If you work at an international school, overseas purchase orders are due in early March. Do you have a plan? a goal?
Really??? you say? It’s only February!
Yep! I counter. It’s February. Time to dream!
Please don’t throw your Coke at me. It’s time to begin looking toward the next school year. What has worked? What has not worked? Will units next year be the same as those you taught (or will teach) this year? Are there one or two units that need revamping? Will you scrap some units and start again?
As a self-proclaimed curriculum junkie, I take pleasure in planning themes and units for the upcoming school year much like I take pleasure in choosing the type of macaroni and cheese to order from Portland’s Montage. I begin with a chart that looks something like this:
Then I move around the lines, merge a few cells, and fill in ideas for units within which can incorporate curriculum standards (Common Core or School-specific).
It’s even more fun when you work with fellow curriculum enthusiasts who like to dream of what might be.
Some of your teammates might even get fancy – publishing a template that is fun for parents and students to see at the beginning of the next school year.
This is just the first step. Units must be written or refined. But a map like this gives you a place to start when ordering resources and collecting online materials.
- By such-and-such date, I will identify nonfiction trade books on the topic of x.
- When I see resources on Twitter or blogs, I will bookmark them according to…
- By the “end-of-overseas-requisitions-date”, I will submit a proposal for…
- I need to do coffee with so-and-so. Not only do I like her and want to hear about Bali, I’d like to pick her brain on ways I can enhance x unit.
Do ‘ya have a plan? What’s your plan?
Wonderful!
Barry, you’ve accomplished LOTS of goals – I’ve seen your room!
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