How to Develop a Creative Curriculum

Videos can help keep students engaged.

All students have sat through classes, trying to stay awake as the teacher drones on and on. Even an hour lecture seems to take three times that, and before you know it, you've tuned out the teacher's voice. Although some tools have given teachers a visual way to educate, the bottom line is, if the curriculum isn't interesting, students just won't respond to it. As a teacher, don't take the easy route and use the same content year after year. Grab your students' attention by developing a creative curriculum.

Instructions

1. Write down goals and objectives for the curriculum before writing content. Include the knowledge, skills and information you want students to take away after the class. Be specific and include a time line -- for example, after 20 classes on social media technology, students will be able to create a social media program for an organization.

2. Review the type of students you are expecting in your class. Make a list of strengths and weaknesses of students and possible communication barriers. For example, make a note of possible language barriers to adapt your curriculum to. Include behavioral challenges that students may have and adjust your curriculum to accommodate these students.

3. Create instructional strategies based on the students you are expecting. This could include lectures, small group projects, textbook readings, or student presentations. Pick a variety of creative strategies that will appeal to the students you will have. Refer to the goals and objectives list you created to make sure your instructional strategies tie in with those.

4. Structure content in a way that clearly shows a hierarchy of information. This will help students see what is "need to know" information. If you're creating handouts, create a hierarchy by using headlines and subheads. Make these stand out with colors or bold text. Break the content underneath each heading into bullet points or step-by-step instructions.

5. Evaluate each class or lesson to get feedback on the curriculum. This will help you create even better curriculum the next time you teach that lesson. For example, survey students to ask them what they liked and what they didn't like. Write a summary review yourself. Use this information to adapt lessons and classes every time you teach them to continually improve the curriculum.

References

• Public Speaking Tips: Creating Quality Handouts
• Edutopia: How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class
• Bright Hub: Effective Classroom Management
• Infed: Curriculum Theory and Practice
• Queen's University: Curriculum Development