Design Model For Curriculum Planning

Curriculums are the roadmaps for schools which provide purpose and direction for administrators, educators, parents, and students. Curriculum typically refers to, “the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a course; and the tests, assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student learning.” (Curriculum, 2015, para. 1) Curriculums may come in many shapes and forms, whether they’re purchased as a package at the school or district level or they’re created or refined by educators and

Being able to develop a culture of collaboration and high student achievement requires rigorous curriculum development at the school and district levels. Curriculum and instruction work together to enhance student learning. Curriculum revolves around what is taught in school and instruction centers around how something is taught. (Sorenson, 2011, p. 32-35) To be more specific instruction can be defined as, “the strategies, techniques, materials, media, and place where the curriculum is implemented in schools.” If instruction, or the how, of a teacher does not match up to the curriculum, or the what, then student achievement will suffer. Vertically and horizontally aligning curriculum with the instruction that is happening within the classroom and school will in the end lead to greater student achievement which will be reflected on student assessments. (Sorenson, 2011, p.

Curriculum, as stated by Glickman (2014) “is the what of instruction”. Additionally, Ornstein and Hunkins, (as cited by Glickman, Gordon and Ross-Gordon, 2014) have listed the elements of the curriculum and they “are sequence and continuity, scope and balance”. The mastery with which a teacher can incorporate the elements of the curriculum in instruction is categorized by levels. The levels of teacher involvement in curriculum implementation are described and exemplfied

Also, throughout curriculum development the goals and aims of the curriculum need to be taken into account. Without specific goals and aims for the curriculum, the curriculum could be unfocused with no purpose identified. Within the social studies curriculum that I analyzed, I noticed societal goals for the curriculum (Posner, 2004). Societal goals are emphasized because the curriculum supports the development of knowledgeable and engaged citizens within our country. By understanding the goal of my curriculum I am better able to understand the purpose of what I am teaching, which in turn helps me to differentiate for my students while still keeping the ultimate goal in mind. I also was able to identify the further learning aims within the curriculum (Posner, 2004). By identifying this aim I was able to see how the curriculum I was teaching tied into the curriculum that the students would experience in subsequent grades. By reflecting on the further learning aims I was able to see how my teaching was a valuable piece of a bigger puzzle

The Leadership Team will then need to meet with all literacy, math, and CTE teachers to develop skills for lesson planning that is aligned to the curriculum. If the curriculum is not aligned the integration will not be successful. Teachers must be willing to collaborate with one another to stay on track with the lesson plans. Curriculum maps serve as an effective tool to ensure teachers are incorporating academic standards in the lesson plans and how often they are used (Grams, Hebert-Giffin, 2011).

Brady and Kennedy (2010) define the term curriculum as ‘the means by which young people and adults gain the essential knowledge, skills and attributes they need to be productive and informed citizens in a democratic society.’ However the term has many varied definitions, it can be described as being the subject matter, the overall plan for teaching or the outcome of what is taught (Wiles, 2005). Marsh and Willis (cited in Marsh, 2009, p. 3) break curriculum down into three individual areas of ‘planned curriculum’, the objectives and aims, ‘enacted curriculum’, how the objectives are

West Point Public School, adapted the online alignment tool, Curriculum Mapper to help teachers develop their curriculums. Through the use of the program teachers are able to develop or improve their own or a schoolwide curriculum, instruction, and verities of assessments. With the use of Curriculum Mapper, teachers are able to align state standards and the school improvement goals into the curriculum. This helps teachers and administrators identify holes within the curriculum. As well as, teachers can create reports that help analyze the curriculum that identifies what is working and what is not working within the curriculum that the teachers had created. However, teachers need to first determine what they feel needs to be taught. After the teachers can determine what concepts and lessons needs to be taught to the current students based off the scope and sequence and aligning the information from the state standards and the district chosen textbooks. The teacher will then

Although not a new idea, the deliberate use of backward design for planning curriculum units and courses results in more clearly defined goals, more appropriate assessments, more tightly aligned lessons, and more purposeful teaching.

