Looking Back

Looking back at the coursework from our Strategies for Curriculum Change, I realized that I got the chance to throw away what I was expecting of this class from the get go. The general programs here at MSU are so straight-forward and by the book. We read from our texts and then spent 45 hours being lectured. We then perform a project that gets put together in the span of a few weeks that is nto useful for our craft. Well, this class was actually different. Did we do a lot of small assignments just to check our understanding? Yes, we did. However, we performed these tasks using creative and exciting technologies that actually made the work fun. Making a slam, writing a couple weekly blog entries, working on a collaborative essay. I have to say I cannot wait to integrate these ideas into my Middle School classroom [I am currently pending administrative approval for blog usage.] I have learned new, practical techniques for my classroom.

Secondly, and more directly I might add, I learned that when assessing a building's curricula, it is imperative for a new administrator to assess the hidden curriculum from within the building. Elementary Schools, Middle Schools and High Schools are living, breathing entities that are different from one another. It is important for an administrator to fully grasp the feelings that a school building engenders in its student population. I never thought about the value that the unwritten curriculum holds on the student body.

Orange

The involvement level of the staff of Orange Middle School strikes me as different from many other inner schools. The difference shows in their interest to develop a plan of action to aid their student’s growth. The staff members know that students need to connect to teachers in order to learn. The Orange Middle School wants to develop more administrators who wish to foster a sense of community to allow the non-existent family ties to appear in the classroom. Setting up small learning communities is a great idea to help reach students in a smaller forum.


I think it would greatly benefit the students in Orange if the school building was to establish more ways to keep the students off of the street. What I mean is, if the school develops intramural sports or helps develop more extracurricular activities, the student’s will feel like a stronger part of a school family which is very valuable for student’s who may not have a strong family life at home.

Mapping

I think that the curriculum mapping plan can be beneficial for a district to keep tabs on continuity across the content in each class in the building. The problems with this program appear to me to be twofold. 1) This program relies greatly on teacher buy in. If teachers do not follow through, trying to map them together will not work and can crumble the program. 2) I think there is great fault in school district’s looking to change over to mapping plans as I feel that many schools struggle to implement changes appropriately.
Districts that have several buildings that teach the same grade would seem to also struggle with them across buildings. It would take a lot of time working inter-building-ly [I made up a word]. I can see my district attempting to adopt this policy while not following through at all. What I mean is, it seems like a good idea so our school system would jump at the idea to look better than the other local districts. They would not, however, offer assistance on how to align the programs across our four elementary schools.

Online Coursework is AOK with Me

I think the experience of online coursework is an appropriate shift in my educational experience. Getting a chance to learn all of the vast knowledge that Montclair has to offer me from the comfort of my own living room makes my commute wonderfully simple.

I like the opportunity to hone my computer skills while learning my new material. I think it is the approrpriate wave of the future and I am all for it.

I think that it could be useful to continue taking these half in class and half online courses. I think it could be beneficial for us to have a place, at a set time, to log on and actually talk with each other to answer each others' questions live as they come up.

Essential Question

1 Page Template

Stage 1: Desired Results

Established Goals:
1) Identify Impeachment
2) Discuss the reasons why Congress needs the power of Impeachment

Understanding: Students will understand how the process of impeachment works and what the value of the power of impeachment is to the United States.

Essential Questions:
1) Is impeachment an effective way to "check and balance" presidential actions?
2) Why does Congress need the power of impeachment?
3) How does the power of impeachment enable Congress to help check the power of the President?

Students will know: What impeachment is, why Congress gets the right of impeachment, what happens in the Case Study of Andrew Johnson

Students will be able to: Discuss the power of impeachment and decide whether or not Congress should have the right to impeach the President

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks: Students will produce a project acting out the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson where they debate the value of the Congressional impeachment power

Other Evidence: Classroom discussion

Stage 3: Learning Plan

Learning Activities: Students will be introduced to the concept of impeachment and discuss the values of such a power. Students will debate the pros and cons of the Congress having this right. Students will then use the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson as a way to see the weaknesses of the impeachment process.


I guess the problems people have with Understanding by Design is the fact that this style of planning is time consuming. Personally, this is the type of lesson planning that our district utilizes. I am used to the formality of it. I like the fact that, using this model, the particualr goals that are expected is the focal point of the plan. This is a great way to help, especially new teachers, to focus on their objective. I like the format being as that this is the format that I am used to utilizing.

Schmoker in my school

I failed to directly mention how Schmoker's revelations are relevent in my school. I do see a lot of examples of how teachers are not held accountable for their performance in class. Our school does feel it is imperative to always offer constructive criticism as no teacher can ever be completely perfect.

Criticizing Constructively to Aid Practice

I have mixed feelings about the Schmoker article. I was not happy with Schmoker judgment about education as a hard-line field. There are multiple facets of education that may not show up in other arenas. I don’t believe that education’s results can show up as quantitatively as in other areas. What I mean by this is simple. In business, if production and sales drop, the money that is made generally drops. The field is very cut and dry. Employees may have strong ties to their duties, but I believe that the connections pale in comparison to the connections made by teachers. In education there is a very strong personal tie between the employees [teachers] and their production [the students.] The teachers feel a more than professional bond to their work, and tend to take it personally when they are offered even the most constructive of criticisms. I am not trying to be an advocate of lassiere faire education. I think it is important to offer critiques to hone educational practice. However, I feel that in our area more than others a gentle hand must be used in evaluating teachers and other professionals. Like I said to open, I have mixed feelings about the article. I feel that it is vital for a school to evaluate itself and to try to reinvent teachers who are not performing up to the needs of their students. If you have read my blog, I don’t mean to be repetitive, but I believe that teachers need to be held accountable to their standards while having freedom to teach to their varied interests. That being said, even though I think evaluation needs to be made with a gentle hand, I think that it is the duty of administration to outline directly with staff where developmental needs lie while offering solutions on how to remedy the specific staff needs. Very basically, I believe an administrator can express some desire to change what is occurring in a classroom as long as the administrator can offer ideas and maybe some PD to help that teacher to grow his/her practice. Schmoker discusses the value of constructive criticism and I have to agree, if appropriately given, constructive criticism is vital for teachers to grow.