I have been on both sides: the teacher who receives reminders from the principal to work on Curriculum Trak and the curriculum coordinator who is trying to motivate teachers to update their curriculum maps. I must admit that in my full-time teaching years, the reminders often sounded like that adult voice in Peanuts movies. “Wah wah wah.” Who has time for mapping when there are lesson plans to write, papers to grade and evening activities to supervise? While I am confessing, I might as well admit that I did not always attend to the details of mapping as I should have.
It is amazing how a role reversal can change your perspective. I am that incessant voice now. “Teachers, you need to spend some time getting your maps up-to-date with your current practices.” “Wah wah wah.” On the flip side, I have discovered some effective methods for carving out time to work on curriculum mapping. First, there is nothing like a scheduled accreditation visit to motivate everyone. Even the teacher who is far behind will have to get working. No one wants to be the cause of a failed accreditation visit. If accreditation is not looming for your school, there is another way to get the troops moving.
Our school has monthly curriculum meetings with mandatory attendance – one hour after school. In the past two years, we have used this time to disaggregate testing data, analyze our cultural relevancy practices, and work on curriculum mapping. Some meetings have been instructional. I used a Powerpoint to go over the details of how we wanted our maps structured. For example, everyone was required to follow a formula for writing a course description; this enabled us to include five components required of our accrediting organization.
Some meetings were work sessions. I quickly discovered that sending teachers to their rooms to work was not effective. There were too many distractions and the tendency to do other, more immediate work was too tempting. Instead, we worked in the group meeting but each on their own maps. This allowed me to circulate and answer questions on the spot. It also provided opportunities for teachers in the same grade or subject to collaborate. This type of meeting can be held in the school’s computer lab if your faculty does not all have laptops. A side benefit to this approach is the fact that it is always motivating to work when others are working alongside you.
This year I have a slightly different challenge: motivating everyone to take mapping to a higher level post-accreditation. Having participated in the Curriculum Trak certification training, I have a list of ways we can go deeper in mapping. I gave our teachers a month to recover from accreditation, and now we are back to mapping. It truly does get easier. When your first round of mapping is complete and the teachers see the value of their work, they are more willing to invest time in this important component of a school’s academic program.
Do your best to make it as enjoyable as possible. I suggest chocolate. I either bake a treat or take a big bowl of candy to every meeting. Who isn’t hungry after school? Small gestures will go a long way in helping everyone tackle the job of mapping with a positive attitude. By the way, did you know that weird-sounding adult voice on the Peanuts movies is actually a muted trombone?