Within three months of taking ED 523, my school district began using curriculum mapping. Curriculum mapping has facilitated my district in eliminating gaps and repetition in the curriculum and has allowed us to develop a fluent scope and sequence. This process has optimized student learning in my classroom. I now know what the students have already learned and can build upon those skills and understandings and can also better prepare them for the content they will be introduced to in the future. The mapping process has given me the ability to create cross curricular units with my colleagues. The students

A course curriculum incorporates learning the experience of a wide range of student learning. Curriculum proves why schools surpass other schools, they outshine in particular areas to demonstrate confidence, hands-on skills, visual and audio material and technology. If a school has a good curriculum they will become a stimulating and energetic environment for development so students can make exceptional advancement and succeed with high standards. Every curriculum should focus on learning outcomes and objectives. A good curriculum should contain diversity, meet all learning styles and innovative technology.

Developing a curriculum is a difficult process, moreso when an educator has to keep in mind the number of students they are trying to reach. At the secondary level, it is not uncommon for a teacher to be responsible for 150 or more students. Each of these students presents a unique and trying task for educators who want to help students learn. Students have different modalities for which they gain knowledge, and it is the teacher’s job to engage those

A curriculum is any planned educational experience. Ideally, the learning objectives should incorporate the acronym “SMART”: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Targeted to the learner. Systematic Curriculum and Instructional Development (SCID) is a successful model for curriculum development customized to complement the needs of career and technical educators as well as business and industry trainers. It has five phases: design, development, implementation, evaluation. Since curriculum reflects the models of instructional delivery chosen and used, some might indicate that curriculum could be categorized according to the common psychological classifications of the four families of learning theories “Social, Information Processing, Personalist, and Behavioral” as defined by Cortes (1981). Cortes

After examining the Understanding by Design framework by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, I have learned how to develop a unit by working backwards. The development of a unit is multi-layered in its focus on curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In planning I need to first assess what the big ideas are that I want my students to learn and why they are so important. In our study of Mesopotamia, we look at how our world began with the first civilization and the achievements that led to advances throughout history. The big ideas framed as understandings that I want my students to know are that the locations of civilizations and city-states in relation to specific landforms affects development and technology achievements can benefit society in a variety of areas. Then I look at what essential questions are raised and what I want students to know and be able to do. The framework looks to deepen student understanding and transfer that understanding of knowledge and skill into a performance task and other evidence of formative and summative assessments.

The curriculum is considered rich when the materials, core, and class are challenging and exploratory. “The inclusion of “substantive issues and skills,” prior knowledge challenges, and the ability to enable students to take responsibility for their learning “ are all ways to make curriculum rich or challenging.(Powell, Sara D.; pg. 145) Along with challenging, exploratory curriculum allows students to make discoveries and choices. As discussed in class, giving students a choice will open the door to successful and self-motivational learning. The word, REAL, would be compared to the statement’s word “integrative”. The textbook and class discussions helped me to understand the importance of connecting curriculum to students lives and the real-world. I learned that a student will be more eager to participate, learn, and care about curriculum that has purpose outside of the learning environment. By simply including real-world scenarios in word problems, the students will feel the connections and grasp the content easier and faster. The phrases “making sense of content and experiences” is used in the textbook to show the importance of integrative curriculum. Lastly, the curriculum must show relevance. In class discussion, my classmates and I all agreed that we all despise coursework that has no purpose. Busy-work is the term used in class to describe irrelevant curriculum. Relevant curriculum allows students to expand their knowledge by

In order to teach successfully teachers must learn about first learn about their students. Teachers must assess the student’s capabilities and interests. Some students are visual learners, while others learn from hands on activities, or verbal communication. Not all students can learn through memorization, rather they learn through interest and relation to the topic. “To realize what an experience, or empirical situation, means, we have to call to mind the sort of situation that presents itself outside of school" (Democracy and Education). The curriculum should encompass material that is most useful for a student to learn. It seems that in the majority of schools, students are not given the flexibility to guide their own learning, but rather follow rigid instructions that destroy the student’s imagination.