BUILD UNITS SO GOOD
STUDENTS RUN TO YOUR CLASS
(even if you’re not sure where to start, lesson planning takes you way too long, and getting all of your students to listen at the same time is a Herculean effort)
If you’re a new teacher exploring what’s possible, a veteran teacher ready to try something new, or a college professor eager to learn more about pedagogy, you already know engaging students is a key to your success as an educator.
There’s no need for me to tell you about the soul-crushing feeling you get when you see students staring at the clock, waiting for the moment they can finally leave.
You’ve likely experienced the feeling of wanting to throw in the towel when no one is listening and even the students who always pay attention are struggling to stay awake.
You may have even thought about designing exciting new units to win students over, but maybe that project was put on the back burner because it felt like such a huge undertaking and your To Do list was already a mile long.
HERE'S WHAT ELSE HAPPENS WHEN YOU
DESIGN AMAZING CURRICULA
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EDUCATIONAL EQUITY
Project-based learning engages students who have been historically marginalized by traditional teaching methods (Boaler, 2002) and designing curriculum for mastery-based learning is more equitable than traditional grading policies that reward students entering your class already on grade level (Crescendo Ed Group, 2018). -
STUDENT OWNERSHIP OF LEARNING
When we create curricula rooted in student-centered instructional strategies, students develop more independence as learners, demonstrate better problem-solving skills, and can apply what they learn in class in real-life contexts (Finkelstein et al., 2010). -
STUDENT WELL-BEING
When teachers make space for student voices and work in partnership with students to co-construct the learning process, students experience positive youth development outcomes such as: improved relationships with peers and teachers (Yonezawa & Jones, 2007), positive self-regard, and feelings of competence (Deci & Ryan, 2008). -
BETTER TEST SCORES
When students are engaged in course curricula, they learn more. The learning is deeper and longer lasting (Penuel & Means, 2000). This is reflected not just in the students’ course grades, but in their standardized test scores as well (Parker et al., 2011).
Even though the motivation to create new curricula is clear, the path to doing it successfully is anything but
BUILDING ENGAGING UNITS
SOUNDS GREAT.
But, how the heck do I do that?
Perhaps you’ve started designing an exciting new unit only to finish Lesson 1, probably an engaging interactive lesson to hook students’ attention, but then you’re not sure where to go next. Instead of building on students’ excitement, it becomes a one-off lesson, and you continue to teach the rest of your unit with your slideshows and worksheets.
Or, maybe, you did plan the rest of that unit, but once your students got to the project phase, every single student was constantly in need of your attention and the “Miss, Miss” / “Mister, Mister” became too much to handle. So you said, “Never again!”
As you prepared for the next unit, you decided to give up on the idea of building your own unit and instead, many hours and dollars later, you purchased some resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. You breathe a sigh of relief that you are done, but when you go to use these resources in your class, you realize you have no idea what the creator meant by that, or “I wish this worksheet actually said this.” You struggle through thinking at least this is better than making it all myself, all the while wondering, but is it really?
But here’s the biggest reason most teachers don’t create new curricula:
They don’t see it as something that’s doable. Teachers may be super creative, with 15 different ideas for possible units, but they just sit there—in a journal or Google Doc—stuck in the idea phase. The notion of moving past the idea phase is daunting, seemingly unmanageable and overwhelming.
Most teachers are simply unsure how to start designing a new unit. They fall into the paralyzing trap of wondering where to begin (Do I start by scouring the internet for quality resources? Should I build one great lesson at a time? Do I follow my curriculum map or throw it out and start from scratch?) and never being able to move forward with confidence they made the right decision.
Here’s why this is irreversibly crippling:
As a teacher who is tasked with constantly putting out fires as they come up, you don’t have time to experiment with something that may end up costing you precious work time and result in zero improvement in student engagement.
If you do try to make your own path forward, you risk going down the very real spiral of despair and desperation that can happen when you try to plan from scratch.
Therefore, you NEED a strategic approach to building curricula that is rooted in research on student engagement and educational equity.
And luckily for you, this is absolutely possible!
When you let the educational research inform how you plan your units, you can be confident you’re doing right by all of your students.
That also means...
You can stop doing the things that research has found to be less helpful for student learning.
All you need is a research-based formula to streamline your curriculum design process.
