feed me, seymour...a loving look at my feeder pattern
I can only begin by saying most of this is my own opinion. I have a fairly strong foundation for the following opinions, based on personal experience, trial and error at my school, and the philosophy of my school district. After reading "The Need for Calendar-Based Curriculum Mapping" from Heidi Hayes Jacobs, the opinions and personal thoughts I have about curriculum mapping are solidified.
I teach at a high school in a district that really pushes curriculum mapping. I'm involved in a state-tested subject, so there is an immense focus on curriculum and instruction. Since I've walked through the door, strategies, plans, and formulas have been thrown my way. In the beginning, I wasn't sure I understood it all. In high school, I was fairly certain teachers just threw together whatever they felt like, and taught what interested the students or satisfied the administration. But with the district curriculum for my current high school, there was attention being paid to the actual skills and abilities the students were to gain from the courses.
My high school has an incredible feeder program that is extremely focused on literacy. There is an extremely structured vertical alignment document (which, because of the structure of it, is technically horizontal). It follows the competencies of English with the students from kindergarten to third grade, and from third grade to twelfth. The document focuses on the four main competencies of Language Arts, and shows what specific skills are to be learned and mastered. The vertical alignment document, though very useful, isn't too terribly detailed.
The curriculum map for the district is actually very detailed. Though Hayes Jacobs points out that "they offer little or no focus on precisely when specific skills will be addressed during the course of a school year," in my school district, the "list" of curriculum, objectives and competencies does include specific timelines. We have a pacing guide that runs on a two-week plan, including resource ideas (or perhaps requirements is a better term), assessment options, and selected readings for specific skills.
I feel that I am lucky when it comes to curriculum planning because in my high school, in my district, I feel that we have a very set plan of what we want to accomplish, the steps needed to get there, and the resources with which we can work. It helps that at my school we are in constant communication. English I and II meet every week to go over lesson plans that we draw up every two weeks, tweak them so that they're working, and make sure that we're all on the same basic page. We meet with our administration and other teachers in our "Holistic Accountability" meetings to focus on preparation for the state tests, and how we're staying on track with the district curriculum.
For the summer of 2009, I feel blessed to be able to work on the curriculum ahead of time. I feel like it's very important to step back and look at the overall picture. In summer school, you have a limited time period, and you can only cover so much, though you need the children to master all of the material. I think the first thing to do is break down all the objectives and truly examine the skills. Though none of the teachers in the group are true English III/IV teachers, it should be helpful that we teach other levels and can bring our foundational knowledge to the class. It will be beneficial to bring the outside knowledge into the mapping process to be able to start off at a certain point with the students.
Though I think it will be a benefit in the long run, I think it could be a challenge in the beginning that the group of teachers will be teaching a subject with which we're not completely comfortable. Most of the competencies are the same throughout Language Arts, but the skills deepen and are more elaborate as you progress. I'm a little worried about how developed specific skills need to be with the students.
I feel like we can plan the summer effectively by using our knowledge and my comfort level with curriculum mapping. I think I have a pretty good feel for how the levels of Language Arts fit together, how curriculum develops and how it's intertwined with each level. This summer, I am looking forward to being more relaxed as the planning should go much more smoothly.
Like I said in the beginning, I am basing all of this off of my personal experience and the success that our district has - by the pain of trial and error - with both vertical and horizontal mapping. I would include links to the feeder pattern's documents or the district's curriculum map and pacing guide, but I think that might be a no-no. Instead of trying to find someone who agrees with what I'm saying, I'll simply include a really helpful link. It has different types of curriculum maps (annual, unit), and simple templates you can fill in. I think that once you get the swing of using the mapping and have open communication with your associates, you will find out how beneficial the mapping can be.
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/curriculum%20mapping/index.htm
