Calendar-based+Mapping+(article)

The Need for Calendar-Based Curriculum Mapping
From Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment K–12 by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

In the fall of 1988, I was asked to work with a New Jersey school district to help refine their curriculum articulation and integration. In a conversation with a 7th grade team, I asked, "What will you actually be teaching this year?" The English teacher smiled and responded, "You mean what will each of us actually be doing tomorrow?" I thought for a moment and answered, "Well, at least let's get an idea about September, October, and so on. How can we integrate the curriculum if we don't know what it is?"

At this point the building principal interjected, "But we do have our district curriculum guides." The science teacher looked skeptical: "Yes, but those aren't necessarily accurate. They are guidelines, but they are not exactly what we work on in class."

We began to lay out the year's plan on index cards across a library table, and one truth became evident. The one thing that the English, social studies, science, math, foreign language, technology, and art teachers had in common was September, October, and November. Each had to deal with the Gregorian calendar. And it became plain to me that by using the school calendar, the teachers could begin to create a realistic picture of their program in a clear, practical fashion. Teachers always have used the school year calendar to make their plans. But in the past they have not had the technology to collect real-time information about the actual curriculum including content, skills, and assessment data. After my New Jersey experience, I began asking teaching teams at the elementary, middle, and high school level to try using the school calendar to collect basic information about their curriculum plans such as unit titles, projects, and materials. The response was consistently positive. Not only did people find the calendar an honest vehicle for communication about the curriculum, but they reported it was far more efficient than reading through lists of curriculum guidelines from other departments.

Using maps to inject information processing skills into the core curriculum

Mapping as a staff development opportunity for quality communication about curricular renewal.

Though teachers may work together in the same building for years, they usually have sketchy knowledge about what goes on in each other's classrooms. High school teachers on the same corridor have no clue as to their colleagues' books, concepts, and assignments. A middle school team may work diligently on its specific program but have limited information about any other team in the building. Elementary schools can be nurturing environments but fundamentally a collection of one-room schoolhouses.

Without a commitment to when a skill will be taught, there is no commitment. Furthermore, skills are not taught in a vacuum. They are addressed in application to content, and they are evidenced in a product or performance by the learner.