<p>My wife is a second-career (actually third career) high school history/social studies teacher. I remember well her first year teaching full-time. She was hired in mid-August and was handed a copy of the text book two days before we headed out for our annual week on Cape Cod. She started on the job two days after returning home. You guessed it. Much of her vacation was spent writing lesson plans, as were her evenings and weekends for much of the rest of the year. Year 2 was considerably easier, but year 3 she was moved from the middle school to the high school to teach Global History. Two years later she was “promoted” to APUSH and US History. Each time she moved new lesson plans had to be created and the work took place at home, on vacation and on weekends. While she would say she “owns” the product, she has always shared her lesson plans with colleagues who were interested. </p>
<p>Re: textbooks, in social studies they are used primarily in homework assignments. They (and assigned articles) are supplemented in class with lessons that might employ lectures, films, interactive work on the net, writing assignments, student presentations, seminar-style discussions and God knows what else. When I was in school it was strictly lecture and homework from the textbook but from what I understand kids won’t sit still for that approach these days.</p>
<p>Joszacem- nobody wants their kid treated like an ipod. But do you want to be the slug whose kids get assigned to the “bad teacher” who doesn’t have access to better teaching materials-- created by the more gifted teachers? No, of course not. You want your kid to get the best teachers, the best teaching materials, or know that your average teacher is getting exposed to better pedagogy by more experienced colleagues so that teacher gets better every day.</p>
<p>There are some wonderful things that corporate America can teach school systems. (and some pernicious things.) But allowing talented teachers to take their great teaching tools with them when they change schools or districts or states is insane. Do you want your kids learning from a teacher who starts at ground zero every single September?</p>
<p>ProxyGC. Teachers have a course of study that they have to follow. You should be able to go on your districts web site and see exactly what will be taught. The way in wich it is taught is up to the individual teacher. The case you mention sounds very extreme, it makes me wonder if we are being given the full story. Can you tell us the name of the school district or at least the state? </p>
<p>Blossom, About a company owning employees products, I think you are confusing what the product is. Do managers leave behind extensive notes on how to run a meeting, when the team should collaborate vs work alone, etc. Of course not, that is a method for getting the desired product. Teachers don’t “make up” what they are going to teach ( they are directed by the school board) but they do have a say in how they do it. I can’t imagine a corporation that has a “script” for what management is supposed to do every day.</p>
<p>In the district where I work, the elementary schools have very controlled curriculum and lesson plans for basic skills–math, reading/language arts. Teachers are prohibited from supplementing with their own materials. Kindergarten teachers were ordered to hand over materials (cute letter people dolls) from a previously used reading program. Lesson plans are scripted. </p>
<p>Essentially, it seems that teachers are not trusted to create curriculum. They may be included in committees that choose the purchased reading or math programs, whose effectiveness must be evidence based. In a large, rural school district, administration wants each school and student to receive a nearly identical education. This tight control is in response to NCLB–and perhaps the controlling personalities of some folks at the top. </p>
<p>Despite the lack of autonomy in lesson planning, teachers are required to get Master’s degrees. I have worked in education for 35 years and am puzzled that any young person would choose to enter the profession. OTOH, when I was young, there was no other career I would have chosen.</p>
<p>If teachers were paid like engineers and curriculum designers to develop their lesson plans and materials, and were given the uninterrupted company time in which to do it, then I would say it would be fair for the company to claim the product of their effort. But they aren’t paid like engineers and they aren’t excused from teaching classes and grading papers so that they can design materials that go above and beyond the texts and prescriptions of their administrators and their state.<br>
It seems clear that some of the posts are by those who prefer to see teachers as standardized product delivery systems and others who see teachers as creative individuals adapting to the needs of other individuals.</p>
<p>Despite the lack of autonomy in lesson planning, teachers are required to get Master’s degrees. I have worked in education for 35 years and am puzzled that any young person would choose to enter the profession. OTOH, when I was young, there was no other career I would have chosen.</p>
<p>My daughter is receiving her MiT next week and I couldn’t be prouder of her.
She also has been working as a full time teacher for the past two years as part of her practicum, and has experience writing curriculum. I can’t imagine her working somewhere she was told what curriculum to use.
