The secret decision-making teachers use every day
… And Why You Don’t Need to Follow the Curriculum Exactly!
I remember my first year of teaching when my boss handed me a stack of curriculum books paired with ambitious pacing guides. I was thrilled because I thought it took all the “thinking” away from me. In my first year of teaching, this lack of control over what I would teach actually felt like such a relief. I didn’t have to worry about the “what” and could instead focus on the “how.”
Little did I know that the “what” and the “how” are always intertwined.
As the first date for an assessment approached, I panicked. My students were not ready. I had spent too much time on the background knowledge for the novel, and we still multiple chapters to read. I had a choice:
Rush the end of the book to stay on track
Adjust some of the “what”
Twenty years ago, this was an agonizing decision for me. I had no clue what the right answer was. All I wanted was to do right by my students, to help them grow the most, and to ensure I kept my job! :) So, I sought out the guidance from a teacher who had been around for awhile, and she just laughed at me.
“Oh man, you look so stressed,” she teased. “What do your students need?”
“They need more time with the novel. They are enjoying it so much!” I replied.
“Well, then there is your answer. When you are stretched for time, focus on the need-to-knows and skip past the nice-to-knows.”
And so, we spent our time wrapping up the unit, and I was able to “catch up” later by skipping a few of the poems we needed to read. I discovered that the students had such great inferencing skills because of the novel unit that they were picking up on the poetry quicker anyway! So it really became a win-win for me!
Clearly, I learned quickly that I could adjust, adapt, pivot, or add to any part of my curriculum - and so often, I have cut from my curriculum. I have skipped over content when:
My students had already demonstrated they could do the skill.
I needed to teach some need-to-knows instead.
So, that’s the big secret: TEACHERS ADJUST THEIR CURRICULUM ALL THE TIME! They feel better about it because they are able to discuss with other teachers, curriculum and instruction specialists, and administrators to feel good about their decisions, and that’s not always the case with home school communities. For that reason… let me give you some tips:
Plan with the end in mind - work backwards from the end of the semester and create a pacing guide.
Use that framework but don’t feel you have to follow it perfectly as you get into the weeds of the curriculum.
Understand the NEED-TO-KNOWS: what are the essential skills that they will need for life or the next course?
Cut the NICE-TO-KNOWS if you are running out of time. These are the skills that can be googled quickly or are not necessary to advance to the next course.
Like I said, this can be difficult without the support of other adults to talk through this, and that’s where we can help! After twenty years, I’ve done it all with a curriculum. I determined what my students knew and what I needed to do to get them to the next point. I can help you do the same for your student!
You don’t have to do this alone!
-Kristin
