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PV Superintendent’s Conference Day Underscores Continuity of Curriculum
 | | Second Grade teachers meet at Putnam Valley Elementary School on December 5th. |
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The Putnam Valley Central School District (PVCSD) held its December Superintendent’s Conference Day on, December 5th. In contrast to the November conference day, at which teachers in various disciplines met district-wide to review curriculum in individual content areas, the December sessions comprised individual meetings in each of the three Putnam Valley Schools.
Putnam Valley Elementary School teachers met by grade in order to develop “core” (agreed upon) curriculum maps in writing. This was accomplished in all grades at our Elementary School from grades Kindergarten through Grade 4.
Putnam Valley Middle School teachers met with the K-12 Coordinators (individuals who supervise the districtwide curriculum in individual content areas), at their school from 12:15 to 3:45 PM. A significant amount of this time was spent working on interdisciplinary discussions and curriculum alignment.
High School teachers met with the K-12 Coordinators and/ or their Department Coordinators, at their school from 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Again, a significant amount of this time was spent working on interdisciplinary discussions and curriculum alignment. These schedules were the result of collaboration between the PVCSD administration and the Putnam Valley Federation of Teachers (PVFT).
Questions that were focused on during content area discussions included:
1. Why is this skill/content/ unit important to teach? 2. Can your students use the vocabulary word/skill, etc. when speaking or writing? What is the evidence of this? How do you know? 3. Do they know how to apply the action in vocabulary or other curriculum, i.e., do they know how to analyze or to compare and contrast? What is the evidence of this? 4. Do you as a teacher design your curriculum and instruction so that students have the opportunity to support these skills? How?
Questions to answer during interdisciplinary sessions included: (This is the math/science example; the same would apply to ELA/Social Studies)
1. Discuss what math concepts are taught that can be applied in the science class, or how science can be integrated into the math curriculum. 2. Evaluate maps and if necessary make changes to current maps so the students can make connections across the disciplines. 3. How can we integrate the subjects? Do we have any interdisciplinary units or opportunities to collaborate on projects that cover both content areas?
Teachers were encouraged to take notes in each session to be turned in at the end of the day.
PVES parent Eileen Clements, who is a parent representative to the PVCSD Professional Development Committee, wrote in a letter to district parents, “I am confident that the time given to our teachers is valuable and effective. The Superintendent’s Conference Day in November was spent working across grade levels to create curriculum maps that will serve as incredibly useful tools, for administrators,
teachers and parents. When the maps are completed, we will all be able to determine what skills and content are being taught at each grade level.
“The Core maps, the agreed upon material at each grade level, will ensure that each teacher is covering the same material, in a similar way, leveling the playing field for all students. The [December] staff development session will be spent meeting the differing needs of each building. The elementary staff will be continuing their work on writing Core maps. Their focus this time is specific to writing. The Middle and High School staff will begin their work on interdepartmental collaboration. Teachers will examine their existing maps to look for ways to coordinate their instruction so that students are able to make cross-curricular connections. Imagine being a student where what you are learning in one class, actually has a connection to your other classes!
“I wish there were a way to keep our kids in school while we allow our teachers the time they need to improve instruction. The fact is that these two endeavors can’t coincide. These disruptions are difficult, but exciting! Our school district is improving and our teachers are working hard to improve on what they already do so well.”
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