Pub. 3 2013-2014 Issue 1

13 Students then construct their own maps of the thirteen colonies which integrates an art component as well. Quality stories and books that go with the American Revolution are used to teach the core standards of Reading Informational Text and Reading Literature. The Core Speak- ing and Listening standards can also be incorporated with this. Acting out the major events of the revolution while teaching about US symbols, characters, setting, cos- tumes, props, and scripts, integrates the drama, U.S. symbols and figures objectives. Writing objectives are included by having the students write about the main ideas of each major event. Final- ly, by discussing what it means to be a good citizen, students learn what the heroes of the American Revolution and the founding fathers can teach us about being a good citizen. High School Integration: crossing curriculums Knowing how to effectively inte- grate subjects across curriculums in a high school setting can be tricky. An article titled More About Curriculum Integration lays out a process that is succinct and simple: Once the basic content is laid out over each month, you can review the curriculum map and determine if there are topics that can be moved to earlier or later in the units to better conform to what is being covered in other subject areas.” (More about Curriculum Integration, http://www. cliweb.org/more-about-curriculum-in- tegration/ , Curriculum Leadership In- stitute) Obviously this will take a lot of work, flexibility and collaboration with teachers across subject areas, but connections between math and science, English and history, foreign language and art are not hard to find once you start. If by working together you are able to save time and cover material more quickly and efficiently, it is worth the effort. 2-Collaborate! Don’t try to do it all on your own. You can collaborate as grade level teams, special education teams, specialties teams, and parent- teacher organizations to help coordi- nate efforts. Collaborating with others provides fresh ideas and insights that will improve your weaker areas. Without this collaboration, precious time is wasted. Talk to your administrators about allotting more grade level time to col- laborate. Although you can’t control how they respond, in this age of technology there are ways to collabo- rate that we never dreamed possible twenty years ago! Free online tools like My Big Cam- pus ( www.mybigcampus.com )  allow teachers, parents, administrators and students to connect and collabo- rate. Once registered you can create groups, share curriculum clusters, and collaborate freely both within your school and with other schools across the country. Where To Start? Curriculum maps and pacing guides are important tools to help you plan out the school year. Curriculum maps disclose what materials you will cover over the year. A pacing guide helps you calendar each topic covered so you don’t waste valuable time de- ciding what to teach each week. There are many examples of curriculum maps and pacing guides online. Websites of large districts and of curriculum publishers are great resources for these. In addition, you can collaborate with your grade level team by dividing out subjects and then combining your efforts. As you prepare your pacing guide, keep it flexible to allow for a snow day or additional time on subjects your students struggle with. If you leave a few unplanned weeks at the end of the year, you’ll know you have extra time should the need arise. In addition, you can put this guide in your substitute binder. Then, if an emergency comes up, your substitute can follow your pacing guide. Finally, if you are a first year teacher, shadow a more experienced teacher in your grade level. This can give you a good understanding of the curriculum and an over-arching view of how the components fit together. Know what components you are trying to fit in.  Really care about each component you place in your sched- ule, and add new components one at a time. Depending on your stage of teaching, focus on the things that will make the biggest difference for you during the school year. Plan ahead so you can more effectively integrate curriculum and collaborate with your peers.  Gradually you will be able to fit it all in without missing a beat! Aimee Hall    ahall@gfautah.org Aimee Hall was honored with the 2013 Charter School Teacher of the Year. Kim Flewallen kflewallen@pfa.cc   Kim teaches math and French at Freedom Academy.  She earned her bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in 1995 in Secondary Math with a minor in Music Education. She earned a Master’s in Educational Leadership in 2010 fromArgosy University. She also adjuncts for BYU-I, UVU, and Argosy University.