How do you address current curriculum development trends and issues?

I totally agree. Current curriculum development trends require educators staying informed about the latest research and best practices in education. By identifying and understanding key issues, curriculum developers can design effective educational programs. Collaborating with educators, administrators, and other stakeholders is crucial in the curriculum development process. By leveraging their expertise and perspectives, a well-rounded curriculum can be created that addresses the needs of all involved parties. Regular evaluation and adaptation of the curriculum are also essential. In today's rapidly changing world, it is important to constantly reassess educational programs to ensure they remain relevant and meet the needs of students.

The complexity of curriculum development requires a web of skilled professionals able to deeply understand the context in which the content is to be taught, understand the concepts, guiding principles, and critical questions the content is meant to answer or pose. Classroom educators should not be expected to do this work on their own.

I agree here. We must continue to align all academic work with the learning standards as they will allow us to target areas of need for each individual student. At Benjamin Franklin Middle School this year, we are returning to the practice of posting the standard and using the language relative to standard to communicate support to students, families, and the technology driven support we will use to provide practice to learners to progress monitor their growth.

I absolutely agree with this. Standards dictated by the department of education instructs teachers of what they should be teaching their students. Too many new teachers come in and get lost with unpacking standards, resulting in scholars not mastering concepts and skills they need for success. Also, pacing these standards out during a school year in its entirety is very important. If we could help our educators to respect, identify, and deliver all standards no matter what subject, our schools would be awesome. Included in that would be instruction that includes using backward design, scaffolding, differentiation, and formative assessment.

Successful schools are purpose driven. Supported schools deliver outcomes that enrich established purposes. Align instruction with purpose, evaluate rigorously, leave no one behind. Schooling works.

Technology integration should begin and end with a focus on meeting a scholarly need. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies can improve communication options, collaboration, accessibility, individualized learning, and inclusiveness. However, student-centered learning is one of the most significant opportunities technology integration affords learning communities.

The pandemic has introduced us all to a myriad of new and innovative technologies to support teaching and learning. While most learning was taking place virtually, these programs, and the subsequent improvements to their platforms have provided data to us to help us make decisions around student support. A wondering if mines how might we take full advantage of these key features without overwhelming students with the overuse of technology for instruction? These programs are coming aligned with state-standards and their adaptive capabilities help us targets learners and target learning, while supporting the teachers. They are becoming very expensive to procure and this is a downside for schools and or districts with limited resources.

I get enjoyment out of delivering instruction and the integration of technology really allows for deeper engagement for students. I love creating power-points with visuals that make learning difficult content easier. Presenting information in multiple ways really helps to differentiate instruction and reach all modality of learners.

Absolutely! Incorporating technology offers a great opportunity to enhance student engagement in a lesson, but it's important to make sure that its integration is done purposefully. I have seen tech tools chosen because of how easy they are, or how fun students think they are, but it can detract from the value of the lesson if not used in a way that aligns with the educational objectives of the lesson.

Obviamente que la integración de las diferentes herramientas tecnológicas son primordiales para el desarrollo curricular y muy necesarias también para la gestión del conocimiento.

In my experience engagement is the key to successful outcomes in a classroom. Deviating from the norm by creating projects and / or group work gives students control for their own learning. Providing options for student work is also important and allows for critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration etc..

Valuing competencies over content allows students to see purpose in what they do in school as they can apply learning to any field of study or career path. In essence we are future proofing them. I agree with the comment about engagement- students are interested and invested in what they value.

One of the ways we have started implementing 21st century skills in our curricula is by making them an explicit teaching expectation aligned with our WASC standards, the Schoolwide Action Plan and the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Plan. We have also created a committee of admin, teachers, students and parents to drive the initiative, hightlighting this as a combined effort and that we value skills, competence and metacognition as a core part of preparing our students for the rapidly changing 21st century. Unless one is an IB school where the ATLs and LPs are made explicit, it is important for schools to be intentional and strategic about developing and implementing a skills-based programme as part of the combined curriculum.

Today's learners are much different from those in the past. They are cell phone savvy and not so computer-app wise. Nevertheless, a solid blend of in-person collaboration and computer-based engagement entices today's learner. Many of today's learners are more comfortable interacting with technology tan in-person peers. Collaborating on documents, teaming on computer-based projects, and challenging learners with a relevant, standards-based experiences helps learners at any level grow in today's hybrid world.

