CURRICULUM RESOURCES
New! The draft of PreK- 8 English Language Arts Curriculum Standards is now up on the CT State website. This 2008 document represents the original 2006 framework with more comprehensive grade-level expectations and Connecticut Mastery Test correlations as a further delineation of standards. This document is also enhanced by sample lesson plans. Expectations in the components of balanced litercy are clearly delineated and correlate to what we have put into place. We will be reviewing this document over the summer and working on curriculum revision in Language Arts. If you are interested in working over the summer in developing new curriculum( Math,LA and Social Studies), please email me.
Model curricula in the areas of science and social studies will be forthcoming from the state. You will clearly notice the link between LA and content area curricula. We will have to determine how we will use Techpaths, our curriculum development software, to meet the needs of all teachers in not only revising our curricula but implementing the curricula.
6 comments:
Mary,
Have you caught all of the hype on Mosaic regarding Ellin Keene's new book? In case you haven't, read on. People can't stop talking about it.
Good morning everyone!
I am three chapters into Ellin Keene's new book "To Understand" and have realized that this is one very important book for all of us on the list. It really deserves a forum for discussion! Over the weekend, Keith will help me set
up a new, temporary listserv for us to have a place to chat about this book...so, more formal details will be coming. I will be happy to moderate this new discussion group but would welcome a co-moderator or two to share
responsibilities for facilitating discussions. Email me off list if you think you may be interested. I plan to invite Ellin to join us as well and I wouldn't be surprised if she pipes up on a few discussion threads here or there.
So...run right out and get your copy of the book. I want to wait a couple weeks to begin the formal discussions to allow everyone time to get the book---maybe March 15 would be a good start date for the introductory material and
the first two chapters. Feel free to email me off list with suggestions for discussion topics/prompts, ideas for timelines for discussion, etc.
Can't wait for the discussion to begin...
Jennifer
Mosaic moderator
I love Ellin Keene's books. This sounds like something we should get involved in. I think I will order my copy tonight. If enough of us want to read this book, we could form our own group. Let me know your thoughts.
Mary, I have a question about aides and reading instruction. Sliney, for example, has three aides that have more than 110 years of teaching experience combined. However, they are not deemed qualified to directly teach reading to our students. I'm sure you agree that this is ridiculous. These ladies are more qualified to teach than 95% of the teachers in the district. Is there a way to address this? All aides are not the same and some exceptions should be made for people with 20 plus years teaching experience. Our students can only benefit from their knowledge and we are truly lucky as a district to have access to these people at a fraction of what they are truly worth.
Great question. NCLB drives the regulations for highly qualified teachers and paras.Regulations from the Federal government state that:
"Paraprofessionals must work under the direct supervision of a highly qualified teacher.
The teacher plans the instructional activities; evaluates achievement of students with whom the paraprofessional work and the para works in close and frequent proximity of the teacher."
This concern was also brought up at the CMT meeting. The questions was raised as to whether a para could administer the test if he/she was certified. The answer from the state was no because the para is not serving in the capacity of teacher in that district.
I understand your concern and the fact that we have some very talented paras that could be teaching. But our Federal and State guidelines do not support this. You can research this more at ed.gov.
I agree that some aides do have the skills and qualifications to teach reading, however, they should be guided by the classroom teacher and provided with the plans. Also, it's quite a generalization to state that some aides have greater qualifications than 95% of the teachers in the district.
Perhaps I was not as clear as should I have been with my original "aide" comment. First, the aides do work in "close proximity of the teacher". The teacher plans all of the lessons and all of the work the students will be doing. However, we have been told that the aides cannot directly instruct students, which has been interpreted at our school that they cannot even moderate a student discussion, nor discuss a students responses to reading. I understand that the aides should not be just set off by themselves to plan all, that is the teacher's job, but there has to be some middle ground here where the talents of these people can be MUCH better utilized.
To respond to the other poster: Sliney has an aide who was an elementary teacher in Branford for 37 years. They have another who was an elementary teacher in Branford for 30 plus years. And a third who was an elementary teacher for more than 30 years. It absolutely is NOT a generalization to state that these 3 people are more qualified than 95 percent of the teachers. These years do not even take into account the 10 plus years these people have been working as aides. They are the definition of "Master Teachers". We are very lucky at Sliney that these people still want to affect our students. I would just like to maximize the utilization of their talents.
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