Final Curriculum Project

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL
New Horizon Middle School: Career Readiness and Community Engagement

Josh Morrow, Lindsey Davis, Meredith Schmitt, Samantha Kelly
Miami University
Team Organization (EDT252M Focus)

1. Organization Structure of Middle School
Belief statement
We believe that partnerships between school and community play
an integral role in the development and growth of students in an
urban school setting. We will create an environment to benefit the
growth of their future personal and professional lives through a
focus on literacy and community involvement. We believe every
student deserves career success. As teachers, we will be
responsible to promote an active learning environment for our
students professionalism in their future lives.
Team expectations
Teachers will be held with very high expectations to work
extensively with students to ensure that they are going to be
contributing members of the community. These high expectations
include mutual respect amongst all teachers, students, and
community members.
Organizational structure of the team
Programs and policies that foster health, wellness, and safety

o Before school program to invite families to school for breakfast and
student presentations on their career readiness.
o Will incorporate self-defense instruction into PE class.
o Health information included in science class.
Guidance and support services
o Multiple guidance counselors
o School psychologist
o Provide access to resources such as crisis hotline
High school students come into Middle School and mentor junior
high students
2. Background of Students and Community
Demographics
50% Black, 30% Hispanic, 10% White, 10% Other
80% free/reduced lunches
60% living in govt assisted housing
65% living in single-parent homes, 20% married parents, 15% living
with grandparents or other legal guardian(s)
Description of community
Realistic tensions
Recent decline in gang violence and drug abuse
Racial dispute and conflict
Good sense of community within neighborhoods
Many impoverished neighborhoods
Description of connections among home, school, and community
Want to support local businesses as a result of helping our students
Examples:
Culinary Arts Kitchens, bakeries
Teaching Placements in local classrooms
Sports Management Work with athletic director of the school
Accounting/Finance Accountant, finance chair of school board
Medical Professionals Doctors offices, hospitals
Lawyers Law firms, court system, law enforcement
And more
o
3. Lesson Plan Organizers

Two lesson plan organizers
Lesson Plan 1 (Career Tech Education)
Student Performance Objective:
Students will be able to
1. Explain various details of several jobs, including ones that they did not
personally research. For example, salary, benefits, environmental impacts,
what the job entails, clientele, working schedule, financial aspects, job
demand, amount of travel for work, etc.
Ohio Learning Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a
topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of relevant content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards
1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce

and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas
efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and
generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues
of exploration.
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search
terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote
or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and
following a standard format for citations.
CCSS. ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time
for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or
a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Literacy Rationale and Component:
The students will be focusing a lot of their time on reading about their given job.
This could be in the form of a book, magazine, Internet sources, or any other
academic source. From that they will be creating some sort of visual model to
present their project with as well as a short essay explaining what they have
learned.
Key Academic Language:
Clientele, finance
Materials:
References: book, magazine, Internet sources, or any other academic source
Laptop cart
Projector & screen
5 x 7 notecards
Instructional packet
Dry erase board
Dry erase markers
Procedure:
1. Hand out instructional packet (guidelines enclosed)
2. Explain the student objectives and purpose of the lesson
3. Show example of a past student presentation
4. Hand out laptops and inform them of other resources available in the
library
5. Split students up into 5-6 groups and let them decide their career of
interest to research (career options listed in packet)
6. Answer any questions before they begin researching
7. Give students the whole class period to research and inform them that the
next class period will be set aside to create their presentation that will be
presented in front of the class (third class will be presentations)

