What Have You Been Up To?

That's a question I get asked a lot lately.  Mainly it's because I haven't blogged and haven't really shared much on social media concerning how my new job as Curriculum Director is going.  I haven't been sharing because I've been very busy curriculum directoring (and having a very good time doing it), and as a result my poor blog has gone neglected all of these months.  But neglected it shall be no more - for I have much to share concerning what I've been up to as of late.
So, what's been going on?  Not much...just getting acquainted with a new job, finding out I am PARCC Test Coordinator, writing a Title I grant for the very first time, facilitating the implementation of MAP testing in my new district for the first time, and thanking the heavens for a wonderful administrative assistant.  But, most awesomely, I am working with teachers this year.  It's always my favorite part of curriculum directoring.
Working with our staff has been a fantastic experience so far, mainly because it's been so good, mainly because the majority of them are so open and accepting of new ideas.  They're hungry for new ways to help students learn, so I've been doing my best to provide them with those ways.  For example, at the junior high we are working on writing teacher instructional goals based on MAP data, and most teachers will be writing their goal based on the MAP reading data.  After I did a rapid-fire "here's all sorts of strategies you can try" meeting, I then gave them a sample lesson so they could see two of the strategies in action - the anticipation guide and the pyramid frame.  I chopped up a 7th grade EngageNY Math lesson to show that literacy strategies are needed in every subject, and modeled the lesson for them.  You can see that lesson below.
​I felt that it was critical not to just unload lists of strategies on them - I really feel that the strategies must be modeled so teachers can get a feel for how they can be used in their classroom, especially in subject areas other than ELA. I know as a science teacher modeling helped out immensely, as I could build upon what I saw and modify it for my own classroom.
Another way I'm working with teachers this year is through holding science, math and ELA half-day Curriculum Workshops this year.  The focus of these three-hour workshops is to inform teachers of and train teachers in current best practices (differentiation and assessment literacy), examine the state of our curriculum alignment to the current Illinois Learning Standards for each of those subject areas and determine gaps, overlaps, and other areas of weakness, and then give teachers time to work together in grade-level and larger grade band groups in order to write a cohesive K-12 curriculum. (If you'd like to see the specifics of each workshop, please check out our district's professional development site here.) Sounds ambitious, doesn't it, for four 3-hour sessions along with 3 additional shorter sessions held on various Institute Days? Well, these workshops are part of a 3-year plan of professional development and curriculum alignment, and since I was only allowed half days due to the cost of subs, I was going to take what I could get.  I feel that it's important for teachers to have time to examine their curriculum and instruction and allowed to not only get good at what they're doing in the classroom, but also learn ways they can get better.  To me, that's the main purpose of the 3 hours (or less!) that we have together during each workshop.  What I have to remember, though, is that the total time I have with these teachers adds up to less than 2 eight-hour work days...and we can't fix everything in a year with only that amount of time! 
So, what have I been up to this year?  Adminstrative stuff, yes...but also working with teachers to help improve learning. To me, that's the stuff of which curriculum directoring is made.