Book Talk: Student-Oriented Curriculum

13. Not all students immediately embrace this approach to developing curriculum.
I think a majority of people, teachers and students alike, might not immediately embrace such rapid change to their schools. Also, students like myself, who are super driven may not believe that they will learn as much from something that they themselves develop compared to the experienced teacher.

14. Conscious effort is needed to maintain focus on your long-term goals.
I feel this is something that needs to focused on with a traditional classroom, let alone a classroom where the students are have more say. Students might get really interested in a certain subtopic of the whole unit and want to spend forever doing stuff with it. If teachers lose track of the long-term goals, the class might not progress at the appropriate rate and students will be behind when they advance to the next grade.

15. A student-centered curriculum is demanding yet rewarding.
Since I have never actually experienced this type of curriculum I am not entirely sure. However, I feel that it would be more difficult to release most of the reins to the students, which would make this type of curriculum demanding. I myself, would constantly have to keep myself in check and not become too much in charge, which could be taxing. However, by the examples provided in this book, this system seems to grab students attention which therefore makes it very rewarding because the students learn more!

16. A student-centered curriculum requires adequate preparation and knowledge of oneself.
I feel like a student-centered curriculum requires more preparation than a traditional one because of the variety that can happen. In a traditional classroom, the teacher plans everything and can prepare once for the entire unit, unless something major happens. However, a student-led curriculum can change every minute with the students basically running the show. Teachers then need to be prepared for the completely unexpected plus what the students already decided on. Like I said in the above reflection, I would struggle with this kind of system because I would want to take charge. That is just my personality. I would have to really work at this type of curriculum, which required me to actually know my own personality.