Artifact+1b



Continue to revise and update curricula to be in alignment with the NJCCCS and CCSS emphasizing inquiry and synthesis.

At the beginning of the summer and throughout the school year of 2012 - 2013 changes have been made to the NJCCS in the school based system called ATLAS. The following programs have been revised to incorporate the new standards:

 Mid-terms and Final Exams have been added to each of these courses to align with the NJCCCS. Input of data is in the process of being provided from Stage 1 through Stage 3.
 * Computer Design
 * Introduction to Engineering Technology
 * Introduction to Technology
 * Inventions and Innovations
 * Mechanical Drawing

[|ATLAS Curriculum Management Link]

Reflection

The Atlas Curriculum Management is important to include in this portfolio because it demonstrated the amount of time and effort teacher place in to aligning lessons, activities, summative and formative evaluations and differentiations in learning styles.

Inputting the required information into the Atlas program was a challenge in both quantity of information but also understanding of the stages within the NJCCCS. Each class needed to be inputted based on subject with all the summative and formative evaluations, lesson plans, worksheets, powerpoints and design sheets. The initial input of data was a daunting task but now near completion the data is representation of the information required to teach a class.

The input of this information is valuable as an overall record of student's intellectual and practical development because it allows me to expand, develop and implement new ideas and methods of instruction that will challenge student's abilities to go beyond the classroom.

However, as a downfall I find that Atlas is more of a dictionary than a cook book. It provides the basic definitions and information to run the class but it is not structured as a learning tool. Atlas is a container that holds all the information that is scattered throughout a course. I feel that as a management tool it lacks structure to be understandable by anyone else than the original person who input the information. It is my sincere hope that the school does not abandon tools such as Moodle that allow many teachers to view, access and incorporate project information into their curriculum.