8. We will then give the students the next class period to get together a
powerpoint and get their presentation ready to present to the class the
next day.
9. The third day will be student presentations. Students will present what
they have learned to the class as well as turn in a personal reflection
about their experience with the project. After all the presentations the
students will turn in an exit slip with one fact about each job that was
presented.
Differentiations:
Kinesthetic- hands on learning (making powerpoint/trifold)
Intrapersonal- students independently write reflective paper about information
gained
Interpersonal- student collaborate with group members to create final
presentation
Visual- students include various pictures and graphs on their presentation
Auditory- students listen to presentations being conducted
Logical- follows an order for the procedure which includes, picking a topic,
researching, creating powerpoint, and writing a paper
Linguistic- orally present their own presentation
Assessment:
We will assess the students through walking around during research, the actual
presentation from the students, as well as an exit slip where they will have to tell
us one fact about each job that was presented.
Lesson Plan 2 (Financial Literacy)
Student Performance Objectives:
1) Generally explain what incomes equate to what class (lower class, middle
class, etc.).
2) Define and manage a fixed income.
3) Identify the difference between fixed and variable expenses.
4) Explain a strategy for maintaining saving and a pan for retirement.
5) Communicate in writing their needs within the project each week.
6) Explain what political and economic factors affect their personal budget.
Ohio Learning Standards for Financial Literacy:
1) Financial Responsibility/Decision Making
a) Financial responsibility entails being accountable for
managing money in order to satisfy ones current and future
economic choices.
b) Financial responsibility involves life-long decision-making
strategies which include consideration of alternatives and
consequences.
2) Income and Careers
a) Competencies (knowledge and skills), commitment

(motivation and enthusiasm), training, work ethic, abilities
and attitude are all factors impacting ones earning potential.
b) Income sources include job earnings and benefits, business
earnings, saving and investment earnings, government
payments, grants, inheritance, and more.
c) Taxes, retirement, insurance, employment benefits, and both
voluntary and involuntary deductions impact take-hone pay.
3) Planning and Money Management
a) Financial responsibility includes the development of a
spending and savings plan (personal budget).
b) Financial literacy includes a decision-making strategy on
purchasing.
c) Financial institutions offer a variety of product and service to
address financial responsibility.
d) Financial experts provide guidance and advice on a wide
variety of financial issues.
e) Planning for and paying local, state, and federal taxes is a
financial responsibility.
4) Consumerism
a) Consumerism choices consistent with ones financial plan
including decision-making strategies on purchasing.
b) Consumer advocates, organization, and regulations provide
important information and help protect against potential
consumer fraud.
c) Utilizing financial services and risk management tools and
interpreting and comparing consumer lending statements,
terms, and conditions enable one to be an informed
consumer.
d) Consumer protections laws help safeguard individuals from
fraud and potential loss.
e) Planned purchasing decisions factor in direct (price) and
indirect costs (e.g. sales/use tax, excise tax, shipping,
handling, delivery charges, etc.).
5) Risk Management and Insurance
a) A risk management plan can protect consumers from the
potential loss of a person and/or business asset or income.
b) Safeguards exist the help to protect ones identity.
c) Diversification of assets is one way to manage risk.
d) A comprehensive insurance plan (health, life, disability, auto,
homeowners, renters, liability, etc.) serves as a safeguard
against potential loss.
Literacy Rational and Component:
We chose to have our students be responsible for researching, reading, and
documenting the various costs that will impact their budget. They will be

