Monday, April 20, 2009
Chapter 14
There are several demographic groups represented among our group with elementary, middle, and high school educators employed in several different school systems. What products does your school or school system employ to help teachers, as well as what level of involvement does the classroom teacher have in developing these products?
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Our county uses Pacing Guides for all grade levels and departments. These are nice because we all know what to teach, when to teach it and have some assurance that kids coming from other schools within the division have had the same content. The classroom teachers had/have a huge role in the development and implementation of these guides. In fact, we are the ones that asked for such a guide to exist because so many of our kids move back and forth between schools. We have refined them so that the SOL's match the time of year (Science) and developmental appropriateness of the kids - can't teach division if you haven't covered multiplication, etc.
ReplyDeleteOur county does not really have anything particular to help the teachers of the county. They do encourage distrcit-wide collaboration between grade-level teachers, however, most of the time those meetings never work out. There have been rumors of a county-wide pacing guide, but nothing of yet has been planned nor implemented.
ReplyDeleteMy county have developed curriculum maps. During a teacher work day at the beginning of the year the teachers in the county meet by subject and grade level. During this time we build these maps which are somewhat like pacing guides. They tell us what and when to teach various topics. The one thing that I like about these curriculum maps are that the teachers design them.
ReplyDeleteGabe Long
We also collaborate district wide. Being from a system with only 1 middle school and 1 high school, collaboration happens within the individual schools by department. Elementary schools collaborate among the 4 schools, all 1st grade teachers meet together, all 2nd grade together, and so on. We visit pacing guides twice each year for modification.
ReplyDeletePaul Love
We use district-wide pacing guides, like Amanda said, these are extremely helpful because they give the teachers guideance as to what to teach and when. We have students to move schools within the county multiple times throughout the year, so the pacing guides are extremely beneficial on many fronts.
ReplyDeleteOur county also has professional development days where all the elementary schools in the county come together, and then divide into grade level meetings. I was able to gain a lot of information from the last meeting.
As a special education teacher who teaches functional life skills to a small population, I am honestly not as in touch with what the rest of the curriculums have or don't have. And, there is not a set curriculum for our program, either. However, there are many resources through the other departments as well as the special education department at the central office level to help with that. There is a great amount of support given in order to ensure that we are teaching the appropriate skills to our students.
ReplyDeleteOur district has pacing guides. Individual schools and teachers can decide and purchase study guides and supplemental material to enhance instruction and emphasize SOL objectives.
ReplyDeleteMy distict also has pacing guides. These are created during the summer by teachers from each school. They are then approved and dispersed by our district office. We also have students who move from school to school (within the district) and the use of district pacing guides makes for an easy transition into another school in the district.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Ringstaff
Our district also uses collaboration among teachers throughout the county to develop pacing guides. The guides are aligned with the curriculum to make sure that all teachers are moving through the appropriate curriculum at the appropriate pace throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteAlthough pacing guides are not developed in every grade level, some do exist in our county. This year, our county has a full week of inservice before school begins for the students and I think pacing guides may be an item that is created among all grade levels. We also have department meetings twice a year. At these meetings we share information that that may help out our colleagues. I am chairman of third grade and we collaborate during the year by email which is really nice knowing that just a short note away, somebody can help you if your "stuck."
ReplyDeleteJennifer Collins
In Smyth Co. curriculum mapping is a big part of the development of our curriculum. We meet at the first of each school year and decide on the pace at which we teach each topic. Also, at this point, we put our input into purchasing new curriculum additions that sometimes are purchased and sometimes not. We have a great deal of input when it comes to additional curriculum materials for our classes. With the money situation currently in our county, I don't think there will be many extra curriculum purchases made this upcoming year.
ReplyDeleteRandy Sturgill
We have a curriculum map in math, social studies, and science. We are currently working on the reading curriculum map. Most teachers find these resources very helpful. On the other hand, teaching the units at the same time makes it difficult for teachers to share unit resources. Unfortunately, our math text does not follow the same outline as our math curriculum map, so I worry about the flow and continuity. In my humble opinion, I would rather follow the math text since it is research-based.
ReplyDeleteOops! I posted above. Angie Blevins
ReplyDeleteAs Kim stated, pacing guides are created in the summer. We also have subscriptions to curriculum products such as Quia.com, SOL Pass, and Study Island. These sites can be used by all content areas and grade levels.
ReplyDeleteSarah Taylor
Smyth County, as others have mentioned, has devoted a great deal of time deloping curriculum maps for every subject area, including CTE (vocational) courses. The maps are more than pacing guides, although they can serve that function as well. The maps outline what is taught, when during the year it is taught, what resources (including technology) are utilized, and how student learning is assessed.
ReplyDeleteI work in the same county as Seth. We do not have anything to help teachers countywide. Grade level and departmental meeting are set at the beginning of school, but very few of those meetings work for everyone.
ReplyDeleteIn my county we use county wide pacing guides that allow for input by teachers through thier department chairs. We also have professional development opportunities throughout the school year as well as in the summer.
ReplyDeleteOur county has pacing guides but some of them are out of date. Kindergarten though can go by our new report cards because each nine weeks lists the SOL's taught. I would like to see more professional development throughout the year to collaborate with other schools.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Yarber