Curriculum News
December 2018
Happy holidays to all!
Shelly
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Learning to Speak the Language of Curriculum
As a teacher, I always made sure my students saw me as a learner, too, and I frequently communicated to them the importance of being a "lifelong learner".
This is my 23rd year in education, and I am finding that I still have a great deal to learn! One thing I discovered right away when I stepped into this new role as Curriculum Director was that curriculum terminology can be very confusing! In fact, many curriculum terms are commonly misunderstood and misused. Here are just a few:
- Set out what students are expected to know and be able to do at the end of each school year.
- Are generally established at the state level.
- Examples: TEKS, PK Guidelines, College & Career Readiness Standards
vs. Curriculum:
- Provides the "road map"
- Typically the product of local decision making.
- Often described in documents as the "scope and sequence" and "units of instruction", the curriculum can include goals, instructional practices and pedagogical guidance, suggested resources and instructional materials, and methods of measuring student progress.
- Examples: TEKS Resource System for core content areas; locally developed YAGs for non-core content areas
vs. Instructional Materials:
- Publisher created products designed to enhance and support a district's curriculum.
- Many materials provide units of study, lesson plans, and assessments, and sometimes people rely so heavily on these that they begin to replace the curriculum. However, the units of study or pacing guides contained in instructional materials may not be consistent with the district's curriculum and may not be well aligned to the state's standards. For these reasons, instructional materials should be used to implement the district curriculum rather than as a curriculum.
- Examples: textbooks, supplemental materials and programs, TExGUIDE
Source: Learning List blog, 6.18.18
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WHO'S WHO AT LGISD
The sentence strip they are holding is the Six-Word Memoir they created during new teacher in-service. Find out how to incorporate this fun "getting to know you" activity in to your classroom HERE.
Jessica Corn (LMS ELAR teacher) and Tracy Head (HI Instructional Specialist)
Breanna is a graduate of Round Top-Carmine and Texas A&M University. She has been a teacher for 5 years and became a teacher because she loves kids. Her hobbies include sports, shopping, and spending time outdoors, and her favorite place to visit is the beach. Something interesting about this new teacher is that she collects magnets from vacations (keep that in mind if you ever need to buy her a gift). Her hero is J.J. Watt and her favorite holiday....Christmas!
Jessica is a graduate of LHS and Southwest Texas State University. She said she never dreamed of becoming a teacher, but substitute teaching changed her mind! Her favorite subject in high school was anatomy, and her favorite books are Tuck Everlasting and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Her favorite holiday is Thanksgiving and she enjoys cleaning, decorating, and organizing. Jessica says her goal this year is to have an engaging and exciting classroom!
Lucy's hometown (and her favorite place to visit) is Whitchurch, England. She has a BA in Psychology, and this is her first year as a public school teacher! She says her goal this year is to survive...and do it well. Lucy is also a Weight Watchers leader (whose favorite food is bread and butter). Something she'd like to improve on is to listen more and talk less. Her favorite TV show is Parks and Recreation, and her favorite book is Remains of the Day. Lucy loves Crossfit, her dogs, and Date Night!
Lucila (or Lucy), is a graduate of La Grange High School and UT Austin. She was an IST at Hermes Intermediate for two years, but was inspired by her sister Maria, who is a bilingual teacher, to seek her teacher certification. Lucy loves to visit museums and in her spare time she enjoys reading, drawing, and sleeping! Her favorite subject in high school was Art, and a teacher who impacted her life was Cheryl Holt. Lucy says her mother is her hero.
Melanie's hometown is Mineola, Texas. She earned her BS in Geography with a History minor, and she has been teaching for 4 years. Her biggest accomplishment was her graduation from college! Her goal this year is to work on "filling some big shoes". She loves to visit the Hill Country and something you might find interesting about her is that she is a beekeeper! She loves spending time with family, and her hero is....her mother-in-law!
TEKS Resource System Support
Pictured below are Region 13 presenter, Vejeh Tavakoli, with Angie Eichler, 7-12 Instructional Technologist, and secondary Science teachers Katy Scott, Amy Fritz, Barbie Ryza, JoAnn Morgensen, and Kristie Kemp.
Worth Quoting....
"Find ways to be a student in front of your students.Let them see you struggle and grow. In my experience, this has led to a 'we're all in this together' atmosphere conducive to collaboration, risk, and creativity." Educator Emily Brisse