120 hr. TEFL Course Module 8-Lesson Planning (Pt.8 Teaching to Curriculum)

Module 8: Lesson planning

8.2.2 Teaching to the curriculum

Although many school systems have adopted standard curriculums that do not budge very much, research shows that the best model for curriculum is a plan that is fluid. In this section, we will discuss the way curriculum should be used and followed in the classroom, even if many schools are not necessarily listening to the research.

The best way to use curriculum is in a cycle, where the plan is in the hand of the teacher (or group of teachers) and within reach of their revisions. The ideal curriculum cycle hinges on three parts:

Planning: The curriculum plan is initially created based on what the teachers and administrators generally accept as the needs of the students. The units are designed to address the skills that are layered in the standards while working thematically through a focus. Everything from the “Curricular components” section above is created, and the plan is distributed to, and reviewed by, the teaching staff.

Implementation: Members of the teaching staff design their own lesson plans to work within the structure of each unit in the curriculum plan. They make sure that their lesson objectives clearly address the skills outlined in the standards of the unit, and each activity prepares the students for the summative assessment. Ideally, teachers of the same curriculum have periodic time to meet.

Reflection: After implementation of the curriculum, teachers meet with each other to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. The teachers use data they have collected from the formative and summative assessments and not just anecdotal evidence to inform their discussions. Teachers share the different strategies they used during each unit to try to identify if the struggles their students had were because of their own unique instruction or were in line with the other students who had different students.

Revision: This is the most important part that many schools are not giving their teachers the freedom to use. Teachers use what they found in their reflection to inform revisions to the curriculum. If the students had difficulties or skills they did not attain, then the teachers rewrite unit plans to ensure these problems are addressed. Without the revision process, the reflection process is not very effective. Next year the teachers go through the same process and make sure their planning and instruction are constantly improving.