Week 7 Reflection

I was going to create an audio file for my post, but it is not being very kind. I will try to post it again in a different format.

How has your definition of curriculum been shaped by the course readings and discussions? How and why has your definition of curriculum changed?

Wow, this course is definitely one of the most beneficial courses in the program. Not the others were not, but this really allowed me to begin understanding and evaluating current issues with what is expected in the W, T and T curricula. During the course, I began to understand more about the critical need for aligning the w,t,t curriculum. I never really knew that there were three definitive areas. Once I grasped that knowledge, I began to understand that there are many misalignments within school and state level curriculum frameworks. This has not only helped me in my role at CASA in helping to develop a school curriculum framework, but also the need for the district where I sit as a school board member. I have even begun helping with their mapping and curriculum development. http://newportsd.wikispaces.com/ Teachers are now posting their curriculum maps on this district wiki.

As a young teacher, I was often handed a curriculum guide and said here you go, now figure out how to cover the standards. There was very little in how to teach, just what to teach. Today, I understand that the written should also include how it is taught. It is vital for teachers to begin understanding the HOW as well as the WHAT in curriculum. Without best practice models, we will never reach the children.

Today, I continue to see the real need for a truly embedded technology approach while building curriculum. It can not continue to be the extra. To me it is the learning essential within the other core essentials. I will continue to train share and talk to whoever will listen to the need for school leaders to build collaborative innovative curriculum that allows our children to be critical creative innovative thinkers and doers, NOT TEST TAKERS!

This is an exciting time in education. We can be the change agents that drive local, state and national education reform. We just have to keep saying and doing it until they listen, understand and do something to build 21st Century learning experiences for all of our children.


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