One of your assignments in ED 680 will be to identify topics you will be teaching about during the coming year so you can make some meaningful cultural connections to the content. Therefore, it is important for you to arrive in Juneau with knowledge of the standards and curriculum to be covered in your grade level and discipline.
Please spend some time familiarizing yourself with the concept of academic standards by clicking on this link. Additionally, please study the specific content and performance standards for your grade level and discipline by exploring the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development site: https://education.alaska.gov/akstandards/ (paste this link in your browser and then navigate around within the site to learn about your standards; it may take some time to locate the most pertinent information so be persistent). While you are looking at the content and performance standards on the DEED website, please explore the Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools as well; focus in on the “curriculum standards” within the booklet.
If possible, contact your host teacher to find out some topics that you might be addressing in the coming year. For example, if you are an aspiring English teacher, and you will be teaching a 9th grade American literature unit, get the novel list from your host teacher. If you are an aspiring biology teacher, ask your host teacher what topics or units you might be expected to teach and get the name of the textbook – better yet, bring a copy of the textbook or get a link to the electronic version. If you are not able to contact your host teacher directly, explore the school district website to see if can locate information about the curriculum.
Image Source: Old Books. Link.
