Conceptualizing content is a matter of articulating what we will explicitly teach or explicitly focus on in the course and knowing why we have made those choices. It also involves choosing the organizing principle or principles that will help to tie the content together. (Graves, 2000, p.39).
The process of conceptualizing content is a multifaceted one which involves:
- Thinking about what we want your students to learn in the course, given who they are, their needs, and the purpose of the course
- Making decisions about what to include and emphasize and what to drop
- Organizing the content in a way that will help us to see the relationship among various elements so that we can make decisions about objectives, materials, sequence and evaluation.
The product of conceptualizing content is a kind of syllabus in that it delineates what we will teach. The form is like mind map, grid, list, flow chart, how detailed it is, whether it is one that someone else can interpret and use. Also we have to know a framework for organizing the ways or categories for conceptualizing content. There are 3 categories for conceptualizing content : focus on language, focus on learning and learners, and focus on social context. (Graves, 2000, p43)
Mind map is a good tool for conceptualizing for teachers so I searched appropriated examples for young children on google. This is a really good example about math curriculum of pre-k.
It’s awesome to see the syllabus at a glance but Explanation full of implications was not enough to let other understand it.
http://www.gogeometry.com/geometry/geometry_children_pre_k_mind_map.html
Chapter 8 Developing Materials
The materials development means creating, choosing or adapting, and organizing materials and activities so that students can achieve the objectives that will help them reach the goals of the course (Graves, 2000, p.150). Decisions about developing materials are rooted in your beliefs, understandings, and experience. They also depend on your goals and objectives, the way you conceptualize the content of the course, the way you organize and sequence your course, and your understanding of your students’ needs (Graves, 2000, p.166).
As a program coordinator, I devoted lots of time to develop materials such as worksheets, activity plans or workbooks but sometimes I felt just like Iris Broudy “I must remember that it is not the materials themselves, but what the students do with them that is important. At the same time, I need to keep reminding myself that materials can be developed without high-tech resources and hours of planning, and those may be the ones that best respond to the immediate need of the students” (Graves, 2000, p.167).
Through this chapter, I have an opportunity my idea about developing materials. Flexibility is important so that we can provide materials that are engaging and appropriate and also allow our students to use them productively in the classroom.
Chapter 9 Adapting a textbook
When we are using textbooks in our classroom, there are advantages and disadvantages of textbooks as below,
advantages
- It provides a syllabus for the course because the authors have made decisions about what will be learned and in what order.
- It provides security for the students because they know what to expect and what is expected of them.
- It provides a set of visuals, activities, readings, etc., and so saves the teacher time in finding or developing such materials.
- It provides teachers with a basis for assessing student’s learning.
- It may include supporting materials.
- It provides consistency within a program across a given level, if teachers use the same textbook.
disadvantages
- The content or examples may not be relevant or appropriate to the group you are teaching.- The content may not be at the right level.- There may be too much focus on one or more aspects of language and not enough focus on others, or it may not include everything you want to include.
- There may not be right mix of activities.- The sequence is lockstep.
- The activities, readings, visuals, etc. may be boring.
- The material may go out of date
- The timetable for completing the textbook or parts of it may be unrealistic.
Whenever I had to choose the appropriate textbooks at the beginning of new semester, I felt that it was really difficult to decide it. Graves mentioned about 4 steps for ongoing assessment ands decision making.
Stage 1 Planning how to teach with the text
Stage 2 Teaching with the text
Stage 3 Replanning how to teach
Stage 4 Reteaching
It’s a good idea to reuse and reteach with the same textbook and put the small note such as post-it on the book. But our foreign English teachers go back to their own country after finishing 1-year contract(we support them to issue 1 year working visa as an English instructor) therefore it’s hard to reteach it. But each time we try to go through the cycle of planning, teaching, replanning and reteaching with current teachers before they leave here in order to become more comfortable making choices about what to emphasize, what to leave out, and where to supplement and personalize the material.
Good job, Soo Yeun.
ReplyDeleteThe Math curriculum mind map example is simple and comprehensive. The concept of time is missing but it is out of our focus at the momment. I'd love to see a similar Language Art curriculum or your own, as a base for further comments. Good luck in your endeavours.