Curriculum mapping is something that all educators should complete. In doing so, teachers will ultimately increase students’ learning. The term curriculum mapping can be described as focusing on the desired outcomes in order to plan content and instruction (Dyjur et. al., 2020). Some have even described curriculum mapping as designing lessons backwards (Glossary of Education Reform, 2013a). A huge benefit to curriculum mapping is that it gives you a clear and concise way to reflect on whether or not your students have successfully learned the standards (Glossary of Education Reform, 2013b).

I teach at a classical charter school. Our school is very intentional with curriculum mapping and the planning process. We plan mimetic lessons in order to meet the needs of our students. This is extremely similar to the backwards design (Glossary of Education Reform,

2013a). We start with what we would like our students to learn before we focus on the how (Laureate Education, 2010). With mimetic lesson planning there are five stages that make up the flow of the lesson (Circe Institute. (2015). Planning through these stages forces us to be intentional about what we bring to our students and why we do so. This way of planning helps us map out our long term curriculum as well as our day to day lessons.

Our school updates curriculum maps at the end of every year. This is very helpful for teachers because we can see where the previous grades left off. The maps give us detailed information of what students learned and what content they are still missing. Curriculum mapping is a task that is very collaborative. Grade level teams need to work together to share what they taught during the year. Then they can pass that information on to the next grade level. From there, the new grade then works together to create a plan for the incoming students. In order to alleviate any gaps in curriculum, creating these maps is of the utmost \

When thinking about this course, I can picture what the curriculum map would look like. The format of this course naturally flowed together. Each module and assignment built upon each other. They were intentionally planned so that we progressed to the end of the course. The goal was to increase understanding of curriculum design, instruction, and assessment. It is clear to me that each of the activities did just that.

References

Circe Institute. (2015). What is Mimetic Teaching: A Lost tools of Writing excerpt.

https://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/what-mimetic-teaching-lost-tools-writing-excerpt .

Dyjur, P., Braun, R., Saito, K., & Kaipainen, E. (2020). Capturing experiential learning in a program by curriculum mapping. Papers on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching

_4,_101-109. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1303193.pdf

Glossary of Education Reform. (2013a). Backward Design. https://www.edglossary.org/backward-design/

Glossary of Education Reform. (2013b). Curriculum Mapping.

https://www.edglossary.org/curriculum-mapping/

Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment:

Refining and revising your curriculum [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)