4 Common Curriculum Planning Mistakes
We all know that curriculum is the backbone of teaching. It’s what teachers use to plan their lessons, and it’s how they assess student learning. Yet curriculum planning can be a tricky endeavor for educators, with many potential pitfalls along the way. Here are some common curriculum planning mistakes to avoid to get your curriculum off on the right foot.
Not having a clear goal
When you start planning a lesson or a unit, start by thinking about what you’d like your students to be able to do or to know and work your way back. Focus on the learning first and then your way back to the task. How can they show you they have mastered this skill? What activity or work will show you this? What are the many ways students can show you they have learned this skill?
Not having a clear lesson structure
It sounds almost too obvious to say, “don’t start a class without a clear plan,” but for argument’s sake, I’ll say it. Filling 45 minutes of class time (or 60 minutes in some cases) with meaningful content that engages students is hard. Conversely, filling 45 minutes of class time with meaningless content that does not engage students is easy. I guess you have to ask yourself, are you trying to keep students busy, or are you trying to reach, engage and teach them? If you aim for the latter, lesson structure, routines, and systems are vital to helping your students learn. Knowing what’s coming next can decrease students’ stress levels and help them figure out what they should be doing in class. Additionally, having a clear lesson structure allows you to create opportunities to engage with students about your expectations and the content they are learning.
Not including multiple access points in your lessons
Is there a specific way you prefer to learn? You might prefer auditory learning like podcasts and audiobooks. Or maybe you’re more hands-on or visual and like to experience your learning or see an example in an image or video. Your students are the same way. So when you write a lesson plan with only one point of access (a lecture or students taking notes), you are only reaching a couple of students in your class who learn best that way. What are you doing or planning for your other students? How do you plan on reaching them with your lesson? Therefore, it’s always best to include multiple access points in your lessons. Essentially ask yourself, “what are the different ways that I can teach students this specific idea or concept?” In your mini-lesson, can you include a tactile activity? A video? Audio? A collaborative opportunity? You do not have to include fifty options. However, including two or three points of access in a lesson will help you reach as many students as possible in your class.
Using the same lesson plans year after year
Although the course and the subject may be the same each year, the students are not. If your student body changes, the methods you use the teach the content needs to change to so adapt to your CURRENT learners, not last year’s students. You need to make sure you take it a step further and update your content regularly to reflect any advancements or discoveries in the subject you are teaching or in the topic of the lesson. This does not mean that you have to redo your lessons every year completely. However, it would help tweak your lesson plans regularly to update them as needed and add supports and tech integration that can help and benefit your students.
Curriculum planning can be tricky, but it’s important to get it right. By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to creating a curriculum that meets the needs of your students and helps them learn and grow. If you need more help with this process, I can support you. Book a consultation today to get started!