Ch. 1-4 Key Points (Wk. 6/7)

            After revisiting Ch. 1-4, a number of key concepts, ideas, and thoughts jumped out as being particularly important.  I believe that one of the biggest ideas mentioned was the acknowledgement of the “21^st Century Learner.”  I think that educators and school systems need to realize that current students are much different than any students we have seen before.  Educating these students requires a shift in how we have been teaching.  What we, as educators, have done in the past may not be as effective to our current students.  The more creative we are with our instruction, the more engaged and focused students become. 

            Also mentioned in the reading was how to make updates to the curriculum so you can reach the students in your classroom.  School systems and educators need to identify the goal of their curriculum.  If it truly is to prepare students for the future, then introducing, teaching, and exploring current technology trends are a must.  This is something that was non-existent a few years prior.  This means that even if a curriculum is a few years old, it still could be out of date.  The curriculum should be a working document that can change and develop with the times. 

            Another key point that hit home was the idea of pulling in real-life situations and applications with the content areas.  The content of the curriculum should be meaningful to students.  If students are simply memorizing facts from a textbook with no connection made to the real world, then the instruction is meaningless.  Students need to be able to clearly see the relationship between what they are learning and how that knowledge can be used on a daily basis to solve real-life problems. 

            Lastly, an idea mentioned that I feel is necessary for a successful curriculum is to have some sort of vertical alignment in mind.  If we picture the curriculum as the summit, all the grades and courses prior to the summit have some sort of connection.  Each grade depends on the previous grade.  The current grade should be preparing students for their next grade and next set of tasks.  With this being said, teachers from all grades need to be in communication and have the same overall goal in mind so that the students will be successful.