I would appreciate any help from experienced teachers. I am starting a program as a Middle School English Teacher and am wondering how I should plan for the school year.
2006-08-19 09:46:44 · 4 answers · asked by marnie 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
The curriculum is the actual content of the course you are teaching - what you are teaching and how you are teaching it.
Every school is different as far as who determines what the curriculum will be. There are usually standards, determined by the state or city. The curriculum must meet the standards. "Standards" just refers to what the students should know and be able to do by the end of the year.
I'll give you an example. Let's say that one of the state standards is that a seventh grader should read 5 novels and 5 short stories, and be able to analyze their characters and identify the author's style. The curriculum will determine which novels and stories the children will read, and how they will be taught those skills, and often, how they will be assessed on those skills.
Before you start planning for the school year, you need to do two things. First, find out the standards for your state and school district. Those are often available online if your state department of education has a website. Otherwise they should be available from your school. Second, ask your principal what curricula your school uses. You can then plan using the materials and techniques designated by those curricula.
Sometimes the curriculum will be very prescriptive - it will consist of specific textbooks, readers, workbooks, assignments, etc. The planning will be almost done for you. Your main job will be to anticipate places where students may struggle, and plan alternate activities or find alternate resources. On the other hand, the curriculum may be very vague. For example, the school might require that you teach certain novels, but not specify what you're supposed to do with them. In that case, you will have a lot of freedom to plan what you think is best. On the other hand, you will have a lot of work ahead of you.
Just remember to pay attention to the standards. Every unit and lesson you plan should be aligned with the standards. In other words, keep your eyes on the goal. Plan lessons that will bring the students toward that goal.
2006-08-19 10:02:56 · answer #1 · answered by dark_phoenix 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yipes! You're asking now, and school starts in a week or two?
Plan for a heavy workload! The curriculum will tell you WHAT material to cover, but not HOW. You will need to plan discussions, compose study questions, think up essay topics (and grade many papers), plan vocab and other quizzes, design tests, etc. etc. You need to plan each day carefully because if you have nothing clearly in mind, the class will devolve into chaos.
Better get your hands on the textbooks and reading materials ASAP and start preparing. The first year is always the hardest; after that, much of your prep will be done and you can coast a bit!
P.S. The only way to teach writing is to have the kids write frequently...to evaluate papers thoughtfully...and to return them promptly. I hope I haven't discouraged you - just forewarned you!
2006-08-19 13:37:23 · answer #2 · answered by keepsondancing 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are going to start a job as a teacher? And you don't know what a curriculum is? Is it that easy to get teaching jobs where you live (or was the job a prize in a cereal box?)
2006-08-19 09:54:06 · answer #3 · answered by Plum 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was just going to answer, I hope you're not a teacher, but I see you are, Good luck, kids.
2006-08-19 09:55:00 · answer #4 · answered by sagerider 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