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Hello Everyone! My name is Sue Love and I currently work as a general building aide and administration at an elementary school in Manchester, MA. I previously taught tennis for many years which led me to my desire to work with children in a school setting. After working for 2 years at an elementary school, I realized that special education was the direction I wanted to pursue . I have 2 sons who graduated from Endicott so I am thrilled to be following their footsteps.The meaning of curriculum to me is the overall outline of what needs to be taught to the student(s) and the actual lesson plans.

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Hi everyone, I am Taghrid and I am currently a paraprofessional in an integrated preschool classroom.
Even though the word “curriculum” sounds very complex, I feel it is very important because it sets expectations. Curriculum is a road map for teachers, students and parents that play a key role in school learning.. Now that sounds more complex :)

Coming from a different country
“Lebanon” and working in schools in the USA allowed me to understand why it is important to have a base to start with. The curriculum is that base which allow teachers to develop, plan, modify and shape students’ learning.

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Hello everyone, my name is Jessuly Karner (pronounced Jess-oo-lee). I currently teach first grade in a public school, but I previously taught 3rd and 4th grade in a private school as well. This fall I will be going into my fifth year of teaching.

In my first teaching position (a very small private school), I didn’t have access to much curriculum at all. (Our school had a math curriculum and I used a handwriting curriculum as well.) On top of being a first year teacher, I was creating most of my own curriculum with minimal resources. Looking back, it was such a hard year and it was very time consuming to plan my lessons. In the following years in that same position, we gained access to a new reading curriculum, and while it was so helpful to feel I had a guide to work off of, I realized it still takes a bit of time to dissect through a new curriculum so that I can understand and teach from it. Gaining familiarity with that reading curriculum by using it for more than one year, as well as the math curriculum, helped me feel more comfortable teaching.

When I talk about curriculum with other teachers, I notice that some feel bogged down by it. I think in their cases, they may feel stuck having to teach from their curriculum with no flexibility in making adjustments based on their teaching styles or their students’ learning needs. While I really appreciate the structure and guidance curriculum can offer, I still think teachers can adjust and enhance it from year to year especially to consider their students’ needs.

One thing that stood out to me from the article is the author’s viewpoint of curriculum, saying it is “anything and everything that teaches a lesson, planned or otherwise.” I never thought of the small unexpected teaching moments that pop up everyday as “curriculum” because I never planned these moments, but they are still moments of learning for the students.

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Hi there! My name is Ruth Furlong and I am currently a paraprofessional in an intensive preschool classroom, my students are mostly non verbal and have a range of diagnosis. I remember “Curriculum” becoming a buzz word when I was about 11 or 12, I am English and they developed the “National Curriculum” around that time. I mostly remember it being negative for the adults around me, it began an age of school inspections with a new government department called Ofsted who would arrive unannounced. In the early days many schools failed and head teachers were either reprimanded or fired. So initially I would hear the word curriculum and automatically equate that with “stress”. I have worked hard in my job, and with my own children, to rid myself of stress around that word. I have often used the standards for science particularly, it is not a subject that necessarily comes naturally to me, so to have the curriculum to ensure that my students are receiving topics beyond my natural instincts is incredibly important...without it I would be tempted to paint and read all day :-)

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Hi everyone, I'm Kayla and I teach 8th grade math at Higgins Middle School in Peabody! Curriculum has had a huge impact on my decision to teach middle school math, opposed to elementary or high school. I loveeee the standards covered specifically in 8th grade, because I can easily help my students to make real world connections in pre-algebra. While I have enjoyed math at every level, the curriculum in 8th grade has always been my favorite, and has led me to my first job at HMS. I also see curriculum as a road map, which is extremely beneficial for me being someone who likes to stay organized and have a plan for moving forward. Luckily in my district, there are curriculum maps created each year by the teachers that we use as a guideline for the entire year.

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Hello Everyone! My name is Kacey Maxner and I currently teach kindergarten. To me, curriculum means being able to create materials to teach to all of the levels of students in the classroom. It allows you to plan and prep what is needed to meet the standards being taught . Having a curriculum allows you to adapt and adjust to students individual needs. When I am teaching, I look at the curriculum and the standards to adjust to my classrooms needs and I use it to create engaging and appropriate lessons.

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My name is Dan Fraser, and I currently work at the Northshore Education Consortium, in the transition program, where we serve students aged 18-22 who have learning delays and/or intellectual disabilities. When I think of curriculum, I think of the plan a teacher or teachers has to present material for the classroom. A curriculum impacts teaching, because it not only gives teachers a plan to present information, but it also tells them what to present that matches local and federal teaching standards.

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