CO-CREATE

Curriculum is that from which we learn and it is never neutral. It embraces the what, how, and why of learning. Teachers use resources, materials, and student ideas to create learning opportunities that are meaningful, authentic, and socially-relevant.
 * Teachers Co-Create the Curriculum with their Students. **

The Social Studies is a discipline that is unique because it is constantly changing and adapting on a day to day basis. The kids in the classroom as well as ourselves are all part of this constant change and should have an input on the curriculum. That being said, we as teachers must mind a medium between teacher and student input that does not compromise our authority but at the same time allows for incorporation of student ideas which may be very beneficial to the entire classroom. media type="youtube" key="t1Lo3P-Dp4Y" width="425" height="350"

**"You can't stay neutral on a moving train."** -Howard Zinn. Social studies curriculum cannot be neutral because it cannot be separated from the context in which it was created. media type="youtube" key="YDp0V1pShQY" width="425" height="350"

__**"Curriculum is never neutral"**__ In the book //We Make the Road by Walking,// Myles Horton called the concept of neutrality in the classroom " a code word for the existing system. It has nothing to do with anything but agreeing to what is and will always be."

It is important none the less to try and convey a variety of perspectives to students, so they can draw their own conclusions.

**__In Class Examples__**:

- Classes can be divided into groups and then they are each assigned a specific research topic. While researching the topic they are gaining the ability to develop their own curriculum through what they research. They choose what to research about the topic and explain why this information is significant. After they research they then bring the information that they learned to their peers and instruct them on the newly learned concepts.

- In //[|Truckface #12],// LB describes ways that she coped with community issues in her high school English class as a teacher in CPS. During her first teaching year, there were over twenty murders in CPS, so community violence was a major issue for her students. She describes how some of her fellow teachers refused to allow these issues to be brought into their classroom, preferring to keep a "neutral" atmosphere. However, after a strict dress-code was enforced, students became increasingly tense and angry about the school atmosphere. Students felt like their freedom was being restricted, their needs were being ignored, and they were all being treated as criminals. LB used this "fire" in her classroom assignments, incorporating them into structured debates and persuasive essays which students had previously thought were tedious.

**Stay Relevant!** Students are the ultimate receptors of knowledge. It is important to cater to their styles of learning. If students are not reacting well to/demonstrating understanding of a topic, then perhaps the way the lesson is being framed is not relevant to them. If students are not engaging with the lesson, then they may be holding side conversations, texting, sleeping, or looking off in another direction. One must notice such things and adapt lessons to better teach them. This might be relating a topic to a movie, current event. It may also be a reaction to the style brought into the classroom. Do students understand metaphors well? Do they prefer lecture or group activities? See what is important to students. If they are interested in current events, embrace it. If they ask question, answer them in detail. Since the students are the ones who need to learn, it is important a teacher reflects upon this with how to teach any curriculum, as it becomes the students own.