There are many benefits with integrating curriculum. One of the benefits is allowing youself to come out of your comfort zone as a teacher. Integrating Curriculum alows you to use many different tools to change the lessons and add variety to your classroom. As with anything, there are risks as well. As nice as it is to come out of your comfort zone, it is also a risk to someone who may not be as comfortable and flexible.
Al- you are right on target with your response. The fun part of integrating curriculum is indeed taking the risk and moving out of your comfort zone. Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If we continue to work within our comfort zone that we continue getting the same results. It is in the movement out of our comfort zone to we discover more and learn more.
Integrating curriculum enables us to provide a much more meaningful learning experience for our students. Giving them the various tools and resources to present what we are ultimately trying to get our students to understand is the main reason integration is such an important aspect of our careers. However, what happens if we don’t help those students to make those connections? What if they miss the main points we are trying to make and help them understand? I guess with every lesson and every unit that is a risk that we all take. However, if we ensure we are integrating as many important basic aspects as we beneficially can into our teaching, our ultimate outcome is beneficial and meaningful learning.
Kristie – your questions are valid and insightful. The other question might be, do we ALWAYS hit EVERY student when we teach? Using experiential learning and integration, we, as the teacher might just be able to address the needs of the hard to reach kid in a more effective way. Great questioning!!
The benefits of integrating curriculum are many to an elementary school teacher. By integrating Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Math a teacher will be able to cycle through topics both as introductions and reviews. It forces educators to break out of old models and embrace new techniques. One risk is, “Is an established educator willing to change?” Another risk is someone like me who only works in math, how will I be aware of the other curriculum of each grade level that is taught? I believe it can be achieved through team meetings, and constant dialogue by colleagues.
I agree. At the elem. level there is so much going on and people in many different directions. Putting one more thing on someone’s plate can turn them off. I think we have all had that feeling.
Integrating curriculum benefits the learning of the students. It enables them to fully grasp a topic or concept, to make connections and learn material better. So why not? It seems time consuming to develop a skill wheel for each idea.
Benefits:
-hit more subjects (elem level) at one time to cover more content
- higher interest level in students
- connections to real life
-less risk
-happier students
Risks:
-not on just one subject
-initial time to produce an integrated lesson (learning curve)
-team has not taken course – not at level of planning
Integrating curriculum is an important process for a group of teachers to undertake because it makes a strudent’s learning more concrete. I think we forget how difficult it was to go from class to class to class in a vain attempt to learn totally unrelated topics 45 minutes at a time. When the curriculum is integrated, the puzzle pieces that students gather throughout the day all belong to the same puzzle instead of 5 or 6 different puzzles. A significant risk is when this is not done well. Teachers must be highly collaborative in this model or face situations where a foundation for learning in one class has not been established in another. A lack of collaboration and communication among teachers could almost cause this model to perfrom even worse than a curriculum that has topics totally apart from one another.
Kevin, I agree with you. In being a focused math teacher, I worry about integrating other subjects that I may not be as familiar with into the curriculum. Rechel, I also agree with you in that it benefits the students and it’s better for them!
Integrating curriculum enjoys the benefits of involving all subject areas with a common purpose implemented by a selection of teachers to help students develop well-rounded skills and ideas. Teachers become more aware of other subject area skills as they focus on the students’ learning. Students are the winners as they are exposed to many different ways to learn a specific skill. Possible risks are the lack of cooperation, training, or interest of certain colleagues.
Integrating curriculum helps students to see the whole picture from many perspectives. I mentioned in class that when I was an undergrad student, the philosophy at the time was to address a theme from all perspectives; so when I was studying the Renaissance in history, I was also checking out the art, music, literature, etc. of that period, and it did help tie it all together for me. When students’ learning is allowed to expand in many directions, it’s easier for them to make the connections, and this is a major benefit. The trick is to get other faculty members to buy into the idea. Veteran faculty members are sometimes resistant to change, and there is always the concern about making sure students are adequately prepared for standardized testing.
(this post is from another participant and not me)
The benefits are far-reaching….by integrating curriculum, students are able to see the “big picture” associated with a specific topic of study. They are able to build upon a topic by integrating various trains of thought, such as, mathematics and logical thinking, the artristic perspective, facts, real life experiences, as well as creative writing and reading.
Thinking out-of-the box is all about taking risks and charting new territory. When students take risks, they are bound to learn new ways of thinking and new worlds open up for them.
