An instructional methods tools is now available within the Curriculum Trak lesson planning feature. This tool has been designed to give instructional leadership at the school level the opportunity to provide their teachers with a list of specific instructional approaches to draw from during the planning process. These might include accommodations, research-based strategies, intervention techniques, technology applications, or other items flowing from your current professional development focus. Dr. Reshma Mulchan, an ESE teacher in the Curriculum Trak community has graciously provided a master list of accommodations you can import to your account as a way jump start your use with this tool, or you might consider adapting a list related to your region (like this playlist provided by lead4ward and aligned to TEKS). Contact support if you would like assistance with formatting your unique list of instructional methods.
As teachers draw from your instructional methods list in their own planning, any instructor will have the ability to see how widely specific items from your list are being used through the reporting option. This will provide opportunities for collaboration, options for building on or diversifying your approach, or make other observations around your instructional practices.
To begin using this feature, there are only a few steps to take (see the slide show or video below for a visual guide):
- Activate the feature in the Utilities area.
- Click Admin > Utilities
- Scroll to the very bottom of the Utilities area to find the option to enable the “Lesson Instructional Methods” option.
- Setup the feature in the Setup area.
- Click on Admin > Setup
- Look for “Lesson Instructional Methods” on the left-hand side.
- Determine if you want to add your own list manually, or import your list.
- Import Option 1: If you would like to create your own list and import it with an Excel file, click on “File” and follow the formatting directions listed. Curriculum Trak support would be happy to help you get started if you have questions.
- Import Option 2: If you want to use the master list provided for Curriculum Trak schools, select “Master Database.”
- Additions and revisions can be made over time.
- Provide some coaching to your teachers.
- New and existing lesson plans can begin applying the content you have added to your Instructional Methods, but your users may need to be informed about:
- how to find this information in their lesson plans
- how you would like this information to be used
- New and existing lesson plans can begin applying the content you have added to your Instructional Methods, but your users may need to be informed about:
Please let us know how you see this feature fitting into your specific use of Curriculum Trak. We would be happy to hear the variety of ways schools are benefiting from this enhancement.
This video will provide more information about this new feature, and you may contact support if you have additional questions or concerns.
