Curriculum at Your Core

Curriculum at Your Core is a practical guide to designing curriculum that meets standards, serves personal and institutional values, and intentionally leads to successful student learning. Identifying which understandings, knowledge, and skills are “most important” for students to learn is always a question of values, so getting clear on values gives teachers a starting place to design cohesive units, courses, and programs. Written by a teacher for teachers, Curriculum at Your Core includes stories, examples, and case studies from across grade levels and subjects, as well as exercises, protocols, and templates teachers can use when writing values-congruent curriculum. Some key features include:●stories of failures and successes in designing curriculum●metaphors from everyday life to help teachers understand curriculum design as a process rooted in values and culminating in meaningful learning●examples of essential questions, assessment guidelines, lesson calendars, unit plans, and curriculum maps●exercises and templates teachers can use to create and assess curriculum●protocols designed to encourage inclusive participation and critical reflection when colleagues look at curriculum together

Curriculum at Your Core celebrates the vitality of teaching and the inescapable fact that the teacher and her lessons are inseparable. Porosoff knows that the thoughtful teacher matures as she revisits her values each day while writing and executing lessons. At a time when policy-makers emphasize standardization, Porosoff counterbalances that trend by reminding us of the core humanity, courage, and brilliance of the teacher., Using numerous vivid and current examples, Lauren Porosoff offers a unique and often neglected approach to comprehensive curriculum development—that of values. She shows step by step how to use the teacher’s values effectively in this era of standards, while anticipating what problems may occur along the way. An additional plus is that she has a delightful writing style that makes this book an enjoyable read., Lauren Porosoff’s book poses and helps answer essential questions at the core of all education: what is worth teaching, why is it valuable, how do we make it meaningful to our students? Hers is an important and timely contribution to the debate about education in our country and beyond. Smart, heart-felt, and user-friendly, informed by theory but firmly anchored in everyday practice, this book is a must read for all teachers, those at the beginning of their career seeking practical advice as well as those seasoned professionals looking to reflect on their craft.

Lauren Porosoff has been a teacher for 14 years, has served as a diversity coordinator and a grade-level team leader, and has led a school-wide curriculum mapping initiative. She regularly supports teachers and administrators in crafting assignments, designing curriculum review processes, and planning professional development.