Curriculum mapping within a professional learning community is a procedure for collecting and documenting what is taught in the classrooms. The focus on mapping is on units, content, skills, strategies, assessments, and resources that can be used to improve student learning and performance. According to Perkins interview with Jacobs, the key to curriculum mapping is that colleagues can share electronic data immediately so that everyone knows what is being taught in other classrooms today, last year, and in the future (2003). Technology makes mapping easier because educators can share and revise instantly. There are many ways that schools can make and use a curriculum map. Schools within a district can all participate in the creating and using of the curriculum map or one school in a district can write a map and then share it with other schools in the district depending on the size and needs of a district. Technology is helpful in both approaches and allows work to be done without the need for everyone to be in the same location at the same time. The process of curriculum mapping requires collaboration of knowledgeable teachers and administrators and is an ongoing process where all stakeholders reflect and revise constantly. The professional learning community (PLC) is an important part of the process because many can work together to create a better curriculum with a collective set of goals and reflective practice. According to Vdellhofen, reflective practice, collective focus of student learning, collaboration of clear and focused learning goals are all attributes to using PLC’s to map curriculum (2011). Schools are constantly trying to find ways to improve student learning and performance. Vdellhofen states that...
... middle of paper ...
...nto our teams and maps, the better the reward we should receive.
References
Jacobs, Heidi Hayes. (2004). Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping. Alexandria, Virginia. ASCD
Mooney, Nancy. J. (February 28, 2008) Align the Design. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
Perkins-Gough, Deborah. (2003, December) Creating a Timely Curriculum: A Conversation with Heidi H. Jacobs. retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications /educational-leadership/dec03/vol61/num04/Creating-a-Timely- Curriculum@-A-Conversation-with-Heidi-Hayes-Jacobs.aspx
Vdellhofen, Susan. (2011, December 27)Using the Curriculum Mapping Process to build Professional Learning Communities. retrieved from: http://casdany.org/resources/susan-s-udel-cm-professional-learning-communities/
Prompt: Using your own words, define curriculum in 25 words or less. Write a half-page narrative describing how curriculum has been interpreted throughout the years, with connection to chapter one and to your professional practice (e.g., teaching field).
Laura Jimenez’s article “The Next Frontier of Education Reform” was a well thought out article about the possibility for a new program called LEAP or LEarning Together to Advance Our Practice to help improve the failing system of improving our public school educators. Jimenez uses accurate data to show the reasons behind the need to reform educator professional development and shows different examples of how this could be accomplished. She largely looks at the DC public school system’s IMPACT and the newly created LEAP projects.
National Education Association. (1999). The 1999-2000 Resolutions of the National Education Association. NEA Today, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p51. http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2214068&db=aph
Whitehurst, Grover J. "Don't Forget Curriculum."- Brookings Institution. The Brookings Institution, Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
Traditionally, teacher development typically occurs through trial and error in the isolated confinements of each teacher’s classroom with some periodic whole-group professional development (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Within the past few decades, many schools and districts, including ours, have considered and experimented with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as an alternative framework in guiding a more efficient development program for their teachers. PLCs are focused on enhancing student learning through developing teacher practices. The concept of PLC relies on using structured collaborative sessions amongst teachers within the school to build internal capacity. Through PLCs, teachers critically reflect on current practices, brainstorm solutions, and obtain help and advice from others in a supportive growth-oriented environment over an extended period of time (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008; Nelson, 2009; Scher & O'Reilly, 2009; Bolam, McMahon, Stoll, Thomas, & Wallace, 2005). The theory of change guiding PLCs holds that by providing teachers with targeted support from within the school community, as oppose to hiring additional outside experts, professional developments can become for efficient. Implementation of effective PLCs requires intentional effort, school-wide and possibly district-wide restructuring of teacher schedules, and additional resources. For schools considering implementing PLCs, it is important to understand the logic of action and the benefits of PLCs as it relates to teacher improvement and increased student achievement.
Early on in my career as a teacher I learned the value of professional growth for myself. This took the form of professional development that I gained from conferences I attended and grants I was awarded. I also knew that I could share what I learned with others within my school and presenting at conferences. As an educational technology leader I use the knowledge and skills gained from my university classes in providing professional develop...
