tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post8532437083890095121..comments2023-11-05T05:39:14.998-05:00Comments on Going to the Mat: The Tempered Radical: Creativity is Dead, Ken. . .Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01352443552682708733noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9725220.post-42089192205212477492009-03-03T17:09:00.000-05:002009-03-03T17:09:00.000-05:00Matt wrote:My sense is that if schools start with ...Matt wrote:<BR/>My sense is that if schools start with the notion that they really don't have a full 180 days of instruction time, you can start to build a real, realistic curriculum.<BR/><BR/><BR/>You know what I struggle with, Matt: Trying to figure out just who needs to take the first step in this whole process! <BR/><BR/>When I read "schools start with the notion," I honestly feel powerless because I see myself as "schools," and operating from the notion that I only have 100 days means I need to hack away at the curriculum mightily in order to fit everything in. <BR/><BR/>My resistance to hacking, though, is there's a real chance that whatever I hack is going to be on the exam---which remains the only criteria that I'm evaluated on. So instead of winnowing out standards, I feel pressure to try to touch on everything even if I know that I'm not going to do a good job on anything. <BR/><BR/>The other hitch in leaving these decisions in the hands of teachers is that there will be little consistency in what's hacked! The quality of the hacker will impact the quality of the instruction that kids get. We're back to the kinds of hit and miss behaviors that weaken education in general. <BR/><BR/>My personal hope would be that the bodies who approve curricula would send us relatively stripped down documents to begin with. I know that's unlikely for all of the reasons you mention, but that is the most responsible solution to this mess. <BR/><BR/>Does this make any sense?<BR/>BillAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com