It really depends on the needs of your class.</p>
<p>It is not insane for a talented teacher to bring his/her great teaching tools with him/her to a new school. This should not mean that such tools are necessarily lost at the old school.</p>
<p>But it is strange if a talented teacher refuses to share his/her teaching techniques with other teachers. After all, knowledge and skills are non-exclusive – indeed, the whole purpose of teaching is to spread the knowledge and skills to more people. Teaching other teachers any improved teaching techniques should be seen as a good thing.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how any public school system exists today without a standardized, set curriculum. How does the OP’s district handle No Child Left Behind standards? Every child in our district takes quarterly and yearly assessments, standard to the grade level or class (in middle and high schools). There are publicly available curriculums at the state and district level. Every fall at “Back to School” night the teachers hand out copies of the basic curriculum.</p>
<p>Within that framework individual teachers create lesson plans to reach the curriculum goals. In eighth grade every English teacher will cover a Shakespeare unit, and every student will read and act at least one play, read numerous sonnets, and learn the historical background and biographical background, within that framework individual teachers have leeway for creativity in their own classrooms.</p>
<p>My personal standards as a teacher many years ago were that on any given day the unexpected could happen. A substitute should be able to walk into my classroom and find my lesson plans and the materials needed for the day and the rest of the week clearly in plain sight. Part of my job was to ensure a seamless transition because that was best for my students.</p>
<p>My organizational philosophy was formed as the result of working as a substitute for a semester in grades K-12 when I graduated mid year and was applying for full time work for the following fall. I found the differences in classroom organization among teachers was amazing. Some classes I could step into and actually deliver a quality job for the day. The kids learned and and we all were productive. Some days all I did was babysit because there was literally not a lesson plan in sight. Generally, the most organized classrooms with clear lesson plans were in elementary and middle school classrooms. High school teachers were the most likely to leave nothing for a substitute. The worst of all were highly effective, very experienced high school teachers who had been in the same position for many years. They tended to carry their lesson plans in their heads, and if they were unexpectedly absent there wasn’t a clue in the classroom to guide a substitute.</p>
<p>One thing I liked about our elementary school was that in addition to the the set curriculem based on state and district standards, the teashers from each grade would get together to calendar in certain activities, and keep the general curriculum the same, while allowing for creativity in lesson plans. As a parent, I didn’t want to feel that my child was going to miss out on something, and it helped for subsitutes becuase they could also get daily plans from the other teachers.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s input so far. Our district’s website posts curriculum maps for each course. Elementary level course maps are >20 pages long and detailed with specific readings and resources. With a few teachers delivering these courses in a number of classrooms, it was reassuring to see that a new or substitute elementary teachers have this kind of structure. Daily lesson plans were not posted though. OTOH, the high school course maps were far shorter–in some cases just 2 pages containing only a brief summary for each semester. Most others HS course maps had half-page summaries for each marking period. None even listed specific readings. A few were more detailed and structured by month or by unit, and these were 10-20 pages. Again, no daily or even weekly lesson plans were posted. As far as I know only homework assignments are posted and only by teachers who are tech-oriented enough to do so. Is this typical or does it reflect lack of oversight at the HS level? The HS was where we encountered the worst problems with continuity. At our HS we mainly have only one teacher teaching each course, except for courses that all kids have to take (like gym and English). Our superintendent once remarked that our district’s teachers act like they are independently employed. I question whether there are possible impediments in the teachers’ contract to requiring them to post their lesson plans, etc. (getting back to my original ownership question, which might better have been phrased, “who owns your district’s lesson plans?”). As far as I know the terms of their contract are not public. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to imply that ALL teachers here are remiss in leaving lesson plans etc when they are out; but enough have been, and some have left on very short notice, and the course materials went with them–replacements had nothing to work with; had to scramble to assemble assignments, tests, readings, etc.</p>
<p>The results for the kids were lost course years in honors/AP levels of hs math and science and world language, which put them behind. Again, just looking for a way that districts can function better for kids’ learning’s sake around these issues.</p>
<p>general rule of thumb: each course should have one book. IMO that book should last at least 5-10 years. Many places change books far to often, mostly because they find problems with the book they picked and immediatly go looking for a new one and settle for something they once again aren’t happy with and then go looking for a new one. My hs physics text was probably 15 years old and it was fabulous. Introductory phsysics doesn’t need to change and the publisher did a good job. But it was created before the book publishers decided they could make more money by putting out crappy books and then upgrading them every year.</p>