Deciding on a Curriculum

Being introduced to so much can new material over the past 48 hours has me thinking over and over, what it is I can and should include in my curriculum. In some ways I'm lucky to be restarting our program because I feel like I can go slowly, teach skills, and I don't feel pressure to begin to make a product right away. However, I am starting to feel pressure as I shape my units and lessons because I want to include all I have learned but know I won't have time to teach, model, and practice everything.

My vision is a digital publication that includes all types of media, so I know it's important my curriculum covers each type of media in some way, and I also know it's important for each of these lessons or units to be valuable rather than cursory. Currently, I have a list of 27 UNIT ideas, not lesson ideas, but unit ideas, and it's only day two of the institute. 

One of the ways I think I'll begin to solve this "problem" is by polling the kids because one of the points I took away from our diversity session this morning is the importance of buy in for creating a sustainable program. I want to know what they are interested in learning and creating and what skills they want to acquire. That way they leave with skills they will use, even if it's just for heir own edification, and I end up with natural advertisers. 

This may end up affecting the product we will eventually produce, and, even farther down the road, we may end up with a different configuration and/or focus in terms of media each year, but that flexibility might prove interesting as well.

Carver Weakley

Cosby High School

Midlothian, Virginia