This chapter is the most in-depth discussion of curriculum that I have ever read in my three years at Bradley. While I have been privy to many, many discussions about the various taxonomies, state/national standards, and creating instructional plans, this is the first real time I've had to consider the expectations of the school and district.
When novice teaching, I was given a copy of the Science textbooks and the course schedule and was given the choice as to which topics I would like to cover. I didn't consider whether or not I would be teaching in the context of an integrated curriculum. As it happens, it was a Level 2 integrated curriculum with little to no student input (at least in 5th and 6th grade Science) and topics were covered in subject-specific chunks. It was during my final week that I discovered, while observing in other classrooms that there were extensive connections between the non-fiction reading materials used in Language Arts and the topics under study in Science. When a student remarked about a connection he saw between Science and Language Arts content, my cooperating teacher remarked in all seriousness that it was a lucky coincidence. By the end of my time at Quest, the students and faculty were making their way to Level 3 as an interdisciplinary project on the 50 states was being launched.
On a final note, I plan to refer back to the descriptions and examples provided of the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains, as I found the text to be concise and abundantly clear.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this chapter was very in depth. I think that as a teacher it is important to really consider all aspects in planning. At my school, we are still in the beginning stages of co-teaching and let me tell you it has been an eye opener. But a good one. : ) The main component of planning as a team is to be aware of what the other core subject teachers are teaching and trying to tie it all together. Middle school students are very compartmentalized. To them, math is math and science is science. They usually do not connect different subjects to each other or to the world around them. This chapter really did a good job discussing integration while planning.