Updating the curriculum is grounded in preparing students for today’s job market and the elusive future economy. It is also about providing students an opportunity to explore their passions, develop a love of learning not to mention the skills a learner needs to keep on learning. When developing curriculum we often ask two questions (1) what do we want the student to be able to do (2) how do we know they know it? The ultimate proof of completing a…
Many school curricula have remained pretty much unchanged for decades some could argue centuries. The basic common elements of English, Math, Science and History are constants, it is the other curricular options that seem to come and go over time. When I was in middle school/ high school we had a choice of home economics options; sewing, cooking, money matters, early childhood education. There was also a “shop” track; woodworking, automotive repair, metal working, business accounting, keyboarding, and short hand. …
A new year means a time for reflection and a new start, as educators we get two every year. We start fresh each school year and get a boost mid-way through with the start of a new calendar year. I take the winter break to reflect on how the year is going and what type of course corrections need to be made. How will I make the most of the second half of the school year? How will I make…
The state recently released “a report to the people of Massachusetts from the Massachusetts department of higher education Oct 2014” It is a pretty lengthy read on why we need more graduates particularly in the STEM fields of nursing and computer science. The background context is colleges are underfunded. There was much discussion on how to get graduation rates up and in less then 6 years. The report was also looking at ways to keep students in state schools and…
After Hurricane Sandy effected the northeast I headed down to NJ to lend my folks a hand. The main highway I would normally take was closed in many spots so I had to drive north, across Massachusetts and then south. On my way I passed convoy after convoy of tree service, fuel tankers and power line crews from Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Some had banners hanging off the sides of the trucks. “NJ here we come.” “NY you are…
Many public school educators have begun transitioning and adjusting to new educator evaluation procedures. These evaluation tools are to included test results for students and a statistically generate Value Added Measure. In my state we have not yet fully moved to this as many districts need to determine what District Determined Measures (DDMs) they will we use to measure teacher performance in each subject area. There are also a variety of statistical models to determine the Value Added by a…
As a brand new teacher I believed I could go thorough my scripted lesson plan, and point like a conductor to select students who I could guide through to the desired out comes. I believe that if they played along, paid attention and did the work I provided they would all learn and be successful on the tests. If we all just followed the lesson all would be well. But…. there was always the fidgety kids in the back who…