What I Learned in 4 Years as a Curriculum Coordinator

Two things to start with--not big, I used them probably every day:

• Don’t apologize for taking people’s time—that devalues the thing I’m taking their time for. Thank them for using some their valuable time to do this really important thing. This helps me value both the task and the person.
• If 2 emails haven’t clarified an issue, walk to the person’s office or classroom (during a free period) and address it in person. This seems like it takes a lot of time, but in the long run, not nearly as much time as 15 emails back and forth and the frustration engendered.

Four years ago I went into the curriculum coordinator job feeling not entirely qualified (see last week’s blog), but also with a small seed of hope. I might be able to help someone experience the same increase in joy that I had gotten from discovering that it is possible to grow as a teacher, and from seeing a class buzzing with learning resulting from planning meaningful curriculum and engaging instruction. Some of what I’d learned about doing that in English class must be transferable. But preparing for professional development meetings I’d psyche myself out thinking, “There will be 25 people in here for 1 hour. That’s 25 man-hours. That’s over 1/2 a workweek. Is what I have for people worth that?” 

I ended up learning mountains of stuff that I’d never really thought about (like grappling with standards for 12 different subject areas!). My least favorite part: figuring out how to administer all of the school’s online textbooks. Why does every publisher run their platform differently? There was one publisher I never did fully figure out. Greatly increased my appreciation for the librarian in my previous school who did this task! My favorite part—exactly the same as in the classroom—seeing growth: teachers excited about helping students learn even more effectively. 

In the long run, while I absorbed a lot of information and ran a lot of meetings, my biggest takeaways were as follows:  

• I’ve learned something in 30+ years of teaching! 
• There is always more to learn. 
• Learning is a community thing—my attitude and practice in my own learning shapes the learning of my colleagues and my students, and, like I tell my students, we are smarter together than alone.

It seems that it really is all about the people—the small learnings and the big ones. I ended up enjoying my time as a curriculum coordinator. I'd do it again, if it were needed, but I'd also be happy just working with students. Either way, it was an experience that shaped and grew me. Thanks to all the colleagues who walked with me through it and helped me learn. I wouldn't be the person I am today without you!