Quick fix teaching ....

'Reproducible activity pages ... for an instant lesson'

Above my desk for the past year or so, I have had the following quote, torn from an ASCD catalogue ....

A curriculum is not a list of places to visit, but an engaging and effective itinerary.

This quote, from the book 'Schooling by Design' by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, was ringing in my ears as I ventured out to a large educational supply store in Sydney.  I was on the hunt for some resources to help me plan some learning experiences for my younger student as the early years is not where my experience lies.

When I first walked into the store, I was overwhelmed by how big the store was, but it didn't take long before I realised that the shop was filled with a brightly coloured rubbish - a whole lot of books designed to make teachers' lives 'easier'. There were countless brain numbing titles such as 'Hassle Free Teaching Ideas for Every Day',  'Fast Finisher Activities', 'The Big Book of Themes' and 'Brilliant Activities for Gifted and Talented Students'.

The books I wanted to find were only available by order because 'we don't sell many of them'.  Based on this, it seems that many teachers are simply content to hit '25' on the photocopy machine and churn out the same blackline master for their class, year after year.    The saddest thing about my visit was when I was rummaging through some older books at the back of the store, and I found a book by my educational idol, Julie Landvogt.  This was my only book purchase of the day, because it seemed that the quality of the rest of the books was lacking.  

I am in a lucky position at the moment in that I have the unique opportunity to design and implement a curriculum for two very unique students and I have no plans for it to be a list of places (and BLMs) to tick off, more an engaging and effective itinerary that I hope Wiggins and McTighe would be proud of!