Real World Curriculum
I’ve been irritated lately at work, and my students haven’t been the cause.
Supposedly there have been cutbacks at my school, as of late…and my school has put the kibosh on fieldtrips. Let me remind you that last year the sky was the limit and I was always reimbursed for not only trip costs, but lunches for the students as well.
I took a couple deep breaths, and decided that I could still take my kids out on educational trips sans cash. My first creative idea spawned an entirely new unit of study I cooked up: job skills. This mixed hygiene health, economics, and ELA and the unit of study would include resume building, how to dress and act on a job interview, how to fill out a job application and mock interviews for the students. The culmination would be a trip into the real world and to an open interview day at Old Navy where students could fill out applications. The students and parents were behind me in this, and I felt it was really useful to teach real-world application for academic skills.
Apparently I was wrong as my fieldtrip proposal was rejected. The reason? “Curriculum doesn’t cover this” was what my assistant principal wrote on my proposal. This confused me, because I tell my kids everyday that we come to school in order to be ready for the real world. I guess the real world and gainful employment isn’t part of my school’s curriculum.
Supposedly there have been cutbacks at my school, as of late…and my school has put the kibosh on fieldtrips. Let me remind you that last year the sky was the limit and I was always reimbursed for not only trip costs, but lunches for the students as well.
I took a couple deep breaths, and decided that I could still take my kids out on educational trips sans cash. My first creative idea spawned an entirely new unit of study I cooked up: job skills. This mixed hygiene health, economics, and ELA and the unit of study would include resume building, how to dress and act on a job interview, how to fill out a job application and mock interviews for the students. The culmination would be a trip into the real world and to an open interview day at Old Navy where students could fill out applications. The students and parents were behind me in this, and I felt it was really useful to teach real-world application for academic skills.
Apparently I was wrong as my fieldtrip proposal was rejected. The reason? “Curriculum doesn’t cover this” was what my assistant principal wrote on my proposal. This confused me, because I tell my kids everyday that we come to school in order to be ready for the real world. I guess the real world and gainful employment isn’t part of my school’s curriculum.
posted by Ms. C at 12:46 PM
3 Comments:
That's too bad. It sounded like a great idea to me. Maybe you could find something in the standards or mission statement or something to show your principal that is actually does fit.
I forget what grade level you teach- but there must be something on the ELA exam, or the English Regents (I would search old exams if I had to) that ties in with reading directions on a job application, how to fill out forms accurately- something has to tie in. This just all goes back to everything being about test scores, and real education not mattering.
Last time I checked, New York City was still part of New York State, which has Learning Standards for Career Development and Occupational Studies from elementary grades through high school.
http://tinyurl.com/34vzfz
Have you offended the Administration Gods? In our district anything that (a)has parental support (b)addresses an SED standard and (c)doesn't cost anything is an automatic "Go!"
Maybe there aren't any ELA or Math questions about employment...
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