This class has enlightened me to how technology can really enhance learning. This was a class that modeled how technology can be incorporated and used as a different modality to teaching. I am a special education teacher and using technology not only eliminates some of the grapho-motor problems my students have but it also sparks a different interest they have. In designing the UbD project for this class, my students were more motivated than ever before. With two minutes left in one class, I stopped them from working in their groups and asked them what makes this project more motivating than others. It was a lesson I learned, they were in their “flow” because I left them alone to make decisions. They were creative, independent and I “wasn’t telling them what to do.” I used this assignment before, but I did make changes and the changes made this project even more successful. We’re still in the middle of the writing portion of the assignment, they seem to still be more motivated and when it comes to writing – that’s an accomplishment.
As a future administrator, I learned that not everything needs to be changed. This class helped me take a step back and question how I currently teach and how schools can improve. It appears that every few years schools impose a new trend. As a new administrator, I will assess whether the new programs are beneficial; I will question whether the teachers have the skills and knowledge to implement the new program. Teachers, students and the community are valuable resources.
The final project is a real project to me, not just a final class project. I am scheduled to present my proposal to our administrators and hopefully, they will consider implementing the new course. I’ve had this idea for years, but that is all it was, an idea. This class has finally provided me with the motivation needed to make it a formal presentation so perhaps curriculum changes can really occur. I’m excited to hopefully see this course implemented in our middle school within a year.
As this class comes to a close, I find that the class sessions themselves sped by as did the semester. I’m looking forward to taking the information that was shared by others and the professor onto the next phase of my career. I am glad I was able to expand my technological skills and share ideas with others who are interested in moving their careers to the next level. I’ve attached a link to an organization that is worth surfing. It’s from the Institute for Education Leadership. Their mission is to build the capacity of individuals and organizations in education and related fields to work together - across policies, programs and sectors. The web site offers a lot of information for all levels of education. It ranges from pre-school handicapped through the secondary level. They even provide links to the National Education Association. There links are extensive and all seem relevant to the educational leadership field. The web site offers books, research and programs that can be purchased through this web site. Enjoy!
www.iel.org
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Better Late than Never - Curriclum Mapping
Curriculum mapping is an attempt to organize what is being taught throughout a child’s education. If curriculum mapping is used, some benefits would be consistency across grade levels and within school in a district. The quality of instruction may benefit as well as transitions from one grade to the next.
In my school district, to be honest, I don’t know if it uses curriculum mapping. I’m going to make a guess and say no. I have written curriculum for new courses and updated curriculum for an old course. There wasn’t a curriculum map given to me to follow. Based on experience, I created the curriculum for a particular course using the team of teachers that were assigned to develop the curriculum for that course.
In the reading, District 5 was committed to a three year time period to implement curriculum mapping. It sounded like there was a lot of planning, organizing and buy-in from teachers to implement this change in curriculum. It sounds like my current school district is similar to the way District 5 was before the demographic changes. We send almost 100 percent of our students to some type of post-secondary education (mainly college), a very small percentage of our students fail the state assessments; perhaps, because of these similarties we probably don’t use curriculum mapping. If our demographics change as they did in District 5, perhaps changes would need to be made.
I did find this interesting, “Teams of teachers were challenged to think through the mind of a child rather than with the child in mind.” By putting ourselves in the child’s shoes, perhaps our tool belt will build the next Taj Mahal.
In my school district, to be honest, I don’t know if it uses curriculum mapping. I’m going to make a guess and say no. I have written curriculum for new courses and updated curriculum for an old course. There wasn’t a curriculum map given to me to follow. Based on experience, I created the curriculum for a particular course using the team of teachers that were assigned to develop the curriculum for that course.
In the reading, District 5 was committed to a three year time period to implement curriculum mapping. It sounded like there was a lot of planning, organizing and buy-in from teachers to implement this change in curriculum. It sounds like my current school district is similar to the way District 5 was before the demographic changes. We send almost 100 percent of our students to some type of post-secondary education (mainly college), a very small percentage of our students fail the state assessments; perhaps, because of these similarties we probably don’t use curriculum mapping. If our demographics change as they did in District 5, perhaps changes would need to be made.
I did find this interesting, “Teams of teachers were challenged to think through the mind of a child rather than with the child in mind.” By putting ourselves in the child’s shoes, perhaps our tool belt will build the next Taj Mahal.
Orange Middle School
Too bad Orange Middle School took six years to make changes in their school’s structure to make an impact on their struggling state testing results. They have made changes that appear, in theory, to make a difference to students performing better. Some areas that seem to at least allow students to feel connected to teachers/peers and administration is the use of “small learning communities”. This concept appears to be very similar to the team concept often utilized in many middle schools. The sense of community developed among teams allows students to feel part of a large extended family. The goal of the small learning community is to build “intimacy and structure that isn’t always present in impoverished homes.” A science teacher on one of the teams states, “This is a way of building relationships, without that first, nothing else will work.” I agree with this teacher. If a middle school student feels welcomed, safe and accepted they then can concentrate on academics.
Another concept that Orange Middle School implemented in their restructuring is the use of twice-weekly meetings of teachers in the small learning community. These meetings allow teachers to coordinate projects and discuss students. These meetings teachers can discuss students that perhaps are more vulnerable and may not be identified as quickly if time wasn’t set aside for teachers to discuss.
Another concept that may help Orange Middle School perform better in state testing is providing students with time during school or lunch periods as a tutor session. If a student has a study hall or during their scheduled lunch period they can attend a teacher’s tutor session. During these tutoring sessions students can come to assigned teachers to help with problems they may be having with their school work. In some schools, these tutoring sessions count as part of the teachers duties. They need to post the times and places they will meet students. When scheduling teachers, one teacher from each discipline would be assigned for each period a study hall is scheduled. Students can access an expert in the discipline.
Another aspect that always seems to improve student performance is the involvement of parents. In this community, I’m not sure if it would be effective, but it is worth a try. Having parents involved in the school community, even a few families, may impact the learning of some students.
Another concept that Orange Middle School implemented in their restructuring is the use of twice-weekly meetings of teachers in the small learning community. These meetings allow teachers to coordinate projects and discuss students. These meetings teachers can discuss students that perhaps are more vulnerable and may not be identified as quickly if time wasn’t set aside for teachers to discuss.
Another concept that may help Orange Middle School perform better in state testing is providing students with time during school or lunch periods as a tutor session. If a student has a study hall or during their scheduled lunch period they can attend a teacher’s tutor session. During these tutoring sessions students can come to assigned teachers to help with problems they may be having with their school work. In some schools, these tutoring sessions count as part of the teachers duties. They need to post the times and places they will meet students. When scheduling teachers, one teacher from each discipline would be assigned for each period a study hall is scheduled. Students can access an expert in the discipline.
Another aspect that always seems to improve student performance is the involvement of parents. In this community, I’m not sure if it would be effective, but it is worth a try. Having parents involved in the school community, even a few families, may impact the learning of some students.
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