Developing Curriculum

Q1
Describe in general how you currently develop curriculum. Please use the unit you brought to class as an example.

I work in a fully inclusive preschool program for three and four year old students.
Our classes serve students who are in a wide range of developmental stages. Some of these students, approximately 50% have IEPs.

Currently, our program uses a scripted curriculum. It is a theme based curriculum that uses global monthly and weekly themes to organize the experiences of our students. The goals and objectives covered therein are aligned directly with the New Jersey State Expectations for Quality Preschools. Each unit outlines specifically why we teach the content, what outcomes we would like to see, the schedule which will be followed, how it will be taught, and what will be needed.

As a staff we put great effort into focusing on why we are teaching what we are teaching and what outcomes we want for each student. While our curriculum is very comprehensive, I suppose we could say that we further develop the curriculum in two ways. Year to year we develop it by examining what worked – what activities were successful in achieving the outcomes from the year before and what outcomes and activities need to be re-planned based on students incoming developmental levels. Finally, we develop curriculum on an ongoing basis by examining ongoing assessment.


Q2
Using the figure below, reflect on how you develop curriculum and how it reflects the different learning environments and their relationship as illustrated in the figure. What do you use in your current planning strategies? What might you be able to change so that you “teach to the whole child?”

Learner Centered, Knowledge Centered, Assessment Centered

As a whole, I feel we have a strong belief in the equal importance of all three. However, in practice, we definitely tend to be heavy on learner centered and knowledge centered and somewhat weak on the assessment centered. We put great emphasis in planning on using developmentally appropriate practices for all the students varying levels. We put a great deal of effort into making sure we cover the content as well. However this is where the area on need of improvement comes in. We want assessment to drive our instruction but do not always feel that is does so fully. We without doubt find ourselves moving on to keep on schedule when we really should slow down and ensure that knowledge is really embedded and really being observed in practice before moving on.

The unit I chose to work with is the first unit we introduce to the children. It is called Creating a Classroom Community. A broad base outcome is a group of children that are a cohesive group who care about one another, who are increasingly independent and who learn to work through problems. They will learn to be valued and to respect, how to explore and use materials, ask questions, recognize, and express emotions. It is not one that is particularly challenging, but one that I feel is very representative of the big picture of what preschoolers need to be experiencing and learning.

Bravo!

Just a quick blog to say BRAVO to all our classmates who have presented thus far. The best resources we have in any profession are our fellow professionals. I have, as I am sure many of you have, run into some who don't like to share - they don't want to borrow because they don't want to share or vice versa. It is not only enlightening to learn about content areas that I do not teach but it is also wonderful to see things through the eyes of other professionals who are looking to better the world of teaching and who are not hesitant to share their opinion.
It is good to be in a forum where we can be critical without being cynical or negative. Thank you to all so far. Looking forward to the next round.