June 20, 2014
Blog post #1—A simple prompt this week to write
about your experiences with curriculum planning and development...in your
classroom, school, district, or beyond.
I teach Biology, Chemistry, Math and
Physics. During my internship (student teaching) in 2006, my cooperating
teachers stressed that I had to watch how much time I spent on any given topic
as we were under such short time constraints. Time is always a concern while
teaching grade 11 and 12 science courses. I am concerned that if I don’t cover
the material/curriculum/outcomes properly that students won’t be prepared for
university.
In the past few years, our province has developed
new K-12 math curriculums along with new grade 11 and 12 Biology 112/122 and Math
curriculums. All of these curriculums are 90 hour at the high school level. Unfortunately,
we only have 81 days/term. So careful planning is required in order properly
cover the outcomes in these courses. There is also a fair but of debate in New
Brunswick about covering the curriculum versus covering the essential outcomes.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have been established to deal with
this debate.
I have been involved on the writing team
that created a new provincial Chemistry
111/112 and Chemistry
121/122 curriculum and choosing a textbook in 2009. I am currently on the
writing team creating four new grade 12 Mathematic curriculums which are
currently at the draft stage. I enjoy working on curriculum documents.
June 20, 2014
Good Morning - My first post using Blogger. I will be using this blog for EDC 533.
Sounds like you are immersed in curriculum development, Chris. Interesting situations when the amount of time you have for instruction doesn't match the official curriculum. Hmmm...yes, covering the curriculum versus covering essential outcomes. Interested in your take on the similarities and differences of each.
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