The document discusses strategies to overcome obstacles in curriculum integration, focusing on issues such as teacher collaboration, time management, and student engagement. It suggests starting small with curriculum access, utilizing natural overlaps in content, and prioritizing goals for realistic implementation. It emphasizes building rapport among teachers and addressing scheduling challenges to enhance the overall learning experience.

2. Curriculum Integration : Overcoming Obstacles
Laura Fidler, NAF Instructional Manager
laura@naf.org

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4. Continuum of Curriculum Integration
BEGINNING INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED
Single Subject Parallel (Paired) Interrelated Conceptual
Two teachers
share some
topics, without
team planning
Several
teachers plan
to coordinate
topics and
instruction

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Forms of Curriculum
Integration
• Work-Based Learning
 Skill Integration
 Activity Integration
• Content Integration (natural
overlaps)
• Activity/lesson integration
• Culminating Project Integration

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Which of these is my biggest
obstacle to achieving curriculum
integration?
• Teacher collaboration/buy-in?
• Common planning time?
– Curriculum content mapping with clear scopes & sequences?
• Cohort scheduling?
• Student engagement/cooperation?

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Overcoming Obstacles

8. Teacher buy-in

9. Engaging teachers
• Team building
• Start small
– Curriculum access
• Introduce content of NAF
courses
– Scope and Sequence
– Culminating Project
– Curriculum Integration suggestions
• Common core standards
• Look for „natural overlaps‟

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Lack of time

11. Addressing „time‟
• Start small
– Curriculum access
• Realistically assess how much time you
have to do this.
• Prioritize your goal(s)
• Which form of curriculum integration can
you realistically accomplish?

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Meeting Common Core Standards

13. Addressing ‘standards’
• Natural overlaps
• NAF curriculum
• Course objectives

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Scheduling and/or student
cohorting

15. Tackling scheduling and/or student
cohorting
• Involve:
– School
counselor
– School
“scheduler”
• WBL skill
integration
• Physical layout of
classroom

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Common Planning time

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Overcoming lack of common planning time
• Start small
• Work with those who want to
• Agendas to utilize time
• Physical layout of classroom – academy culture

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Student engagement/cooperation

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Lack of student engagement/cooperation
• Things to consider why this is happening:
 Have you set clear guidelines for your assignment?
 How do you evaluate your students‟ work?
• Individual vs. group – are you grading the „end product‟
or the „process of getting there‟?
• Harmful consequences?
 In what way is your classroom culture playing a role in
this?
• Equitability - “Hogs vs. Logs”
• Are „norms‟ established and is there accountability?
 How do you group your students together?
• Do you allow for mixed ability when high scaffolding is
crucial?
• Do you allow for ability-alike grouping when there are
opportunities for growth and curricular extensions?

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What is one big “take-away” from
today‟s session?

21. What are my next steps?
What can I realistically
implement given the
obstacles I face at my
academy?