There are many benefits with integrating curriculum. One of the benefits is allowing youself to come out of your comfort zone as a teacher. Integrating Curriculum alows you to use many different tools to change the lessons and add variety to your classroom. As with anything, there are risks as well. As nice as it is to come out of your comfort zone, it is also a risk to someone who may not be as comfortable and flexible.
Coming out of your comfort zone is one of the hardest this as a new teacher to do….I’ve been experiencing it!
Al- you are right on target with your response. The fun part of integrating curriculum is indeed taking the risk and moving out of your comfort zone. Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If we continue to work within our comfort zone that we continue getting the same results. It is in the movement out of our comfort zone to we discover more and learn more.
Integrating curriculum enables us to provide a much more meaningful learning experience for our students. Giving them the various tools and resources to present what we are ultimately trying to get our students to understand is the main reason integration is such an important aspect of our careers. However, what happens if we don’t help those students to make those connections? What if they miss the main points we are trying to make and help them understand? I guess with every lesson and every unit that is a risk that we all take. However, if we ensure we are integrating as many important basic aspects as we beneficially can into our teaching, our ultimate outcome is beneficial and meaningful learning.
Kristie – your questions are valid and insightful. The other question might be, do we ALWAYS hit EVERY student when we teach? Using experiential learning and integration, we, as the teacher might just be able to address the needs of the hard to reach kid in a more effective way. Great questioning!!
The benefits of integrating curriculum are many to an elementary school teacher. By integrating Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Math a teacher will be able to cycle through topics both as introductions and reviews. It forces educators to break out of old models and embrace new techniques. One risk is, “Is an established educator willing to change?” Another risk is someone like me who only works in math, how will I be aware of the other curriculum of each grade level that is taught? I believe it can be achieved through team meetings, and constant dialogue by colleagues.
I agree. At the elem. level there is so much going on and people in many different directions. Putting one more thing on someone’s plate can turn them off. I think we have all had that feeling.
Integrating curriculum benefits the learning of the students. It enables them to fully grasp a topic or concept, to make connections and learn material better. So why not? It seems time consuming to develop a skill wheel for each idea.
Benefits:
-hit more subjects (elem level) at one time to cover more content
- higher interest level in students
- connections to real life
-less risk
-happier students
Risks:
-not on just one subject
-initial time to produce an integrated lesson (learning curve)
-team has not taken course – not at level of planning
Integrating curriculum is an important process for a group of teachers to undertake because it makes a strudent’s learning more concrete. I think we forget how difficult it was to go from class to class to class in a vain attempt to learn totally unrelated topics 45 minutes at a time. When the curriculum is integrated, the puzzle pieces that students gather throughout the day all belong to the same puzzle instead of 5 or 6 different puzzles. A significant risk is when this is not done well. Teachers must be highly collaborative in this model or face situations where a foundation for learning in one class has not been established in another. A lack of collaboration and communication among teachers could almost cause this model to perfrom even worse than a curriculum that has topics totally apart from one another.
Kevin, I agree with you. In being a focused math teacher, I worry about integrating other subjects that I may not be as familiar with into the curriculum. Rechel, I also agree with you in that it benefits the students and it’s better for them!
Integrating curriculum enjoys the benefits of involving all subject areas with a common purpose implemented by a selection of teachers to help students develop well-rounded skills and ideas. Teachers become more aware of other subject area skills as they focus on the students’ learning. Students are the winners as they are exposed to many different ways to learn a specific skill. Possible risks are the lack of cooperation, training, or interest of certain colleagues.
Integrating curriculum helps students to see the whole picture from many perspectives. I mentioned in class that when I was an undergrad student, the philosophy at the time was to address a theme from all perspectives; so when I was studying the Renaissance in history, I was also checking out the art, music, literature, etc. of that period, and it did help tie it all together for me. When students’ learning is allowed to expand in many directions, it’s easier for them to make the connections, and this is a major benefit. The trick is to get other faculty members to buy into the idea. Veteran faculty members are sometimes resistant to change, and there is always the concern about making sure students are adequately prepared for standardized testing.
(this post is from another participant and not me)
The benefits are far-reaching….by integrating curriculum, students are able to see the “big picture” associated with a specific topic of study. They are able to build upon a topic by integrating various trains of thought, such as, mathematics and logical thinking, the artristic perspective, facts, real life experiences, as well as creative writing and reading.
Thinking out-of-the box is all about taking risks and charting new territory. When students take risks, they are bound to learn new ways of thinking and new worlds open up for them.