The Intergrated Final Projects are all based on the concepts discussed in the Reiser article which explains the use of the TEAMS cirriculum in our classrooms. In the TEAMS cirriculum the units are broken into four 9-week sections and several teachers from different disciplines cooperate and plan lessons based off of the overall unit.
The idea of the TEAMS cirriculum is one that I think is fantastic, as long as it's done correctly. I think that some teachers are not as willing to cooperate in this way and, this is one of those classroom instruction methods which definitely requires equal participation from all the teachers involved. I think that takes a lot of time to and effort to make this ciricculum a success, but I do think that it would definitely be worth it. It was interesting in the article that the students who were put into this cirriculum to did actually score better on the standardized tests...even though the article did say that the students in the TEAMS cirriculum were part of a gifted program. I also do think that most students are more motivated to learn if using this cirriculum, and that they will understand that all subject areas can/are interrelated and do have many real-world applications
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I agree! Teachers could definitely make the TEAMS process a worthwile teaching tool. As the article pointed out, it takes months and even the summer to plan out the activities, but if it helps students to score better, why not?
ReplyDeleteI am a cynic on this idea and I think you hit it one the nose: it must be done correctly. No Child Left Behind was a good try with good intentions in mind but I've yet to meet a teacher that has anything good to say about it.
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