Ch. 9 Evaluation

One of the things that keep sticking out when reading this section (and I know I've brought this up too in another chapter) is our math curriculum. When I first started teaching in Ayaprun Elitnaurvik, we taught math using the Yugtun version of Saxon math. At first we were doing a lot of paste-overs from the English version. It took a while to get a complete set of translated grade 3 and 4 Saxon math sheets. When we finally got them and were expected to learn how to use them in our classrooms. I remember it taking a couple of years to get used to reading the script Yugtun and applying it to our classrooms. The first group of students I taught did very well in math I thought and then there was the whole wave of SBAs and then the math changed. What I didn't understand and still don't understand is how the district changes the curriculum. I remember wondering, was Saxon math so horrible that it needed to be changed and what exactly was 'wrong" with it to begin with? When we changed to Harcourt, it was a whole new process of getting used to. This is the start of my third year w/Harcourt and our math test scores in grade 3 have been low. I have a feeling that they're going to remain low till we get used to teaching it effectively. I honestly don't like Harcourt in comparison to Saxon because using Harcourt, we have to make a lot of materials to cover what the SBAs require.
In terms of our language, I know a lot needs to be looked at and modified. We don't have a nicely laid out Yugtun curriculum for grades 4-6. What we do have is the Yuuyaraq curriculum from the district office. They don't have specific tests, which can be good, but not so for a new teacher. There is no guidebook for those grades which has both positive and negative aspects. The positive being the teachers are free to teach what they want (of course in terms of the science expectations) and in whatever timeframe. The negative aspect to it all is that there is no guideline and no material made. The expectations are that each site is to adopt the guide to their dialects and their way of identifying with the topics.
In terms of AE and our language program, I wish we had time to do what we did in Akula Elitnaurvik and that is to get together with the elders to map out exactly what they think is important for our children to learn. To an extent we do this with our parents in our SIP meetings, but they don't come as directives. In that sense, I sometimes feel a little lost when teaching grade 4.

Ch. 6 Course Planning/Syllabus Design

What a chapter! There was so much information. I didn't realize that some of the activities that we were doing in class had a name. There are different aspects of each that I could identify with when I was reading through it. One of my concerns always seems to come from the topical/content-based syllabus and that is, do the students "get" what I'm taking about? Sometimes I think I make my lessons too easy because I worry about students not understanding what I'm saying. That or I think I get zoned out. We have so much material development to produce still, especially when it comes to assessment. But then after reading through some of this, I think, are we assessing too much?

Ch.5 Goals/Outcomes

One the curriculum ideologies that I found relevant to me was the "learner-centeredness" largely because I appreciated our authentic assessment class and our funds of knowledge book. More and more, I'm beginning to understand how important it is to include students when planning for your classess. The first thing I thought of under the "learner-centeredness" was put nicely as, "process rather than product". I'm trying to use the portfolio method with my fourth grade students and I'm finding it hard to adjust b/c for grade 4 there is no mandated guide to follow. It's funny how we want to teach what we want to teach, but when we have no guide, we, or I feel a little lost. I'm still trying to learn to think with this way of thinking.
The other two that I can relate to also were the social reconstruction section as well as the cultural plurism ideology. Under the social reconstruction ideology was a term we learned last year, "critical pedagogy" which closely relates to "learner-centeredness" as well. Thinking of these ideologies is like creating your own curriculum in your head because the students you have are unique to any other and their learning styles and what they know already will be different than any other class. I find this to be exciting because of that fact and because your plans will change every year (even though you might have the same general ideals). Under cultural plurism I think of our school. I believe this is what we are trying to do, that is to make sure our students understand that who they are and what they speak is important and worth more than what someone else might believe them to think. I think this chapter was the most I saw myself in.