Improvement in Practice

It’s difficult to describe how my practice has improved, since I have not been in the classroom for some time. I have not had the opportunity to put to the test all that I know and have learned. So, since I don’t yet know how things will turn out once I put what I have learned into practice, I will speculate. Before my experience with curriculum mapping, I never thought much about what went into creating an effective and challenging curriculum. When I thought of curriculum, I thought of state standards. It went no further than that for me. I did not take the time to consider my teaching practices or professional actions. I just did what I thought would not bore me or my students on top of following what other teachers did. I’ve always believed in the importance of education and the role teachers played in that education. School was the place to learn the 3Rs and more, but I never looked beyond the teacher’s role as the disseminator of information to see what else was involved or necessary for students to learn. Knowing about diversity in learning, the importance of content knowledge, assessments beyond multiple- choice and essay, and the importance of responsibilities and relationships when making professional decisions, was not even on my radar as a new teacher. Yes, I realized that these concepts and ideas were important, but I never reflected on them while creating the curriculum for the class. Again, I just looked at the state standards and felt that as long as I was covering them, I was doing what was being asked of me. But it goes beyond that. I’ve taught classes whose make-up has been as diverse as the United Nations; each student coming with their own educational needs. By taking the time to get to know my students and their individual learning styles, I am able to create a curriculum that caters to many of their learning needs.

Curriculum mapping is the tool that will help me to ensure that my class is student-centered and that it promotes performance-based activities that also adhere to the state’s standards and supports authentic instruction. Additionally, since a curriculum map is a work in progress, as the needs of my students change in each new school year, I am able to modify it to make it fit my students’ current needs. However, before this can even happen, I need to have a great knowledge of my academic content. The students need to know that they can trust what I say, and that I will be able to not only answer their questions, but expand on it in ways that they can understand. I can also improve my teaching practice by integrating the concept of the Backwards by Design Model into my curriculum mapping process. I have the advantage of knowing what it is I want my students to learn, and then creating assessments that adequately reflect the mastery of these objectives, before I even decide how to teach the concepts / lesson. The creation of the map allows me to identify, analyze, develop, and reflect on all the necessary data and steps needed in creating a well thought out curriculum that addresses the needs of each individual learner in the class. Continuing to learn and grow in the area of curriculum development will be aided by my relationship with my fellow educators. I will continue to seek help, ask, questions, and be willing to change what makes me comfortable in order to make the students comfortable. I have a responsibility to the students as well as my profession in making sure that the decisions I make are always in the best interest of all involved and that it works towards the ultimate goal of producing life-long learners that are prepared for a competitive and global world community.
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McTighe, J. & Thomas, R. S. (2003). Backwards design for forward action. Retrieved July 3, 2009, fromhttp://reserves.uah.edu/eres/docs/1759/mctighe_backward_design_for_forward_action.pdf

Udelhofen, S. (2005). Keys to curriculum mapping: Strategies and tools to make it work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., & Hyde, A. (2005). Best practice: Today’s standards for teaching & learning in America’s schools. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.