provided with resources for this task such as computers, local classifieds, and
other resources that they will request that we are able to reasonably provide.
Students will also be asked to write detailed journal entries of each part of the
project to ensure that students are able to record their experience through
writing.
Budgeting, fixed income/salary, fixed expenses, variable expense, retirement,
dependents, utilities, net income
Materials:
Folders
Worksheets
Journals
Computers
Local advertisements
Scissors
Poster paper
Calculators
Writing utensils
Procedure:
Students will develop a budget and journal based on the following from which
they will draw from cards in a bucket. This lesson will last 6 weeks and each
week will represent a month. Each month, the students will draw another card
that will give them a situation that they must adjust their budget to.
1. Students will draw out their education and income levels from a bucket.
2. Students will draw out their family size and marital status from a bucket.
3. Students will begin searching and documenting the following items:
a. A place to live (apartment or house)
b. Cost of utilities (phone, electric, gas, cable, internet)
c. Transportation (car and gas)
d. Furniture
e. Day care
f.
Vacations
g. Savings
h. Food (home or eating out)
i.
Recreation (movies, videos, events, concerts, etc.)
j.
Insurance (car, home, life, health)
k. Credit buying
l.
Healthy (fitness memberships, wellness)
m. Clothing
n. Any other necessity or convenience not listed they might need or
enjoy that they can afford based on income
4.
Students will be given monthly Budget Outline to fill out their incomes,
expenses, and savings. This will document items such as net income, total
cost, savings, etc.
5. Students will draw situation cards and will be asked to make informed
decisions on how to best adjust their budget to that particular situation and
write their decisions in their journal.
6. Students will be keeping a journal of events that they have gone through
during this budget simulation. Journals must include but are not limited to
a. Daily events that happened in class and their initial reaction to each
event
b. Documented time and effort used to find resources to fill out the
budget sheet
c. Discussion of some of the positive aspect of the income and family
situation each student encounters
d. Discussion of some of the negative aspects of the income and family
situation each student encounters
e. Detail of any decision making process and give reasoning why that
was deemed the best alternative
f.
Provide pictorial evidence of purchase (actual accounts of
advertisements, utility bills, newspaper classifieds, etc.). Divide into
monthly sections.
7. Students will present their findings to their classmates in small groups.
Differentiations:
Logic/Mathematical- Students will use logic to figure out the most effective way
for meeting their needs within their designated incomes. Students will use
mathematics to create a budget and total their costs within their designated
situations.
Spatial- Visualize the organization of their homes within buying furniture activity
on floor plan poster.
Interpersonal- Students will be in groups and will be permitted to collaborate
together. They will also be presenting their findings within small groups.
Intrapersonal- Students will be completely most of the project individually based
on their single income and situation.
Visual- Students will complete a floor plan within the buying furniture activity,
include pictures of their purchases and expenses, and watch their peers within
their small groups present their findings.
Auditory- Students will listen to the information about each classmates budget
and strategy.
Assessment:
We will assess students through their detail journal entries of each part of the
project, how accurately and completely their monthly budgets are filled out,
presentation of their findings within small groups, and a final assessment
worksheet.
4. Ohio Standards for Educators:
-Standard 1(Students): We as teachers understand the developmental

stages of our 8th grade students and cater to their needs as young adults. We
understand how each student learns and try to meet each different need of each
student. We respect the diversity in our school and embrace the benefits of
having such a diverse population.
-Standard 2 (Content): We will be knowledgeable about all of the jobs
that the students will be researching and know the basis of each career.
-Standard 3 (Assessment): We will be assessing the students when they
present their project as well as walking around while they are researching. At the
end of the presentation we will give each student an informal assessment by
having them do an exit slip, writing one fact about each job.
-Standard 4 (Instruction): We as teaching use many learning modalities
and multiple intelligences in our classroom in order to reach all students learning
styles. Instruction is varied from class to class by keeping students engaged and
letting them being active participants in each subject area.
-Standard 5 (Learning Environment): We will create an environment that
enriches the students learning by giving them the opportunity to walk around the
class, ask questions, and facilitate their own learning by researching about their
specific topic.
-Standard 6 (Collaboration and Communication): We will create an
open classroom in that the students, parents, and administrators are informed
about the project as well as to ask any questions or concerns they may have.
-Standard 7 (Professional Responsibility and Growth): We as teachers
stay up to date on current issues involving our career as well as ensure that we
are putting our professional growth and involvement at the forefront.
5. Deliberation Reflection
Individuals turned reflections in separately
Culturally Relevant Teaching (EDT246M Focus)

LESSON PLAN 1
Student Performance Objectives:
1. Explain basic ideas and concepts for five different cultures from graphic
organizer
2. Comprehend main ideas and themes from the book he or she read
3. Describe how being culturally aware can help you in your future
career/profession
Ohio Learning Standards:
10

