How to deal with curriculum overwhelm
Dec 09, 2019
Does the mere thought of ‘covering’ the curriculum make you anxious? Overwhelmed? Stressed? Me too. I hate that word, ‘covering’ - it seems like we are just going through the motions, ‘ticking off’ each content descriptor as quickly as possible, just so that we can move on to the next one. It seems relentless sometimes, and there just seems to be SO MUCH CONTENT to teach.
Whew. Deep breath. What if there might be a better way? Because I think there is, and I think that taking a future-focused approach is key. By focusing on the skills first, and making project based learning the vehicle through which both skills and knowledge can be developed together.
I always thought that in order to cover the curriculum, that it was necessary to teach each content descriptor equally, or to the same depth (which often wasn’t very deep due to time constraints). In addition, each subject within my learning area (Humanities...
Being a future focused teacher
Nov 21, 2019
| So, what exactly is ‘future focused teaching and learning’, and why is there a need for it? Well, the main concern is that we are not preparing kids for their future effectively. Many teachers have followed the ‘20th century’ way of teaching - the classroom typically is set up with desks facing the front of the room, or maybe in groups, with the teacher up the front of the classroom delivering the information (albeit with new technology such as a projector screen or interactive whiteboard), conducting question and answer sessions, and directing students though a series of activities, perhaps involving a textbook or worksheet, or an electronic version on their device. Students consume knowledge and are required to reproduce it in varying ways, however rarely actually do or create anything new with this knowledge - they are merely assessed to determine if they ‘know’ it, and then this knowledge is presumably stored up for... |