How to Create a Curriculum that Flows

You became a teacher for a reason. I doubt your main motivator was the "vacation" and sweet hours (let's be real here...teachers put in A LOT of extra hours). You became a teacher because you wanted to make a positive impact on students and to shape their minds in your own unique way.

One of my favorite ways to engage students is to create a curriculum that is not only meaningful to me but useful for them. It's my chance to show them what made me fall in love with math. I get to reveal why the subject I teach is so interesting through the notes I create, the homework assignments I build, and the summative assessments I make.

If you're still reading this and you're not a teacher, but want to keep reading, then I'll tell you what curriculum is before we get started. :)

Curriculum is a standards-based sequence of planned experiences where students practice and achieve proficiency in content and applied learning skills.

Basically, it is the objectives, concepts, videos, pacing, sequencing, materials, and experiences students are provided with to engage with new content.

Even if I work in a place where the school provides me with resources and materials, there's a 95.7% chance that I'm going to create my own content and curriculum. It is part of my PROCESS for familiarizing myself with the subject and creating something that I feel totally comfortable using. For me to be able to teach in my style, I need to be able to teach with materials that match that style.

Creating your own curriculum is no easy task. It takes upwards of about 6 months to complete and then another 6 months to refine. However, once it's complete, you have a resource you can use and build on for a very long time.

Here are the steps I walk through to create my own curriculum:

1. First and foremost, make sure that you have the course objectives, school objectives, and state standards right in front of you. Mark these as important and use them to guide what you teach. There are things you WANT to teach and things you NEED to teach. The latter is what you should focus on; the former is what you can add in if there's time.

2. Grab the adopted textbook and get familiar with it. Make a copy of the Table of Contents and start highlighting the sections that align directly with the objectives for the course. Most textbooks cover WAY beyond the scope of your course. While that information might be interesting and fun, it's crucial that you stick to the required objectives and cover them in depth before exploring other concepts.

3. Once you know how many sections you need to cover, start working on your pacing guide and calendar. Map out how many sections there are, the number of TEACHING school days (account for holidays, pep rallies, snow days, game days, etc), the number of review and test days, review time for finals, and final exams.

1. If you have more sections than days, see if you can double up on any of the sections in one lesson. Or trim down a section to the essential information.

2. Also, when you're making your pacing guide and pairing up sections, try to figure out the best way the content flows for your teaching style. Personally, I rarely go in the order that the sections are laid out in the textbook. I try to create a cohesive story for the content that flows nicely from one topic to the next. Keep in mind, that what works for you, may not flow for the next person.

4. With your textbook, write an outline of specific concepts and content you need to cover. What's the most important? What aligns directly with your standards? What prepares students for the next course in their education plan? Take those specific objectives and write down

exactly what you need to cover that are in the book (vocabulary, definitions, theorems, examples, stories, articles, videos, rules, etc).

5. Use your outline to start writing notes. I like to write up guided notes that students can fill out while we talk in class. I've found that this saves a lot of waiting time for slow writers. Most of the writing is done and all students have to do it listen and fill in blank spots.

1. This is where you get to shine and put your spin on the textbook. Students can read, so try to avoid copying what's already in the book. Add your flare to it, include memory devices, pull in extra examples, use graphics to organize your thoughts, add stories, bring in pictures, do mind maps, and most of all, make it engaging. Think about how YOU would write notes if you were studying and recreate that for students. I like to make my guided notes in a way that will keep students writing and engaged the whole time. They do most of the work; I just provide the space for them to do that.

   1. Using your guided notes as a teaching tool and study guide allows for the textbook to be a complementary resource in their library of learning materials.

6. As you finish a section or chapter of notes, create the associated assessments. While the content is fresh on your mind, pick homework questions and classroom activities that would enrich their

learning. Also, don't forget to make projects, quizzes, and tests that align directly with the objectives and what you taught specifically in class. I've found that when you make assessments right after you made the notes, that they flow better with what you cover in class.

a. Try to make the wording on your assessments match the language in your textbook, notes, and any upcoming standardized tests.

7. BONUS: After you feel comfortable and acquainted with the content, start making video lessons. I started doing this because 1. I teach online classes and 2. For in person classes, when students are gone for an extended time due to illness or if I'M gone for an extended time, having videos on file to share makes life a lot easier.

I like to keep a notebook of all the content I've created so that as I teach, I can make memos of things I need to adjust for next time. Sometimes, as I create notes, I think it flows really smoothly but while I teach it feels uncomfortable and clunky. I try to make notes of that and rearrange content to flow better next time. If a test you made was a total flop, revamp it. If a homework was too long or too short, adjust it. If you found that you needed more depth on a concept, take it a bit further in your notes.

Nothing we create is perfect and even when we get it just the way we want it, our students' needs change. Be open to making adjustments every year, make data driven decisions, and be flexible to ever changing standards. Your curriculum will never be perfect, BUT your curriculum can always be improving over time.