1-3 above.)
of exploration.
The students will spend two weeks reading a short novel about their chosen
culture. This will provide them an opportunity to explore a different culture other
than their own and at the same time they will be practicing critical reading skills
that will help further develop their knowledge and experience with reading
various novels. They then will be completing charts about what they have read
which will solidify their understanding of what they have read and provides them
an opportunity to put into words exactly what they learned from the novel.
Graphic organizer, culture, ethnicity, profession
Materials:
Class sets of ten different books, representing five different cultures
Chart with the five different cultures on it, with specific questions/topics for each
culture
5x7 Notecards for quick write
Procedure:
1. Introduce the general guidelines of project and present the 10 book
options that they will have to choose from (two different novels for each
culture based on the demographics of the classroom). The cultures
include: Chinese, African American, Latino, Caucasian, and Mexican
2. Each student will pick a culture, other than their own, and read a
corresponding novel for the next two weeks. Free reading time will be
given in class every day.
3. The first class period after the students finish the book will be spent
separating the students into groups based on their culture and having
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them fill out and discuss their specific cultures component of the chart that
will later be shared with the rest of the class.
4. The next class period we will again split the students up into groups but
this time each group will have one person to represent each culture. The
students will go around their group and each child will talk about their
specific culture that they read about, informing the other students of a
culture that they did not read about. They will then use this information to
fill out the cultures in their chart based off of what their peer group
members taught them. In the end each student should have a fully
completed chart with elements from each culture.
5. The students will turn in the chart to their teacher and will then be given a
quick write about how understanding different cultures can be beneficial to
you when entering your career/profession.
Differentiations:
Visual- graphic organizer component
Auditory- students have the option to listen to their chosen book on tape
Intrapersonal- reading book silently to oneself
Interpersonal- students work in a group setting and help each other fill out their
charts on different cultures
Logical/mathematical- graphic organizer component
Assessment:
-Charts that they fill out in class with their group members
-Quick write at the end of the class: How can understanding different cultures be
beneficial to you when entering your career/profession?
LESSON PLAN 2
Student Performance Objective:
1. Share their own culture
2. Explain the differences between race and ethnicity
3. Define how their own culture plays a role into who they are and how it
affects their career
4. Utilize graphic organizers to formulate a well-structured essay
5. Explain how understanding their culture and background impacts them
and their place in society.
Ohio Learning Standards:
12

1-3 above.)
of exploration.
Our students will be responsible for conducting research into their own cultures.
They will then need to use this reading and research and formulate their
knowledge into their writing and essay. Students will learn more about the writing
process and how their research plays a role into their own lives and their future
impact to society.
Culture, race, ethnicity, graphic organizer
Materials:
References: book, magazine, internet sources, or any other academic source
Laptop cart
Poster board
Markers
Procedure:
1. Ask students to choose a culture that they identify with. May need to
assign this as a homework assignment if students are unaware and need
to check at home.
2. Students will use laptops, magazines, and books provided to research
aspects of their cultures, such as traditions/holidays, origin, food, clothing,
music, religion, etc.
3. Students will begin organizing their research into a graphic organizer.
They can choose to use a web, KWL chart, spider map, or another graphic
organizer of their choice.
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4. Students will create an outline for a 5-paragraph essay. Directions will be