DeCoste, D. C. (2001). A Handbook on Universal Design for Learning. Rockville, MD 20850: Montgomery County Public Schools.
Posner (2004, p. 36) discusses the importance of understanding the situational factors that lead to the development of a particular curriculum. This curriculum has been created as a response to the problem of technology skills and resources being typically isolated as a separate curriculum, rather than being integrated into the broader curricular areas. This leads to curricula that are often devoid of 21st century skills needed by students to ensure future success (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2004). The goal of the curriculum, therefore, is to focus on specific technology skills that can be readily integrated into other curricular areas without sacrificing critical objectives within those curricula and, in fact, enhancing the relevance and levels of engagement in those areas.
Posner, G. (1998) ‘Models of curriculum planning’. In Beyer, L. and Apple, M. (eds) The Curriculum. Problems, Politics and Possibilities (2nd edn). New York: State University of New York Press.
One of my most influential experiences took place with my very first class, ED 523 taught by Dr. Howe. In this course, I learned about the Understanding by Design (UbD) Framework created by Wiggins and McTighe. This framework focuses on a backward design approach that uses big ideas, essential questions, and authentic assessments to create and guide curriculum (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005). The design encourages educators to “start with the end in mind.” Along with UbD, I also learned about a calendar-based curriculum mapping process created by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. The curriculum map allows for educators to examine curriculum both horizontally in a course and also vertically over the student’s K-12 academic career (Jacobs, 1997).
The word "curriculum" as it is defined from its early Latin origins means literally "to run a course”. Curriculum documents arrange the content for teaching whilst providing the foundational elements required by teachers to affect learning (Krause 2006) The curriculum can be exemplified through many different means such as; A set of subjects, content, a program of studies, a set of materials, a set of performance objectives, a course of study, everything that is planned by school personnel and most important that which an individual learner experiences as a result of school. (Olivia 1997) The link between Curriculum and learning is of paramount importance in any educational institution. (Needs to flow better) This essay will aim to critique and evaluate a curriculum document in relation to educational purposes, sociological perspectives and learning designs linking to issues studied in semester one of Curriculum studies. The first section of this essay will address the chosen curriculum document which in this instance is the NSW Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) K-6 Syllabus. The address will aim to include why the document was developed and the theory behind thus document. This address will include pedagogical approaches in specific accordance to the areas of the document that I will be focussing my evaluation upon. The sociological perspective of the essay will be mirrored through the topic, Diversity and in a more specific strand; Gender and how it relates to the NSW PDHPE document. The third section of the essay will then attend to the learning design sequence which in turn will explain how the curriculum document was constructed whilst critiquing how gender diversity is positively encompassed within ...
In 1949, a small book had a big impact on education. In just over one hundred pages, Ralph W. Tyler presented the concept that curriculum should be dynamic, a program under constant evaluation and revision. Curriculum had always been thought of as a static, set program, and in an era preoccupied with student testing, he offered the innovative idea that teachers and administrators should spend as much time evaluating their plans as they do assessing their students.
Curriculum Differentiation One of the most urgent challenges teachers face today is creating a classroom environment where all students are simultaneously engaged in meaningful activities. Too many times students may either become lost as the teacher continues on with the lesson or the material may not be advanced enough, thus becoming boring for students. The implementation of curriculum differentiation is a sustainable solution to this prevalent dilemma. In some parts of the world, the teacher will come into the classroom, write the title of the lesson on the board, and ask one of the students to read aloud as the rest of the class listens. When the student finishes reading, the lesson is considered to be taught.
Contrary to popular belief, curriculum integration entails more than simply linking lessons together along a common theme. It is more than just "rearranging existing lesson plans", it is an attempt to organize "curriculum around significant problems and issues…without regard for subject-area boundaries" (Beane, 1997). The goal of curriculum integration is to have students gain a deeper level of understanding across subject areas through interrelated thematic study. Themes are drawn from life "as it is being lived and experienced" with knowledge based around problem solving rather than rote skill acquisition (Beane, 1997).
U.S. Department of Education. (2013). A blueprint for r.e.s.p.e.c.t.: Recognizing education success, professional excellence and collaborative teaching. Washington, D.C.: Department of Education.