A couple people gave me some feedback about my thoughts related to unit development. They both disagreed with my basic premise and believe that teachers enjoy and should be engaged in lesson creation. It was fun to actually experience sharing of comments.
I don't know that two comments have changed my thinking, but they have confirmed for me that finding a balance will be important as we continue our unit development work. I am convinced that for new staff these units are critical and that for all staff they provide examples of what Classroom 10 looks and sounds like. But, over time we must allow teachers to personalize this curriculum and adapt lessons to make them their own. The unit outcomes, thinking skills, and habits of mind are not negotiable, but the vehicles used to provide opportunities to learn can and should be over time.
It will be interesting to see how we monitor and adjust our thinking and behaviors over time.
1 comment:
A few days before your post I was talking with Ethan about the Bellevue strike. We were talking about how our district has done a nice job with standardizing the science curriculum while not strangling teacher creativity. I believe that most teachers fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of curriculum development, some handed over and some self developed (teacher modified). All would agree it is important that each of our classrooms provide equal access to a quality curriculum. We have done a nice job of balancing this while respecting our teachers' special talents.
Mike Hanson
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