How Big is this Iceberg, Anyway?

How Big is this Iceberg, Anyway?

When it comes to my own learning, I am a big picture gal. I love to read my theoretical texts and then see application of those ideas, while I am mentally trying to get my arms around both concepts and applications. This is where I am at today, after observing a professional learning committee (PLC) meeting and reading our chapters in “Teaching English by Design” by Peter Smagorinsky and “Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards” by Richard Beach, Amanda Thein, and Allen Webb. 

In the PLC meeting I observed, the team of teachers discussed a draft unit plan, which had been written utilizing a backward design framework. The plan had all of the bells and whistles we are learning about in ED330 and ENG481 – essential questions, Common Core standards, assessments, various texts, strategies to differentiate learning, et cetera. It is really quite exciting to see our class discussions in a true application. So what is there to grapple with???

For starters, when I read the Smagorinsky text, I feel like a little kid in a candy store without any money. There is this array of wonderful things to choose from, right in front of my eyes and nose, yet I cannot take anything just yet. Smagorinsky discusses great ideas about overarching curricular themes and utilizing portfolios as a means of assessment. Beach, et al, discuss quite thoroughly how to select and assign texts. I am led to wonder, however, how much of these penny candies will be left up to me to choose on my own, or will most of the choices be made in committee in a PLC?  How much of what we are learning in theory, which seems to be targeted to individual teachers in our texts rather than committees, truly reflects the way actual curricula are designed out there in the real world?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against PLCs, in fact, I was quite impressed with what I saw in the meeting. I think PLCs are a fabulous means to ensure curriculum is appropriate, teachers are on the same page, and to nurture teachers’ reflective practices. I hope to work in a school which utilizes the PLC model because I believe it can help me develop my potential as a teacher.

I am left to wonder then, will I walk into my first teaching position excited and armed with all of these cool ideas from Smagorinsky and Beach, only to be told, “Hold your horses, we’ve got a committee for that!” How much of the big picture have I seen and comprehended? Am I still looking at the tip of the iceberg, is there much more to be revealed as I jump into the water? Am I nit-picking the narrative viewpoint of the texts, when I could or should be focusing on something else? Should we be looking at curriculum design more from a collective viewpoint rather than an individual viewpoint, in order to simulate real world curriculum design? These are yet some of the big picture ideas I am grappling with now that I have read our chapters and attended the PLC meeting regarding unit curriculum design. I don’t want to put my arms around the tip of the iceberg, I want to see and understand that block of ice in its entirety. So how big is this iceberg, anyway?