My mind is already thinking about all the changes for next year! My school district is making great steps toward a new curriculum and I thought I would share a sneak peek.
Add Interculturality Standards
We all know the language competencies are important, but how well do students understand and interact in the target culture? Jacque Van Houten has been leading our district to add the interculturality standards into our existing units. Check out how Shelby County, TN has already added them to the units.
Update the Look
JCPS is also giving our unit/curriculum maps a fresh layout to be more graphic. Megan created a new layout that includes the language and interculturality competencies. Check it out! Next Step: How do we assess the interculturality standards? I believe IPAs (Integrated Performance Assessments) may be the key to answering this question.
Realign Units Based on AP Themes
In the fall, Megan and I met with Kim Hasenauer, Jeff Haubenreich and Bernadette Van Willigen from Wisconsin. They brought up a great idea to weave the AP themes through all language levels. My district decided to realign the units so that the same theme will be taught at the same time in each level. Now teachers and students can collaborate across levels. Think of the possibilities! Students teaching each other! Teachers sharing resources regardless of level! This will also help with planning, especially for teachers on carts and mixed-level classes.
As we went through this process, I felt that our units are still “bookish.” The plan is to eventually adjust them to be based on the culture first, so the language becomes the way to learn about it. We will share more as we develop it over the summer, including more specific steps to how we accomplished each task. Additionally, Megan and I will be presenting about taking the big culture leap for our 2014 ACTFL conference presentation called “Adjust the Unit Focus: Zoom in on Culture!”
Does your curriculum need an update? Please share how you and your district are improving your curriculum for next year!