Teachers- How many weeks of instruction do you plan for getting through

[Anonymous]

As the title suggests I’m wondering how many weeks of instruction teachers actual plan for getting through in any current year? Given all the interruption for testing and the fact that MCAP occurs in April, we’ll before 4th qtr is close to being over, I’m want to understand GM exactly how condensed we are trying to make 36 weeks of learning.

[Anonymous]

I do my best to follow county guidelines. At this point I am through all 3rd quarter content. Without a doubt, there will be some missing in Q4 due to testing, but not much- and mostly in science/social studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do my best to follow county guidelines.

NP here. What are the county guidelines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do my best to follow county guidelines. At this point I am through all 3rd quarter content. Without a doubt, there will be some missing in Q4 due to testing, but not much- and mostly in science/social studies.

So how does this work with regards to MCAP and end of year assessments? Do those not expect the content that is to be covered in 4th qtr or is 4th qtr no new learning just all review?

[Anonymous]

I teach elementary school. The math and reading offices put out curriculum pacing guides in August. They basically give you timeframes to cover certain units and modules from Benchmark and Eureka. They don't take into account all of the testing in the spring so it's definitely a juggling act to try and get all the content covered. There's a little more flexibility with the reading pacing than the math. The math pacing guide is pretty much written to have math every single school day regardless of half days, MCAP, MAP, etc. There's not much wiggle room at all.

[Anonymous]

How many weeks of instruction do you plan for getting through

All of it.

There are unplanned interruptions all year long. Some years the students are more ready for some content and go faster through it. Some years students need more time on a unit. Sometimes I'm sick for a couple of days. I will map out each quarter and aim to finish the last graded assignment 3 or 4 days early and start content that will be assessed during the next quarter. This gives me a buffer of a couple of days if something takes longer than planned. If I'm not hitting certain targets during the quarter, I have to make choices about which activities to modify or skip. The students still get access to all content, but maybe I switch some activities from inquiry to direct instruction. Maybe I skip a 10 minute video. Maybe I give the 20 minute worksheet as homework instead of classwork. If I'm ahead of pace I will add some extension material or give more class time on a project. Testing happens every year. It's not hard to plan around it.