Grade Level Curriculum Reflection

    Through this year-long curriculum, I learned how important it is for teachers to plan ahead. There are so many standards that need to be covered throughout the year and the standards all vary in the length of time it will take to teach and for the students to master. Teachers need to plan for this and read through all the standards at the beginning of the year to make sure they have time to get to everything. I have been in math classes before (more in middle school) that seem to be so rushed at the end of the year which could have been due to the teacher’s lack of a year-long curriculum plan. Obviously, other things could have come up or lessons took longer than my teacher thought, but it still reminds me of the importance of having a plan because I know how stressed I was when I had to learn concepts too quickly and didn't have time to master them before the tests. I also learned how important it is to review standards from the previous grade because they tie in so closely with the standards for the current grade and students often need a refresher. It is important to cover all the consent required for your grade level to set students up for success for the next school year and also on standardized tests. Since the standards are similar from grade to grade, but just increase in difficulty and add layers (scaffolding), it is important teachers cover all the content for that grade level before sending the students on to the next grade level so they are prepared to build on those skills. All the content required for the grade level will also be on the student’s standardized tests so it is the teacher’s responsibility to teach that content so students can perform to the best of their abilities on the test for that grade level.