The Trouble with Language

So in an effort to keep things honest, let’s not pretend that curriculum development is always easy. There has been a tremendous amount of talk on CTF about the language of learning targets. “Student will be able to… (Insert behavior verb here)”. This has become the mother of all sentence stems; perhaps this is an educator’s karma for administering too may selected response quizzes. Suffice to say that trying to identify the most appropriate verb for a learning target has nearly reduced us to tears, caused eruptions of laughter, and led to some very philosophical conversations all in the span of one meeting. Today Cat Portillo came up with a solution (using the term solution very loosely) “when in doubt slash it out”, which very well may become the CTF motto. Can’t decide between synthesize or evaluate, no problem slash it out. Mr. Webster meet synthesize/evaluate. Full disclosure, and in order to restore your faith in our ability we will not be using the slash as often as we would like, but I encourage you to insert a verbal slash into conversations whenever possible to shake things up. This CTF update was brought to you thanks to Cody/popcorn connoisseur, Cat/kitten who is all work and no play, and Rebecca/the lady with the rolling bag (which btw is very fashionable).

Assessments

After our learning targets went through many rounds of revision we were able to move onto assessments. We are in the final stages of writing assessments so there will be more details to come.

Learning Target Development

In the same way that an enduring understanding guides the direction of a unit (see previous post) the learning target provides a focus for daily instruction. Developing learning targets also informs assessments, as we cannot assess student learning if we have not first clearly identified the learning goal. After pinpointing and refining our EU we set out to generate, categorize, and edit our learning targets within the following categories:

• Communication and Team-building
• Work Ethic and Professionalism
• Positive Attitudes and Self-Motivation

Below is a section of the professional development used to introduce learning targets and a sample section of the learning targets for work ethic and professionalism

Coming up with our Enduring Understanding

Although we used the Design Thinking process to get rolling, CTF uses the Understanding by Design framework when designing curriculum. By using this framework we are able to identify our big picture/end goals before digging into the nitty-gritty of lesson planning. We start by identifying our Enduring Understanding (EU), an EU is exactly as the name implies an understanding that is enduring… In 5, 10, or 20 years our students will probably not remember an exact lesson on any given day of instruction but they should still have that enduring understanding that we facilitated throughout the unit, semester, etc. Deciding on an EU and getting the language right was our next step in process, here is what we came up with:

Students will understand that mastery of intra/inter personal skills will create valuable opportunities in their personal and professional lives.

Below you can reference the CTF PowerPoint slides used during professional development to introduce the concept of enduring understandings to our staff.

Design Thinking

The first step in the process of creating a soft skills curriculum was to bond as a team, while getting the creative juices flowing so-to-speak. To do this CTF lead Kelsey Glass enlisted the help of her husband Matteo (Designer Extraordinaire) to come to Northglenn High School and lead us through a Design Thinking workshop. Through the Design Thinking process we worked in pairs, establishing a level of empathy for one another (through a series of "interviews") that allowed us to conceptualize a product that would make our partner’s life better in some way. We were led through the Design Thinking process illustrated below, reworking our designs a number of times based on our partners reaction to the prototype. In debriefing this experience we determined that having this level of empathy for the students that we serve, and maintaining it throughout the curriculum development process, would be critical in order to generate content that was accessible and engaging. We are doing this by building check points into the curriculum design process where we essentially pitch what we've come up with to the students that we serve in order to get their honest feedback. We are approaching our first check point this fall 2015, so more on that to come... In the meantime check out the links below to learn more about Design Thinking and how it can be used in the classroom.

Link: Ted Talk, Design Thinking & Education

Link: Design Thinking for Educators Toolkit

Welcome

Welcome to CTF 2.0! Members of the Curriculum Task Force have been recruited, based on their knowledge and passion, to be part of an elite team of educators known as CTF. CTF is a committee formed under the Youth Career Development Services (YCDS). This department of Goodwill Industries of Denver provides post-secondary preparation and planning to Colorado teens facing barriers to graduation and post-secondary success. We do this by contracting with over 35 schools where we offer a unique combination of classroom instruction, one on one case management, field trip coordination, mentoring, and volunteer events in order to provide robust and dynamic learning opportunities within the schools that we serve.  CTF assists in the professional development of YCDS staff while generating curriculum content that is rigorous but also maintains the fun, freedom, and flexibility that makes Youth Services an energetic powerhouse.  Currently CTF members are working towards the shared goal of creating a soft skills curriculum and certification. This curriculum will focus on work ethic, positive attitudes and self-motivation, healthy communication and conflict resolution, team working strategies and other soft skills that are necessary for student success inside the classroom and throughout their careers.  

This blog will serve as a process folio, as such we invite you to check in often as you will find progress updates, timelines, and glimpses into the project at hand. CTF members please use this space to share resources and feedback with one another, in doing so we can continue to be connected to each other and our purpose even while working from our individual school sites.

Thanks for checking us out and stay tuned!

Rebecca Bowman

Goodwill Industries of Denver

Middle School Support and Lead