I love looking at before and after pictures: kitchen remodels, classroom makeovers, my kids room at cleaning time. There is a sense of accomplishment and wonder when you look at these transformations. This got us thinking about curriculum templates and how, over time, priorities change, goals shift and new initiatives are started. If we try making these new items fit in our old template, it can become cumbersome and difficult to use.
You can refresh your template with a few shifts of language and the addition or removal of a category. Check out a few template make-overs!
Creating Alignment
Rami Madani, International School of Kuala Lumpur
After participating in a Curriculum Summit, Rami’s team reflected on their naming of conventions of different sections in their curriculum template. They realized that they would like to change the naming of ISKL’s template to align it with our Learning Team Protocol questions.
They made sure to create that alignment with the Learning Team Protocol questions by including which questions were supported in what part of the template. For many schools, making the direct correlation from initiatives happening in the school to the curriculum can really help support understanding of the process as well as buy-in.
The team at ISKL also made a few changes to their other categories by consolidating language and ensuring that it was in line with the vocabulary used by teachers.
Template Examples for Designing Your Curriculum Map
Spark inspiration for next-level curriculum design with curriculum map examples from schools and districts across the world.
Guiding with Questions
Laura Gleeson, Bayview Glen Independent School
Laura and her colleague joined us at our Leadership Institute, and, by the end of their three days, decided on some shifts to their curriculum template. Their goal was to ensure that the template matched the language being used in the school as well as prompted educators in their thinking.
To do so, they created a section that highlighted the School Priorities. What’s nice is that over time, if there is a new priority or a shift away from highlighting one, they can make those adjustments on their template.
Setting the Goal
Melanie Glennon, York Country Day School
Melanie came to our Rubicon Institute with an aim of developing a template that would support their goal of “making mapping our own.” They had taken a break from mapping for a few years and made a huge shift in what they wanted to capture based on what was important for their school.
By leading their template with their Mission Statement, they set the focus and purpose of mapping the unit. They also wanted to see aspects of their mission reflected in the template through the Artistic Process category and the Multidisciplinary Connections.
There you have it, before and after templates…HGTV curriculum style. If you want to connect about updating your unit planner template, visit our services page here.