provided that will explain that the essay should include an introduction, 3
body paragraphs, and a conclusion. (Introduction should introduce the
culture they researched, a brief description of what will be elaborated on in
the essay, and a thesis that states their main idea and purpose of their
writing. The body paragraphs should cover the topics of (1) information
about the culture that they found during their research, (2) how their
culture has and will impact their careers, and (3) how their culture could be
better represented in this classroom.)
5. Students will construct a rough draft essay.
6. Students will trade papers with a partner for peer editing. They will look for
grammar, punctuation, misspelling, and other types of errors.
7. Students will produce a final copy of their essay.
8. Students will create a visual of what their culture means to them.
9. Students will offer a brief (~3 minutes) speech explaining their visual and
what their culture means to them.
Differentiations:
1. Some students with IEPs will have aides or teachers that will type for
them as they speak.
2. Speech to text technology for students that want to work on their own.
3. Direct Instruction
4. Whole Class Instruction
Verbal Linguistic - Students will discuss and share their ideas and presentations
of their culture.
Logic - Students will form ideas and collect data about their culture.
Spatial - Students will create graphic organizers to represent their thoughts.
Kinesthetic - Students will create a visual or painting to share their culture.
Interpersonal - Students work in groups and with the teacher to share thoughts
or assist. They will also be using peer editing to revise their drafts.
Intrapersonal - Students will research and write their own ideas about their own
culture.
Assessment:
Students will be graded and evaluated based on their paper/responses along
with their visual representation and brief presentation to the class.
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (EDL318M FOCUS)
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1.Concept Map
2. Course Rationale
We believe that partnerships between school and community play an
integral role in the development and growth of students. However, in many
schools these partnerships, which create memorable learning experiences,
generate active learning environments, and enable future success, have yet to
be established. At New Horizon Middle School, we have created a curriculum
that is catered to students living in an urban school setting that incorporates
community based projects and collaboration with local businesses to help create
opportunities for students to explore future career options. As a result, the
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community outside the school benefits as well from the work and help of the
middle school students. With rigorous academics, caring teachers, proper
support and resources, and exposure to real workplace environments, students
receive a completely different experience than those educated under the schools
previous curriculum. This curriculum of career-based learning and community
involvement has made significant changes at New Horizon Middle School and is
needed in many other schools in urban areas, and other settings as well.
The students at New Horizon are statistically disadvantaged as compared
to students in other areas and of different races and socioeconomic statuses.
Across the country, students of color and low-income students continue to
achieve at far lower levels than their more advantaged peers. Some schools,
however, are breaking that trend producing much stronger achievement, higher
graduation and college-going rates, and greater success in college and career
pathways (Darling-Hammond, Friedlaender, & Snyder, 2014, p. 1). As
educators, we strive to be one of these schools that breaks the trends.
Circumstances that are out of students, and often their families, control and
diverse characteristics that should be viewed as positives, but are instead looked
down upon, are holding students back from reaching their greatest potential.
These students arent given great opportunities to fully understand and fulfill
their individual role in society, which is to be an active and contributing member
of communities. To combat such trends, a curriculum like ours is needed.
Donalyn Miller (2009) reflects in The Book Whisperer, I have taught students of
all economic and academic backgrounds, from the children of non-English
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speaking immigrants who struggle with the English language to the children of
college professors. The conditions I create in my classroom work for all of them
(p. 1). These types of condition in a classroom are crucial in order to benefit all
students. Beyond that, a structure that focuses on career-based learning and
community involvement allows students to see their importance in society and
apply their critical thinking skills a few times a week out in their community. It
offers them a first-hand look at what their futures can look like and in turn,
creates more motivated learners who are aware of their individual roles. In most
situations like ours, students arent given chances to be exposed to this.
We believe that students can fulfill this role and achieve greatness
regardless of where they come from. Many of the students at our school may
feel trapped in the circumstances that they are born into. This is why the most
appropriate approach in educational curriculum is an accountability approach
that focuses on meaningful learning, enabled by professionally skilled and
committed educators, and supported by adequate and appropriate resources, so
that all students regardless of background are prepared for both college and
career when they graduate from high school (Darling-Hammond, Pittenger,
Wilhoit, 2014, p. 11). Though college- and career-readiness are typically focused
on in high school, we feel that exposure and awareness prior to this level is
advantageous. As educators, we want to give them the needed tools and
opportunities as early as possible to accomplish their goals and achieve
successful careers, despite what may be holding them back at home.
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Equipping students with these tools and opportunities creates effective

education and allows it to fulfill its societal role. A growing body of school
improvement research suggests that engaging all members of the community to
be intrinsically motivated co-learners and co-leaders creates the essential
foundation for successful school improvement efforts (Cohen, Ice & Thapa,
2015, p. 10). The societal role of education is just that: to create co-learners and
co-leaders. Communities need people who are willing to accept new knowledge
and awareness and then use those gained perspectives to lead. Our students
learn to do this on a small scale within our school, then in their local
communities, and then in society as a whole. The development of learners and
leaders is an important aspect of our curriculum.
Effective curricula value the involvement of community, where this
development of learners and leaders can continue to flourish.
Urban schools cannot exist as islands. Their overburdened district offices
cant supply enough support, and public funding cant provide all the
services students need. Partnerships with external organizations can fill
some of these gaps and, done well, can make the difference between
schools that offer the bare minimum and schools that offer extended
courses, internships, mentoring, counseling, and other enriched
experiences (Nathan, 2015, p. 58).
Our curriculum relies heavily on the local community surrounding the school.
Without the partnerships with and support of local businesses, practices, firms,
schools, and other establishments, career-based learning would not be able to
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be a hands-on experience for our students. With as much support as we receive,

