Patricia Cozza
Mod. 3 Essay – (I have eliminated the teachers name since this is in my portfolio)
Teacher and Librarian Perspectives on Curriculum Mapping
School Name:
Donald E. Schick Elementary
Address:
2800 Four Mile Drive, Montoursville, PA
Grade level taught:
4th grade
Subjects:
Self-contained classroom: Reading, Writing, Math, Social Studies and
Science
Years Teaching:
8 years
SLMS:
Full time SLMS
Upon my interview with a 4th grade self-contained classroom teacher, I informed her that we
were going to discuss curriculum mapping. Often this is a dirty word at Schick Elementary. She
was respectful, yet hesitant. Very few teachers at Schick Elementary are very excited by the
idea of curriculum mapping. The 4th grade teacher and I believe it is because we really do not
have a firm grasp of the concept of mapping.
About seven years ago, the district superintendent discovered a software program titled, Tech
Paths. Tech Paths is a software program that allows all teachers within the district to create
maps of their individual curriculum. This software is not very user friendly and very
cumbersome to work with. With this being said, the faculty has struggled as a whole to get a
handle on the software issues and the concept of what exactly administration is looking for.
The recently departed Superintendent would always equate this mapping as, “a living,
breathing curriculum”. Having the ability to adjust and adapt as you teach your daily lessons.
This software allows you to design your curriculum to achieve vertical and horizontal alignment
within the PA state standards. According to Ken Dillon “mapping is a sampling of units taught”.
This is not the ideal in the district and has caused a lot frustration within the faculty.
All content areas are being mapped within the district, even when a curriculum is prescriptive
in nature (ie: Everyday Math). So, it is easy to see why anyone in this building would be
apprehensive to speak about curriculum mapping. This teacher and I have recently worked
collaboratively on a fourth grade science exploration. This made her the perfect subject for this
interview. The project was a report on vertebrae. Students needed to utilize the library for
information to complete a comprehensive research project. The fourth grade teacher taught
the introduction and follow up to this unit. As the librarian, I assisted with the fact finding,
which incorporated instruction on the use of the Power Library.
We utilized this unit as a means of reflection with this curriculum mapping model. As we
worked though the data collection chart, we found how important this information truly is. It
was found that having a well thought out plan for instruction (or map) the librarian could make
sure that the appropriate materials were available to accommodate student’s needs. The
teacher just assumed that the library was able to provide current and accurate information for
her students. This reflective discovery allowed the teacher and librarian to see the need to
supplement the library materials for more current information. The fourth grade teacher was
pleasantly impressed with the information that students were able to obtain via the Power
Library. These discoveries allowed the teacher and librarian to make adjustments to what and
how students will work on this project next year.
Through this comprehensive discussion both parties were able to see the importance that
curriculum mapping makes for providing students current and accurate information as well as
balanced instruction. Sharing of maps would allow the teacher and librarian an opportunity to
make sure that all areas of instruction are adequately taught, this sharing need not be done
face to face. It could be done just by completing the data collection chart and emailing it to
either party. Utilizing this mapping data collection sheet it was concluded that this unit would
be better prepared next year. This tool allowed the teacher/librarian team to balance the
instruction to suit the needs of the students as information gatherers. It was found that
through sharing of maps, different expectations of the children were expected; this was a great
avenue for improvement. We believe that this conversation has enlightened both parties to an
issue that has caused a great sense of anxiety amongst our peers. It was felt that this greater
understanding will help the teacher/librarian team impress upon our colleagues the value of
curriculum mapping.