a copy of the book from the District office.
Learning from others' great examples of curriculum work and building from there for MCSD is smart. Keeping the end in mind...great curriculum hasn't always meant great teaching. What can we build in that encourages engaging instruction as well? Sometimes that is the toughest part of what we do, not what to teach but how best to teach it.
I see the ideal being a balance 1. Standards 2. Instruction 3. Assessment. Not in a linear order, but more of a tri-pod.
I saw in our last attempt at this, teachers eagerly taught to the standards and therefore taught to our common assessments. We we still fell short. . . Why? What was out of balance?
The reason I ask, is I want us to get this teaching/learning figured out!!
Welcome CAT members. Lets blog.
ReplyDeleteOh my! Curriculum is a daunting task. These decisions shape our students' futures. If curriculum isn't written well, it can't be taught well. Luckily, we now have some well written standards to work with.
ReplyDeleteAfter today's session, I feel I better understand the elements of the standards design, such as, the Inquiry Questions section and the Nature of.... section.
In my position, the Vertical Progression tool will be an important document as I work with all the grades.
I was thrilled when Amy asked for the CELP standards for our English Language Learners. Andi Murphy and I have been waiting, trying to decide when to roll these standards out to the classroom teachers. We have materials and handouts ready to distribute when the time is right. Thanks for all your time and energy you are putting forth on this team.
ReplyDeleteCurriculum can be a daunting task. We will go slow to go fast. I though Barry and Stephanie had a very informative presentation. Do you think we should write curriculum or see what other districts have done?
ReplyDeleteWe should look at other districts' curriculum. Why reinvent the wheel?
ReplyDeleteWhere do we begin?
ReplyDeleteI think that we should definitely look at other school districts curriculum and then adjust to fit out local needs.
ReplyDeleteI believe we put together a committed team of staff and tour other school districts. Lets not reinvent the wheel but create whats best for MCSD. What do you all think?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of looking at what other school districts have been working on. It would be a great place to start creating what works for MCSD.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there is a lot of good work already being done in this area. Many resources are available, one example is on the Common Core Website (commoncore.org). You'll find a lot of information about common core including examples of the work being done: http://commoncore.org/free/ (this is the First Edition and it's free, but the second edition is available for a small fee).
ReplyDeleteAm I correct in my navigation of the commorcore.org website and the fact that the curriculum maps available are only for English Language Arts?
ReplyDeleteThe first chapter of the book the CDE recommended to us (Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom) is freely available from the publisher as a preview to the book at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.corwin.com/upm-data/11469_Erickson_Ch_1.pdf
Check it out.
The first couple of chapters remind us that the intellectual development is a major focus as we are going to prepare young people for the 21st century. Every CAT member will receive a copy of the book from the District office.
ReplyDeleteLearning from others' great examples of curriculum work and building from there for MCSD is smart. Keeping the end in mind...great curriculum hasn't always meant great teaching. What can we build in that encourages engaging instruction as well? Sometimes that is the toughest part of what we do, not what to teach but how best to teach it.
ReplyDeleteTiffany, well said. We should never forget the importance of "how" in our design.
ReplyDeleteI see the ideal being a balance 1. Standards 2. Instruction 3. Assessment. Not in a linear order, but more of a tri-pod.
ReplyDeleteI saw in our last attempt at this, teachers eagerly taught to the standards and therefore taught to our common assessments. We we still fell short. . . Why? What was out of balance?
The reason I ask, is I want us to get this teaching/learning figured out!!
Thank you all for your dedication to our future in MCSD.
ReplyDelete