we are able to offers students options for their field experience and give them
opportunities that truly interest them. Local businesses are able to utilize the
help of students, which economically helps the impoverished neighborhoods in
the area. Both the students and the community reap the benefits of the field
experience program.
New Horizon Middle Schools curriculum combats the tendencies of many
schools in the United States that are heavily fixated on achieving high test
scores, which they define as success. Consequently, research suggests that
accountability pressures lead to subtractive organization, leadership, and
instructional practices that lower expectations and implicate high minority, high
poverty schools and their students as the source of school failure (DarlingHammond, 2007; Fusarelli, 2004) (Welton & William, 2015, p. 183). With the
pressures that education policies create in schools currently, students are being
set up for failure in the future. These students are not receiving a true education.
We go beyond teaching to the test. Our curriculum sets kids up for success
through high, yet reasonable expectations, for the present and exposure to
careers that offer them a glimpse of their success in the future.
Partnerships between school and community, breaking the negative
trends of todays education, the development of college- and career-ready
students who understand their individual role in society, creating education that
fulfills its societal purpose, and developing schooling that is relevant to the
present and future would not be possible without effective teacher leadership.
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Effective teacher leadership is crucial and needed in a school like ours. Part of
being a helpful teacher leader is creating a useful teacher platform, which we
have done. Our platform includes the purpose of schooling to be to create
contributing and active members of society. We have the image of the learner to
be self-directed with the guidance of the teacher. We believe the nature and
substance of student work to be relevant to the present but good preparation for
the future. We see the image of the teacher as a student-centered tool, resource,
and guide, rather than one who only instructs, directs, and lectures. Our
curriculum is based in several different philosophies and approaches that all
came together and lead to the final product. Our preferred school climate is a
dynamic and comfortable, yet exciting learning environment. Our teachers work
as agents of change so that our curriculum can be effective and create positive
adjustments in students lives, rather than just following the status quo of
education in the United States today. Our teachers exercise leadership at the
school-wide level, not just strictly in their own classrooms. This is through the
programs we have implemented that take place before school to involve families
and students in the effort toward career-readiness and developing an overall
sense of community within the school. Teachers are held with very high
expectations to work extensively with students to ensure that they are going to be
contributing members of the community. These high expectations include mutual
respect amongst all teachers, students, and community members.
The curriculum we have developed pushes students to engage in higher
order thinking, skills, and tasks. Furthermore, it makes students work and
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experience count for more than just grades on a report card and connects to their
lives outside the classroom in order to be most beneficial. Through this
integrated course curriculum that draws the four core subject areas together,
which includes the before-school programs, guidance counseling, openings to be
mentored by older students, the specific lesson plans we have created, and the
field experience career readiness program we have implemented, we are able to
create a school-environment that is benefits students in this urban setting and the
community surrounding it.
3.Course Description
Our New Horizons Middle School is focused on career readiness with
community involvement. The eighth graders in this school will be taking part in a
full year of what we call field placement. For two hours every Tuesday and
Thursday during the first period of the day, the students will be leaving the school
and going to a job site of their choice. For example, they might go to a business,
school, church, hospital, police department, and more. We have partnered with
these local businesses to give our students experience and insight into a
potential career that they may want to pursue. This not only will benefit our
students through an active learning environment, but it will also help these
businesses with another helping hand. On the off days that they will not attend
their field placement, the students will attend their regular specials (art, PE,
music). The full year will be split up into two semesters, this way our students
will be able to go to two different placements, one for each semester. Not only
do we provide a hands-on experience for the children, we will also have a career
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readiness focus in all aspects of our curriculum. Students will go through specific
lesson plans and classes that teach problem solving skills, critical thinking,
teamwork, and professional development. At our school we aim to create
responsible, well-rounded, career-ready young adults that will be prepared to
take on a life after they graduate from school.
Our thematic focus for our school is broken into four main categories:
professional development, collaboration with local businesses, team building
workshops, and career awareness. Within professional development, we have
in-class and out-of-class experiences. For out-of-class, we use the field
placement time to teach our students how to act professionally in this type of
setting. It will allow them to work side by side with professionals in the work field
and for them to discover the proper way to handle themselves and certain
situations that they may be placed in. We also have developed lesson plans
during school that will help them with resume building, interview skills, and public
speaking through presentations given in front of the class. Our collaboration with
local businesses creates great opportunities for the students to learn and grow in
a different environment. It can open new doors for students as well as getting
them involved with helping their local community. Showing them how to get
involved can make them more likely to want to do community service work
outside of what is required of them in school. Team building workshops will be
taking place in school, with things like group projects, and emphasizing the
importance of working alongside others whether this is for a group project or with
their peers in field placement. Lastly, we have career awareness as well as skills
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and knowledge that can better prepare students for adulthood. This element also
incorporates in-school and out-of-school experiences. During school, this will
include researching about various professions, as well as lessons on finances,
budgeting, and cultural relevancy in relation to different careers. Outside of
school, we will be having speakers come in to talk about their own profession, as
well as hosting a breakfast with family members or guardians where the students
can share their research projects with them. All four of these main categories are
the building blocks to helping create our overarching goal of career-readiness
through community engagement.
We really want our students to play a large role in the curriculum planning
and implementation. We will find out their interests and how they learn best and
use this to drive our creation of the curriculum. The students will be involved with
letting us know what they like, and what they dont as well as how they feel they
learn best. As teachers we also want to know from the students issues that may
be going on in their school. Things that they want to change or problems that
may have arose because of a certain curriculum or policy would be beneficial to
understand when creating the curriculum. Say for example there are hidden
norms in the high school you attend and have been working in that set up hostile
conditions for gay and lesbians students, (Poetter, 2016, pg. 197). This quote
from Teacher Leadership in the 21st Century sets up a scenario where you would
have to know the norms of the school to be able to make a curriculum. It then
goes on to say that you could design a way to move past these issues. This is
23
just one example of how the students play a role in making and implementing a
curriculum.
As a school we really want student learning to be at the forefront. We feel
as if the most learning is being done when a student is able to problem solve and
discover things for themself. This is why we put students out in the field to learn
and grow on their own without us just telling them about what they might
experience. Donna Miller (2009) reflects in The Book Whisperer, Instead of
standing on stage each day, dispensing knowledge to my young charges, I
should guide them as they approach their own understandings (p. 15). We also
have developed many lesson plans that focus on allowing the students to make
decisions about how they want to go about their own learning. This could be
things like what books they want to read, how they want to present their project,
and working in groups to complete a task. We will give our students the
necessary tools to explore things on their own so that in the end they will be
discovering new ideas for themselves.
As teachers, we are aware of the multiple intelligences and modalities that
take place in our school. Everyone learns in unique and different ways and it is
our job to reach out to the variety of different learners. We have projects that
include budgeting and finance skills, which can apply to our logical thinkers. We
have group projects followed by presentations on a multitude of careers, which
apply, to our visual, kinesthetic, and interpersonal students. We also have lesson
plans focused on reading and writing about culturally relevancy, which will be
done individually, this, can apply to our intrapersonal learners. Its up to the
24
teacher to customize instruction by adapting the basic plan with a particular

