Wednesday, April 04, 2018

Program Development: How We Use Time?

One challenge of teaching well is how we use time. In many schools, the expectations far exceed the time available which leaves educators always making choices about what they'll teach and how they will teach it. Personally I deal with this situation by making sure that I introduce all standards and provide students with the opportunity to practice those standards. I don't have the time to help every student reach mastery with every standard simply because students come to us with great variation with regard to readiness to learn the standards and time and ability to master those standards with the time and support they have available.

For example if you're a bright student who is involved in a heavy after school schedule related to a special talent or skill, you may not have the time or energy to master every academic standard presented. Or if you are a new student entering our school from a program that differs greatly with regard to standards and expectations, you may not have the readiness skills to learn and master the grade-level standards--it may take you more time to meet our expectations since the expectations of your former program were so different.

As I think ahead, I'm wondering about how I spend time with regard to teaching the curriculum, and how I might use time better. This summer I'll revise the current curriculum map with close attention to this matter. This is particularly relevant since we changed the curriculum program this year with the addition of a new science program and next year we'll be making changes related to revised social studies standards and expectations. Truly programs are always evolving so every summer most teachers take a close look at how they use time in order to teach with as much capacity and impact as possible.