Strategies for Curriculum and Instruction: Part 1

Strategies for Important, Focused, Engaging Curriculum and Instruction

• Focus student products around significant problems and issues
• Finding something current and relevant to relate your curriculum to is imperative for student understanding. Tomlinson gave examples of a math class studying construction and having them come up with suggestions for the construction company, who in turn used many of their suggestions. I think it is so amazing to have students make a difference in their community and not just tell them ways they can. I see teachers attempting to have their students make a difference, but rarely do the students really get the students out in the community doing something.
• Use meaningful audiences
• Giving students an audience to gear their knowledge toward is a great way for them to practice what they've learned. In the sixth grade class I am in, once a week, they go down to the second graders and help them with their reading skills. The sixth graders have to come up with ways to use their knowledge about reading that would be relatable and something a second grader could understand. Having a specific audience can really focus student learning and also give them a new perspective of looking at and using their knowledge.
• Help students discover how ideas and skills are useful in the world
• It is the constant challenge for teachers to find ways to relate what is in the textbooks to student lives. If they do not see how it can relate to real life or their own lives, the information is usually lost on them and they cannot become passionate about learning. Bring in people from the community to talk to your class, or use local businesses in comparison to large corporations to show different business practices, budgets, customers, demands, etc. A common field trip for younger students that I've seen is taking them to the local fire department. I think that is a wonderful field trip, but taking students to local places sort of ends there for most students.
• Provide choices that ensure focus
• Providing choices is essential in creating a differentiated classroom. The trick is making sure all of the choices still line up with your curriculum and they are still in line with your objectives. Students learn differently and giving them options allows them to chose the way they learn the information. Also, giving them a choice in their work gives them responsibility for their learning and they usually take the challenge and do more with the project than you imagined it being. Last year, I had students create a castle using food. I did not tell them what any of the food was for. My only direction was, make a castle using the candy/food, and make sure your castle has the required parts to it (we learned the different parts of a castle and I provided them with a list). I was scared that I didn't give them enough choices in food products and they were all going to turn out the same. I was wrong! They became so creative with the choices in candy and food and every single one of them had a completely different looking castle. Not telling them what each piece of food I intended them for really helped them use their creativity and find new ways to create some of the parts of a castle.
• Look for fresh ways to present and explore ideas
• Another big challenge for teachers is to keep the lessons fresh and fun for the students. It is easy to get in the rut of routine with your students and each lesson starts looking the same. Students need to be encouraged to try new things and push themselves to relate their learning to their lives. Having them create cartoons, plays, stories, digital stories, maps, videos, etc. can really get them interested in their learning and produce amazing and creative work. In the sixth grade science class, I saw the teacher have the students line up in order of birthdays to teach rotation of the Earth. The students used their bodies as globes (their heart was North America, stomachs South America, back shoulder blade was China) and they had to rotate their bodies to show which direction the Earth rotates and what continent was facing the sun at what time of day. It was such a fresh idea of teaching this lesson. I loved how it got the students up and moving and they really had to think hard about direction and where they were located in terms of the sun.
• Share your experiences and invite students to do the same
• Some teachers do not like to share their personal lives with their students, and some share way too much. It is important to find a balance, and to be able to relate it to what the students are learning. They need to see you as a human being and know that you have experience that you can share and will be helpful to them. Earlier this week, I told the students that I was behind in reading and new good books. So, I made a goal to read at least two books a month and I asked for suggestions from them. They gave me quite a list! It was great to share with them that I have struggles, but by setting goals I can change that. They now come up with suggestions for me all the time and are really invested in helping me reach my goal. I think it's great for them to see that they help me as well.