One goal of mine is to adapt and integrate global competencies in to core curriculum and standards. Here are some early examples from Fall 2013 of modified New Mexico State Science Standards with a global lens.
Considering Standards in Relation to Global Education.
I really struggled with this assignment. First, our school does not follow standards. Our autonomy as teachers allows us to teach what we think is best for the students. This doesn’t mean that each department in the school is not being thoughtful in what they do, and it allows for teachers to veer off on a tangent as needed or teach about events in the world as they happen. However, I have always struggled with the ‘what is not being done’ aspect of not having standards to follow, and feel that there may be gaps in our school’s curriculum as a result. (Presumably there are gaps in all schools curriculum though for many reasons…and as I am learning, definitely global education standards). I also feel that different students will receive different curricula based on the individual teachers, but perhaps that is always the case, even with standards. Should it be? That is perhaps a million dollar question. Quality and quantity as well as focus, content and skills are all very different things.
For this activity I decided to try and concentrate on my 9th grade geology classes as up until this point I have been focusing on the 7th grade life science classes. I have realized that in my geology classes, while we look at maps all the time and talk about the world and give specific examples of volcanoes or other geologic structures and events, we do not focus on the cultural aspects or people in the places we talk about and I believe that there is much room for incorporation.
I feel that this assignment is only baby steps and only the start of what can happen in my curriculum and I am intrigued where this will go. I found with the unit plan, upon revisiting it, that I made many changes, and I am sure I will do to this document too. What I realize I am missing in my classroom right now (unit plan and these lessons too) is live voices from beyond the four walls. I want to add in components that include direct communication with students, teachers, scientists and others from elsewhere. I have yet to look in to Epals and other sources like this but plan on doing so.
I arranged it in a table format to help with layout and understanding for my brain. I hope this works.
All of the standards are taken from the NM State Standards: http://www.ped.state.nm.us/mathscience/scienceStandards.html
I really struggled with this assignment. First, our school does not follow standards. Our autonomy as teachers allows us to teach what we think is best for the students. This doesn’t mean that each department in the school is not being thoughtful in what they do, and it allows for teachers to veer off on a tangent as needed or teach about events in the world as they happen. However, I have always struggled with the ‘what is not being done’ aspect of not having standards to follow, and feel that there may be gaps in our school’s curriculum as a result. (Presumably there are gaps in all schools curriculum though for many reasons…and as I am learning, definitely global education standards). I also feel that different students will receive different curricula based on the individual teachers, but perhaps that is always the case, even with standards. Should it be? That is perhaps a million dollar question. Quality and quantity as well as focus, content and skills are all very different things.
For this activity I decided to try and concentrate on my 9th grade geology classes as up until this point I have been focusing on the 7th grade life science classes. I have realized that in my geology classes, while we look at maps all the time and talk about the world and give specific examples of volcanoes or other geologic structures and events, we do not focus on the cultural aspects or people in the places we talk about and I believe that there is much room for incorporation.
I feel that this assignment is only baby steps and only the start of what can happen in my curriculum and I am intrigued where this will go. I found with the unit plan, upon revisiting it, that I made many changes, and I am sure I will do to this document too. What I realize I am missing in my classroom right now (unit plan and these lessons too) is live voices from beyond the four walls. I want to add in components that include direct communication with students, teachers, scientists and others from elsewhere. I have yet to look in to Epals and other sources like this but plan on doing so.
I arranged it in a table format to help with layout and understanding for my brain. I hope this works.
All of the standards are taken from the NM State Standards: http://www.ped.state.nm.us/mathscience/scienceStandards.html