Planning with the CSTs

            Interesting situation that I have myself with CPII beginning. I have two Cooperating Teachers, each with their own particular teaching style, as in how they handle instruction, activities, set up, and even room organization. For one teacher, I have one of their sections of World History, and for the other I have two sections of US History. It has been interesting putting together a separate plan between these two individuals, as well as laying out how I will be interacting with the students now that I am there full time. For one Co-Teacher, it seems like it will be a smoother transition, with the two of taking different areas of responsibility and instruction in the class, with a slower take over once the CSTs have  been completed. The other classes, my US ones, I am pretty much diving into right away. The Co-Teacher and I have already developed a plan for at least the next couple of weeks leading up to spring break, and the CSTs soon after.

            I suppose that was one of the things that surprised me the most when I was first planning with my Co-Teachers; that the department primarily tries to complete their normal content instruction leading up to the CSTs. I see the merit in this, with the students being given at least some knowledge on every subject that the testing might cover. After the testing has been completed, the teacher will complete whatever normal instruction needs to be done that was not covered before the CST. After this period, the teacher usually have many project-based learning assignments. In this case, the teacher will give an option for an area of study, whether a previous unit or maybe a focus on a specific continent, and then there will be a unit developed. These units will be very project based, to give the students a chance to relax some and have fun before the year ends.
            However, I can't help but see some of the stress that would come with trying to complete the instruction before the CSTs. It is obvious right now that there are many teachers at different levels of completion, with some further ahead than others and able to complete their units leading up to the standardized tests. Others are not so fortunate, and are trying to cut some of their units short and barely glance over the information, just so that students were able to see it.
            Thankfully, my classes are in a pretty good place, and there is only a little bit of rushing that might need to be done before the students head off to spring break and then to testing a week after they get back. I am still planning for some short units, but I will cover the material as best I can...good thing the school has block periods so I have some extra instructional time to get the info to the kids and assess their comprehension.