Finding our grounding in curricular change
Like so many schools countrywide, my district is implementing a new reading curriculum this year. It is a significant change from what we were doing and I am working to find my way through it. Because September is all about getting to know my students and building class community, not much has changed so far. Typically September is a LONG and tiring month but this year, it has served as a reprieve, a time to wrap my head around the curriculum I will be implementing starting this week.
I know that I am not alone in this journey. Many of us teachers are tasked with launching new programs. My intention today is to connect with you and offer my planning process for the new curriculum. While you may be fortunate, like me, and work in a district that offers training and support, we still need to ensure that our teaching is responsive to our individual students’ identities, strengths and needs.
First and foremost, take the curriculum one unit at a time. You know your grade level standards, trust that you will be addressing them all. When I look at a unit, here are the questions I consider:
What skills is the unit teaching?
How will we know if students have learned those skills and to what level (mastery, working towards, needs support)?
How are we teaching these skills? Whole class? Small group?
Scrutinize the texts. Are they engaging? Responsive to your students’ identities and interests? Do you need to substitute? (You may need to get permission here but my hope is that you can make the case for substituting the text as long as you are teaching the strategies/ vocabulary etc.)
How will you support students who need extra support? Is there space for small group instruction? If not, how can we make it? Maybe it means the unit will take a little longer. If so, make peace with that.
There are a lot of shifts happening right now in education. Sharing our stories and experiences and connecting with one another is one of the most powerful ways to find our grounding.