Incorporación de estos elementos contribuye a que los egresados puedan acceder al empleo, al trabajo decente y al emprendimiento.

Building lessons that are interesting, authentic, and engaging begins with placing our learners in the learning contextually. Curriculum resources that begins with diversity, inclusion, and equity in our learning process find learns more focused on the content that drives the learning. Changing names, locations, gender roles, races, and perhaps the socioeconomic background of our learners allow them all to explore lessons and learning that speaks to them and their communities directly. Teachers can do the same in all content areas where there exist a lapses in these recommendations. Changes the names in our word problems (math); introduce examples from local government (social studies); and provide antidotes from local athletics (PE).

My experience as a special education teacher helps in this area, plus my experience of working in high need schools for 18 years. Every child can learn and it's important that an educator know the capabilities of all their students. Differentiating instruction is key to reaching all scholars. As mentioned above I believe in presenting material in multiple ways to master standards. I may start off with a power-point rich with visuals, move on to information text along with comprehension questions, provide videos and assess with writing explanations. I also believe in giving children the opportunity to work at their own pace within reason. Bottom line I work with every child in my classrooms and make a plan for all of them to succeed.

The terms and words are not the only key to building and transforming curriculum. I created a culturally relevant course that broke away with the traditional literary canons in a very traditional English department. My contract was not renewed.However, the course on the Puerto Rican Diaspora (English 3285) has taken a form of its own. Even giving birth to 6 graduate courses. I never thought of the words or terms; I simply designed a different course with a culturally relevant foundation. I did my research and withstood the nuances of ignorance and bigotry. I worked at the University of Puerto Rico for 5 years, but my work will live forever. If you went into teaching, it is really about making a difference not stressing a word or a term.

Language learning lends itself to exploring diverse perspectives, and positioning oneself in that exploration is an essential step that can be overlooked. As an educated, white, CIS, straight female (of a certain age) teaching a European culture that was active in settler colonization, I situate my own privileged perspective as I share primary resources from the many resilient cultures that share a linguistic thread. I find that it helps students to be more open to difference from their own world views and biases.

Creating an inclusive curriculum means considering the diverse backgrounds, abilities, and needs of all students. This involves using culturally relevant materials, supporting diverse learning styles, and providing resources for underrepresented groups to ensure equitable learning opportunities.

As educators we are life time learners. All of the schools I've worked at have provided professional development and still do. I appreciate these sessions as a time to collaborate and reflect on my instruction. PD provides an opportunity for teachers to share different perspectives on behavior, instruction and assessments.

One thing we’ve found to be helpful was to assign assistant principals to several PLCs. We facilitated the meetings, observed the culture, and encouraged collaboration. When teachers got along well, they appeared to trust each others’ ideas and initiatives. As teacher mentors, we were able to ask guiding questions teachers weren’t asking themselves. At the end of the year, we were able to look back and see how they work teachers did affected test scores and student behaviors.

Una precisa formación es el primer paso para un profundo cambio social. Nunca va a existir una educación de calidad si no se forma debidamente a los educadores.

Continuous professional development for educators is vital in responding to curriculum trends. By staying informed on best practices and new teaching methods, teachers can more effectively adapt to curriculum changes and implement strategies that enhance student learning.

This can definitely be tough to do, especially with limited resources or lack of support from your school or district. I have found value in collaborating with other teachers, parents, and even outside community resources when trying to adapt to new changes. It also can be extremely beneficial to share your challenges with your students as well. Not only do your students sometimes have the best ideas, but you can also use it as a teaching moment about how to adapt when things are changing!

I totally agree with this addition. Curriculum trends must advance towards changing contexts, such as the skills sets needed to navigate and embrace an uncertain and rapidly changing society , community engagement and proactive adaptation and flexibility whilst protecting and nurturing the dignity of learning for all levels. It must address diversity, inclusion, and give meaning to mutual accountability and personal growth and development. It must support continuous learning via greater parental involvement, intentional supervision and support. It must provide healthy opportunities for simulation, problem solving and critical thinking so that participants can ultimately become masters of their own destiny, not mirror other men’s thoughts.