learner in mind, (Ebeling, 2001). This quote from an article called, Teaching to
all Learning Styles explains the importance of customizing your instruction with
certain learners in mind. No matter what we may be planning, it is crucial that as
educators we try our best to mold it to fit to the needs of all of our students and to
their unique learning styles.
Throughout our curriculum and lesson planning we put a big emphasis on
cultural relevance and exploring a multitude of cultures that are present in and
out of our school. With that said, we expect our students to be culturally aware
and accepting of students from all backgrounds. We provide an ESL program for
our English language learners and while teaching them English, we also
encourage and support them in strengthening their native language. We have 4
intervention specialists on hand to help out in the classrooms with students with
IEPs, as well as pull out classrooms where they can get more individualized
help. We believe that inclusion of all sorts is the key to creating a respectful and
accepting group of young adults as well as to create a well-developed middle
school. Community resources are essentially the heart of our curriculum. We
place students out in the field to utilize the sources available that are right outside
their door. We believe that getting involved with your community around you is
crucial to the students in their learning and growth as an individual. As teachers
we will ask ourselves if the course is relevant to the needs of our students, if we
are relating the content to our students lives, and if we are applying our
curriculum to the different types of learners. As a group of teachers, we aim to
25
create culturally relevant, career ready, young adults that can take on a life after
they leave our classroom. We stress relating the content to the childs everyday
life and to let them understand that everything they learn has a purpose. By
creating a curriculum that focuses on these key elements, we are allowing our
students to explore and grow through themselves and to discover themselves
through community involvement and student based learning.
4. Assessment
In our course, we will be providing a number of different ways to assess
each of our students. Depending on the lesson or assignment, there will be a
variety of ways to do so. For example, assessments will be done using posters,
visuals, paintings, presentations, discussions, quick-writes, papers, and
sometimes through a test or quiz. By using a variety of assessments, this will
allow students to represent their different skills and abilities in a number of ways.
We place a strong importance on having our students share what they know in
different ways and we do so by avoiding one assessment technique such as
testing over and over.
Our curriculum is based around the idea of creating a career-ready
program and also about going out and improving the community the students live
in and this allows us to broaden their knowledge. By using the different forms of
assessment, this gives students with multiple intelligences and different learning
styles the opportunity to be successful in the classroom. Many students have
struggled for a long time due to the format of schools and the continued use of
26
paper testing if we provide opportunities for our students to show what they
know while still being assessed, it will be a successful situation for everyone
involved.
To give specific examples of assessments, one we will be discussing is for
our lesson around culture. We will be having our students research their culture
and write an essay about it. These will be creative and informative about what
culture means and how it impacts each individual student. To assess their
learning, we will be grading the essay they write but we will also be having our
students create a visual of their culture/essay and present it to the class. This will
vary between each student, as they will have an open option for their visual. It
could be a painting, drawing, web, graphic organizer, etcstudents will then be
able to share their visual with the class in order to discuss and represent what
they know and why it is important. As we saw in What Every Middle School
Teacher Should Know by Knowles and Brown, assessment is an important part
of the learning process. Assessment is a set of strategies for discovering what
students know or can do as a result of engaging in learning experiences (Brown
& Knowles, 2014, p. 211). This quote further explains that idea that assessment
is a way of going back to represent everything someone has learned. We do this
through using a variety of assessment strategies for the different lessons
available to students. Assessment is an integral part of creating a successful
school curriculum/community and we will have a strong emphasis for our
teachers to use a variety of assessment strategies in order to benefit each
student and prepare them for success.
Works Cited
27
28
Darling-Hammond, L., Friedlaender, D., & Snyder, J. (2014). StudentCentered Schools: Policy Support for Closing the Opportunity Gap. Stanford
Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, 1-10.
Darling-Hammond, L., Wilhoit, G., & Pittenger, L. (2014). Accountability for

