Curriculum and Literacy Presentations
In my two education courses (Curriculum and Literacy in Middle/Secondary Education), I had to develop short presentations using unfamiliar applications. One of the presentations required me to research and reflect on my curriculum orientation, while the other caused me to reflect on the idea of literacy and connect it to my subject area through ways to encourage and incorporate literacy in my future teaching.
Curriculum Orientation Presentation
Literacy Presentation
Through these two presentations, it became evident that literacy and curriculum are closely tied in framing the way educators structure their courses. In literacy, several of the major highlights in the research to prepare the presentation revolved around building in ways to empower students. Much of the literacy skills especially relevant to mathematics require students to think deeply and critically about content they are presented with. As an educator teaching this skill, my students are the center of my education practices, and I must be aware of their understanding and ability to communicate mathematics (as opposed to their ability to correctly replicate an algorithm). Similarly, the curriculum project illuminated the very same fundamental teaching principles that became clear through the literacy project: student-centered teaching and learning when to ask deep or probing questions will be essential in my developing an effective teaching style. The two projects together served me well in emphasizing areas I need to pay particularly close attention to as I continue to develop as an educator.
Through these presentations, both my understanding of literacy and my curriculum orientation manifest the importance of teaching critical thinking skills. Performance criterion 5.2, very closely relates to the learning I experienced through these projects. As an educator I recognize and value the impact cross-disciplinary skills have on students’ long term success. Because learners are each unique and have varying preferences, it is extremely important to clearly demonstrate the more universal skills students can practice through mathematics and science. Routinely incorporating skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving helps all students, regardless of interests or preferences, engage with content and demonstrate their learning. Through cross-disciplinary skills, educators can develop much more engaging and effective learning experiences to encourage all students to participate.
Moving forward, I plan to use these projects to encourage creativity while breaking from the more traditional ways I was taught. Especially in teaching mathematics, my research has reinforced how incredibly counterintuitive the textbook method of teaching mathematics is. As an educator, I need to focus on keeping students and their interests at the center of curriculum while also providing the scaffolding for their interests to guide their learning through the established teaching standards.
Rob - you demonstrate a clear understanding through this project of interdisciplinary connections across these two courses. Well done! I am anxious to see your unit and how you transfer this learning!
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