Baby Steps

Sleeter (2005) suggests that we have a difficult time designing our own curriculum because we're so accustomed to following what is prescribed by the state through the adopted textbooks they provide. The majority of us, since day one on the job, have proceeded to follow the pacing calendars in order to cover as much as the curriculum as possible. I believe we do it because it is both easy (all we do is open the book, and follow the script), and because we've never really had the opportunity to sharpen our skills as developers of curriculum even though we have been trained to do so. Some may argue that our power to develop curriculum was stripped from us when NCLB became the law of the land. We must realize that although it does call for "standards based instruction," it does not call for teachers to become robotic in their teaching. Others still, may argue that there is no time for developing curriculum. However, I've found that although it may be time consuming to develop curriculum, it is well worth the effort because we will both teach with enthusiasm and students will learn through engaging lessons while the content standards are addressed.

Creating the curriculum for my culturally responsive unit has helped me understand the concept of enduring, worthwhile, and important understandings students should possess after every lesson or unit I teach. Enduring understandings are those that we want our students to remember long after the lessons have concluded, while important and worthwhile understandings help develop the enduring understandings in our lessons or units. Although worthwhile understandings are good things to know, they are not essential to developing the enduring understandings.

I've narrowed down the big idea for my unit to read, "Leaving behind your country, but not your language and heritage while learning English in the United States." To help support this idea I've developed the following enduring understandings: Being bilingual is a good thing; Spanish is a valuable language; Being an immigrant is not bad despite what the media may say; Others before you have overcome what you are living. Important understandings include: Comparing and Contrasting your experience to the author's experience; Use writing with correct mechanics and organization to share your own stories; Develop fluency in Spanish and English; Use and identify story elements appropriately; Consider your audience in writing. Worthwhile understandings include: Become familiar with Hispanic authors; The benefits of cognate usage.

In closing, I'd like to admit that creating this unit did not come naturally for me. In fact, I'd say that it was like trying to swim upstream through category 6 rapids! Okay, I think I may have taken it too far, but you get the picture. However, once I overcame the turbulence, I realized how powerful this activity is for my profession. Applying this planning strategy while using the adopted curriculum is also possible. Lessons that are there just to fill the textbook can be identified and excluded, while more essential lessons can be further studied or extended. This type of planning and teaching is good for all who are involved! I think I've finally reached a crossroads in my teaching career. Which road will I take? For now, I'll proceed to teach the unit I've developed and continually build upon that. Like they say, "It's a matter of baby steps, baby!"