College and Career Readiness: Developing a New Paradigm. National Center for
Innovation in Education Faculty Publications, 1-17.
Ebeling, D. (2001). Teaching to All Learning Styles. The Education Digest.

Ice, M., Thapa, A. a., & Cohen, J. (2015). Recognizing Community Voice and a
Youth-Led School-Community Partnership in the School Climate Improvement
Process. School Community Journal, 25(1), 9-28.
Knowles, T., & Brown, D. (2014). What every middle school teacher
should know. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Nathan, L. (2015). The Art of the School-Community Partnership. Phi

Delta Kappan, 96(8), 57-62.
Poetter, T. S. (2015). Teacher Leadership for the

21st Century and Teaching Again(3rd. Ed.). Cincinnati. OH: Van-Griner Publishing.
29
Welton, A., & Williams, M. (2015). Accountability Strain, College

Readiness Drain: Sociopolitical Tensions Involved in Maintaining a College-Going
Culture in a High "Minority", High Poverty, Texas High School. High School
Journal, 98(2), 181-204.

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Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

New Horizon Middle School: Career Readiness and Community Engagement

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Team Organization (EDT252M Focus)

Programs and policies that foster health, wellness, and safety

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

3. Lesson Plan Organizers

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

a) Competencies (knowledge and skills), commitment

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

-Standard 1(Students): We as teachers understand the developmental

Culturally Relevant Teaching (EDT246M Focus)

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

4. Students will create an outline for a 5-paragraph essay. Directions will be

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (EDL318M FOCUS)

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Equipping students with these tools and opportunities creates effective

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

be a hands-on experience for our students. With as much support as we receive,

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

teacher to customize instruction by adapting the basic plan with a particular

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Darling-Hammond, L., Wilhoit, G., & Pittenger, L. (2014). Accountability for

Ebeling, D. (2001). Teaching to All Learning Styles. The Education Digest.

Nathan, L. (2015). The Art of the School-Community Partnership. Phi

Poetter, T. S. (2015). Teacher Leadership for the

Running Head: NEW HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Welton, A., & Williams, M. (2015). Accountability Strain, College

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