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.