for teachers from an almost teacher?

Question

In about a year I'll be a Spanish teacher. Does the school give teachers the curriculum for their class so that they know what is expected to be covered for each level....or do you just kind of follow the book and it is assumed it covers the required material?? If they do give us the curriculum, how far in advance is it?

Answer 1

How far in advance you get the curriculum depends on when you get hired -- if you're hired in June for a September job, then hooray! You have time to prepare! But if you're hired a week before school starts, that's a different story, and that's one of the many times in your career that you'll have to get creative and work well under pressure.

Whenever you get that magical job offer, you should be able to ask for the curriculum as soon as you are officially hired for a job. If you are lucky, a well-written curriculum with an aligned textbook series will already be in place. If the district is still in the process of building that curriculum (which many are, because in the past teachers were assumed to just "know what to teach" a consistent curriculum wasn't always in writing, especially for electives like foreign languages, art, and music) then you might have the opportunity to select a text and help write the curriculum, which is a lot of work but very creative, empowering work.

One thing to consider might be visiting your state's website, which is usually the name of the state followed by .gov, and look for links to their department of education. Often there will be links to the state standards, which most district curricula are based on and either follow directly or use as a starting point. Because your subject area is an elective, the standards on the state website may not be as specific or as developed as those for the core academics, but there should be something there that at least gives you an idea of what to expect when the job comes along.

Probably what they will give you is a list of outcomes/standards/benchmarks -- depends on the terminology the district prefers, but they all pretty much mean the same thing: what students are expected to have learned by the end of the course. This curriculum may or may not have specific lesson plans or activities in it; it will more likely be a list of skills, concepts, and ways to measure learning (assessments, projects).

It will also be up to you to determine what exactly you will do to teach the standards and ensure students master them. The textbook should be aligned to the curriculum -- meaning that the skills in the text are the same ones the district says they want students to master -- but you may find that there are gaps where the district requires something the text doesn't cover, or covers it in a different way. In this case, you get creative and use materials/activities you make up or have learned in college to address the students' needs.

In any case, don't worry too much about that now. What you should be doing is making sure you've mastered the language well beyond the level you will expect students to master. Get as close to being a native speaker as you can, so you're in a good position to model the language for students. What you should also do over the next year is collect materials, interesting activities, and fun experiences to use in the classroom. Remember that learning is (or at least should be) fun, and be thinking about how you're going to bring it alive for your students -- that comes from YOU, not from a textbook or a district curriculum.

The two things you need in order to teach students how to speak Spanish are (1) an understanding of how students learn, and (2) to be a skillful speaker of Spanish with a deep understanding of the language. It's also helpful if you remember what it was like for you learning Spanish -- try to re-create those good effective learning experiences for your students, and avoid putting them through the awful things that didn't really further your understanding of the language. See, the thing is, you know the language and you know what you needed to do in order to learn that language. You know it involves grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, real-world application (i.e. conversational, formal, casual), etc. If you know the language, you already have the curriculum in your head. Once you start teaching, remember that while you may be a Spanish teacher, you're not teaching Spanish. What?? No, really. You're not teaching Spanish -- you're teaching STUDENTS how to speak Spanish. Keep your focus for now on how students learn, and learn about the best ways to provide enriching learning experiences for them. If you put your efforts into understanding learning styles and how to adapt your teaching to the way actual kids learn, the curriculum will fall into place when the time comes.

Oh, and also ... accept the fact now that the first year of teaching is a constant learning experience and will challenge you in ways no other career does. Things will happen that you can not possibly prepare for and will just have to develop those skills as the need arises. You'll have good days & bad days, and you'll learn from both. Good luck to you!

EDIT: I disagree with the person above who said "in a private school you're on your own." I teach in a public school and have a good friend who teaches in a private school. It seems to me that the private school has tougher & more specific curriculum guidelines & expectations. Although the state may have different ways of governing private & public schools, both are accountable for student achievement -- and not just to the state! Parents have expectations, too, and while their level of involvement may vary, they all want their children to get a good education.

Answer 2

Every school district has a set of curriculum guidelines and expectations for teachers. You should be able to download these from the district's website. But the curriculum is just a template: they do not tell you how to teach the subject, just what the student's need to know when the teaching is complete. I think the best teachers use the curriculum as a guide and devise creative and exciting methods for teaching the ideas and concepts. Always using a textbook may not be too interesting for your students, but can give you a framework for your year.

Good luck! Trust your instincts and make the classroom fun. But make sure that you spend the first few weeks being a real hardass, then you can let loose. The students need and expect structure and will push the limits of your expectations, so keep them high. I am sure you will do great.

Answer 3

Most states have a mandated curriculum that is supposed to be covered over the period of an academic year (in Texas it's TEKS). School districts take that mandated curriculum and revise it to meet the needs of their district population. They can also decide in what order pieces of the curricula need to be taught, especially if particular material needs to be covered prior to a state-mandated test (Texas has TAKS). That information is then coordinated with the texts that have been chosen by the district (different publishers for different districts). You don't necessarily go in the order that the publisher has placed the material. Curriculum is usually revised annually, so sometimes you don't have the "new" until the beginning of school.

Answer 4

The state dept. of ed. will have all of the required state standards posted on its web site. You need to check that out first. Everything you do must be in accordance with the state standards.

Generally each teacher writes her/his own curriculum based on the state standards. The teacher you are replacing should have a copy of it for you to use.

If there is more than one teacher for your subject, the others should allow you to look at their curriculum to get started. I never allow a new teacher in my department to come in "cold." I have copies of the curricula for each subject and hand these to new teachers. Ideally any new teacher should be able to walk into a classroom and use the previous teacher's curriculum.

Remember what you have learned in your education classes. The text book does not determine the curriculum. The curriculum determines what text book and ancillaries you will use to support the state standards.

Answer 5

It all depends on the school system you work for. Many school have to have them all on file in order to be accredited, or are working towards having all curriculum on file. So if they do not give it to you right away you could probably request it. It may be more helpful though to ask another teacher who has worked at that school and teaches the same subject what is expected of you. Good luck!
- Jenn
(high school math teacher)

Answer 6

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Answer 7

if you're at a public school, I think they give you material for state guidelines....if you're at a private school you are entirely on your own.

Answer 8

don't give away your teacher secrets!! j/k :)

i think you follow a cirriculum given to you.