Here I am at work on a Friday…
It is something that I am not really used to doing. Having a four day instructional week is great – and I am almost always hesitant to commit to a Friday full of work!
Today we are in Professional Development about engaging students to increase achievement. Our instructor started with a video that I actually really enjoyed (and would highly recommend watching):
After we took the time to watch this awesome video, we immediately went into quiet reading and analysis of Listening to Urban Kids. It was fascinating to talk with the other teachers and walk through what our school is teaching our students. I am fascinated by my own analysis of each situation and how that effects my perception of the school. My own learning and history of learning shapes my perceptions, and how I analyze my environment.
As a double graduate of Colorado College (Bachelors and Masters), I think that my brain works a bit differently than most adults. The block plan teaches different skills than a normal higher education institution. Just thinking about the many modes of curriculum, CC has a hidden curriculum that stresses the importance of living our coursework and experiencing it in the world around us. Now that I am back in school, I can see my coursework in every analysis I am forced to do. Recently, we have been spending a large amount of time analyzing and learning about curriculum and its role in a school environment.
To be completely honest, I have struggled with this course because I thought it was boring. Two weeks ago, I was captivated by our reading and its application to my current life, and I have been spending the majority of my time reading our course textbook, Curriculum Leadership by Glatthorn. As I started reading, I was almost immediately fascinated by the modes of curriculum and its history. For those of you who don’t know, there are five commonly accepted modalities of curriculum:
- Recommended – commonly refered to as national policy (NCLB, CCSS, etc.).
- Written – usually monitored by the district/school and is the written justification for the curriculum that is being taught.
- Supported – how our instructional time and structures support various aspects of the curriculum.
- Taught – managed by the teacher, this is the area where teachers modify curriculum for student needs.
- Tested – what we test from our curriculum (i.e. are we teaching that guessing skills are more important?).
- Learned – the essential questions or take aways from the instruction.
- Hidden – those aspects of culture and society that are not explicitly taught by the curriculum.
When we started discussing the curriculum modalities that we were encountering via Listening to Urban Kids, we directly referenced out written, supported, and hidden curriculum. It was a fascinating activity and application of my learning at Hopkins.