When educators talk about “alignment,” they mean how curriculum flows from class to class, and year to year so that the curriculum lays out a path scaffolding what students will know and be able to do.
So, how is curriculum aligned?
There are many ways to align curriculum -- from relying on textbooks and other pre-written materials to bringing in “experts” who have already researched and written curriculum. While methods of alignment such as textbooks and pre-written materials are useful and important tools, I argue that one way to align curriculum is to support teachers in diving into the Massachusetts State Standards. These Standards are basically a map for writing the curriculum that meets the needs of students sitting (and standing, and swaying, and smiling) in front of our teachers every day. The Standards already have a progression of what students should know and be able to do mapped out for us. Our job, then, becomes writing and aligning curriculum that best matches the unique qualities and characters of our students, as is guided by the Standards.
And Standards aren’t just about “content” (facts, figures and the like) anymore. Instead, Standards are increasing about “practices” and skills -- skills that are a match to Ipswich Public School’s focus on Successful Habits of Mind and Powerful Learning. This, then, means a change in the way curriculum is aligned. For example, how does curriculum support a student in deepening her critical thinking skills across the grades? How does curriculum foster students who interact with the world as scientists do?
Lastly, writing curriculum can’t be done with teachers working in isolation -- especially if that curriculum is meant to meet the needs of our 21st Century learners. It follows, then, that if teachers are writing their own curriculum there needs to be an alignment plan in place. This plan needs to regularly bring groups of teachers together to give feedback to each other.
This year, Ipswich Public Schools has adopted “Learning Cycles” this path for teachers to write curriculum and give feedback to each other. Sometimes called “Validations,” Learning Cycles support teachers in writing the best possible curriculum for their students. Over time, Learning Cycles will result in teaching and learning that is aligned across content, grades and schools. This is because teachers will be in the know about what is happening in the courses coming before and after theirs. Here in Ipswich Public Schools, we are already seeing this alignment starting to happen! Next year, this will grow even more...
So, what exactly are “Learning Cycles?”
In the Cycles, teachers meet in small groups throughout the school year to share curriculum with each other, and give each other feedback. This curriculum is written in a common Ipswich Public Schools district “Understanding by Design”-style template, so that we’re all speaking a common academic language and writing curriculum with a common flow. In a Learning Cycle Round, teachers might bring “units” (a series of connected lessons carefully designed to support students in achieving a set of rigorous learning objectives) or “tasks” (student performance piece) or “student work” (writing or worksheets or projects or journals...anything students have created). Teachers in the Learning Cycles groups then use a protocol to guide them through a conversation in which all participants have the spotlight to give feedback to their colleague’s curriculum.
Compass (curriculum) Leaders help facilitate, refine and support this Learning Cycle work, along with the facilitation support of the PLC (Professional Learning Community) teacher leaders. The Director of Teaching and Learning helps to align the work across schools, and gathers feedback from all involved throughout the process.
The Learning Cycle process looks like this:
Sometimes teachers meet in small groups from their own schools that are cross-content and grade (say, an 8th grade Science teacher, 6th grade English teacher and a Music teacher) and sometimes teachers meet in groups that are departmental (for example, all Social Studies teachers). Elementary teachers meet in groups either at their individual schools or in cross-school groups within the district. We even recently held a Curriculum Celebration Round where middle and high school teachers met in small groups together!
There are lots of levels of feedback happening, all at once...
A critical part of a district’s use of Learning Cycles is knowing that the Cycles themselves may change to best meet the needs of teachers, students and the district. Therefore, it’s important that lots of feedback at various levels is consistently being collected, analyzed and used. Compass (curriculum) teachers, in particular, play a key role in this! For example, Compass teachers help revise -- and even write -- the different protocol choices that are used in the Rounds. Compass members work with their principals and colleagues to support this aligned method of curriculum writing in their schools.
Learning Cycles are a way to align curriculum across grades, schools and content areas, and are a forum for teachers to share best practices across the entire Ipswich Public Schools district. Learning Cycles put curriculum writing where it belongs: in the hands of teachers.
Want more information? Contact Tracy Wagner, IPS Director of Teaching and Learning: twagner@ipsk12.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment