When you become a teacher are you given a guideline of what to teach?

Question

When creating lesson plans can you teach whatever you want or are you given a rough guideline of what needs to be taught in that grade level for that subject?

Answer 1

Teachers are given guidelines to follow for each grade. Part of this is called the Standards of Learning (SOL's). I'm not sure if all states follow the SOL's or not. Each student is expected to learn certain things in each grade. Our state does and it starts in kindergarten. The students don't actually take the SOL tests that early, but they begin prepareing the kids at that age. Our state stresses these tests. The schools are also graded and that helps determine how much funding they receive. It's a big thing with the schools. All we hear is SOL, SOL, SOL.. Our local schools are also really big in the "no child left behind'. They really stress the importance of attendance as part of the SOL's.

Answer 2

I think to some extent it also depends on the individual principal and how much of a control-freak they are. In the elementary school I was last at (I'm homeschooling now), the school was given the themes they were to teach all year and when. So for example, the 2nd grade was to cover say 2 weeks of weather, then 3 or 4 weeks of Native Americans, etc. They had the entire year mapped out for each grade.

This was not good because it was a new school and many of the kids had already covered weather, for example and knew the theme really well (toured the meteorological center, knew all the cloud formations, etc.). I was being supervised, if not, it would be best to try to be sneaky probably and just cover another theme, but tough to decorate your room differently, do a different field trip or whatever I would think...

Answer 3

Nowadays, most classes are required to follow a specific curriculum. But it's a guide, not a requirement. Teachers are given a lot of latitude in how they go about teaching the requirements. In this day of "testing gone mad", more and more classes have specific curriculums, which are supposed to be followed, so that students can pass these tests. But there are still a few courses in which no curriculum is established. It's totally up to the teacher to decide in THOSE courses. By those courses, I speak of courses which 1) are generally elective courses, and 2) courses which are not tested by the vast array of student tests given by the states today. For example, in h.s. chemistry or physics, there are no general guidelines, as all of the material on the tests is covered in earlier, required science classes.

It has only been in the last 10 years that individual and very specific course content curricula have been established. Before then, the content in nearly every course, at least 7-12, was chosen by the teacher. 99% of the time, the teacher taught whatever was in the book supplied to them.

You must remember: the teacher is given a tremendous latitude in how he/she decides to teach a subject. What works for one child may not work at all for another. That is one of the dilema's facing teachers today: how does a teacher meet the needs of everybody, everyday, with students of widely varying abilities sitting side by side, and little help from anybody. Sounds like an impossible job, doesn't it. Well, it is.

Answer 4

I teach web design classes at college level. At one community college that I taught at, I was given a textbook and the word "go". Fortunately, the textbook was excellent, and I could make a sort of reasonable class from it.

I also teach at one of the largest online/onground universities, and there I was given extensive training in teaching methodologies and philosophies for teaching adults, as well as an outline, required class objectives, readings, etc. The basic training was fabulous, the class materials, including, oddly enough, the required class objectives, mostly mediocre to average.

So I put together my own syllabus which met the required objectives, but added things I thought were important, found better readings, and made up the class projects. This was okay, but things got a lot better after I went out on the web and got ideas and materials from other teachers in the university around the country - some people had done some great stuff! When I used someone's ideas or materials, by the way, I asked them for permission, which was in all cases freely given.

Eventually, we started using that textbook that was so good, and the combination of my ideas, my colleagues' ideas, and the textbook make for a good class, I think. It helps a lot that I have had department chairpeople who understand what I'm trying to do and who also give me good feedback.

From my experience, then, if you don't have a good textbook or a good course outline given to you, your colleagues (real or virtual) will be your best source of help!

Answer 5

The guidline is the curriculum created by your school's curriculum specialist based on distiict standards based on state standards and now with No Child Left Behind, federal standards which will dissipate when a new president comes in or will stay if the new president wants to keep it. You are given the curriculum which basically says "what a student will be able to do..." upon finishing that class. Then comes in Instruction. It is up to the teacher to figure out how to instruct the students in order to meet the objectives and goals written out in the curriculum. It then becomes up to the teacher to be as creative as possible and implement various learning strategies. Read up on Howard Gardner, Jean Piaget, John Dewey, and Elliot Eisner.

Answer 6

In Oklahoma we have the state guidelines called PASS Objectives. They are divided into grade and subject levels. You should use as many of these as you can include in your lesson plans throughout the year in order to best prepare your students.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Most of the time there are certain standards/benchmarks that the students need to learn. Here, the reading programs are completely done for you, but you do have some say in what kind of lessons you do for other subjects.

Answer 9

in Arkansas the state publishes the "Frameworks" ...curriculum guide for all subjects and grade levels
districts then can publish "curriculum maps"...specific time periods to teach objectives

Answer 10

YES IT'S CALLED NCLB