The 3 Mindset Shifts You Need to Make Right Now
To Engage Students With Exciting, New Units
Shift #1
Disengagement is not a student trait.
All students want to learn. Of course, it’s hard to engage with a system that you’ve been forced to endure despite repeated negative experiences. Who would be engaged by something like that?
If we teach content through a relevant context in which students are producing creative work that is presented to an authentic audience beyond the teacher, this will engage students.
If we build up our equity pedagogy capacities and teach using student-centered instructional strategies, students will get to grapple with tough content and make meaning in a co-constructed learning environment. This will engage students.
Shift #2
It’s not always easier to use a pre-made curriculum.
First, if it doesn’t spark joy in you, you’ll teach it less enthusiastically, and kids notice that. Second, not all curricula are good curricula. Many are one-size-fits-all, and not differentiated for a range of student needs. Third, even if it is a good curriculum, the contexts the content is grounded in may not be relevant for your students.
Curriculum design doesn’t have to take forever. In fact, once you establish your arc and go-to protocols and you systematize your resource gathering, you’ll be able to create new units quickly, and your students will benefit from knowing what’s coming.
Shift #3
Trying to cover everything inhibits deep student learning.
Learning information in context over a sustained period of time enables students to master concepts and skills that are much harder to master when we simply “cover” everything. Larry Ainsworth calls this coverage approach “spray and pray,” emphasizing it especially disadvantages students who come into our class with skill or content understanding gaps. In contrast, deep learning of select priority standards can close these gaps.
I’m going to share something really exciting...
You CAN engage all students.
Even though it’s common practice to buy resources on Teachers Pay Teachers or teach from a textbook, you do not need to slog through lessons in which students are counting the minutes until your class ends.
As long as you can avoid the powerful myths that keep teachers stuck in mission impossible mode, and you use a curriculum design approach informed by educational equity research, you can engage all of your students.
All you need is a tried and true formula to get you off the ground and on your way to having the best curriculum you can imagine.
And with your permission, that’s what I’d LOVE to show you.
Introducing
Curriculum Boot Camp
A Research-Based Approach to Building Units Your Students Will Love
I’ve taken what I’ve learned from planning brand new curricula every year for seven years, which resulted in me refining my unit design process into a streamlined step-by-step process you can use to build your own units.
I’ve used my time as an instructional coach, working with over 1,000 educators, to identify the biggest struggles teachers have when designing new curriculum, and I created a program to overcome those struggles.
Of course, I will introduce you to the research behind the key pieces of the program and why it advances educational equity, so you can be confident you are spending your time on what is most impactful for student success.
The end result: A sustainable approach to innovative curriculum design that will result in maximum student engagement.
Curriculum Boot Camp is the ONLY program of its kind that…
PUTS EQUITY AT THE CENTER.
The course begins by highlighting inequities within our education system and then summarizes research that explains the need for the big pedagogical and curricular shifts found in the course. You’ll also start with some self-assessment activities to help you identify areas for growth in equitable practices. This course is strongly rooted in the why; that why being the academic success for all of our students.
PROVIDES EDITABLE TEMPLATES.
There are 13 templates included in the course for different student-centered instructional strategies. While you may certainly integrate activities and resources you already have, I share several examples of student-centered activities (what I can protocols) for each of the four different protocol categories I identify. You can make your own copy of each template and edit from there, so you don’t have to start from scratch!
IS BINGE-ABLE.
College courses that teach similar content often give you new lessons each week, but you may only have a short window of time to take the course and get started on building your curriculum. Or, if you’re like me, your brain might be wired to learn best when you get in the zone and stay there for a bit. Well, my fellow bingers, I’ve got you covered. As soon as you purchase the course, you get access to the whole thing.
So if you’re ready to finally design the curriculum of your dreams and amplify student engagement...
Here's how I'll help you get there:
Module 1
Designing for Equity
First, you will learn about the research on educational inequity and what promising pedagogical shifts that show promise in reducing inequity.
Then, you’ll look at how you teach and dig into your own pedagogical practices, identifying areas for future growth.
Next, you’ll look at what you teach, considering where you can diversify the perspectives you teach and assess students’ social justice competencies.
To wrap up the module, you'll explore a framework that will help you center justice in your unit design.
Module Highlights:
- Define what equity means (and what it doesn’t mean
- Get inspired by innovative pedagogical shifts
- Take an equitable practices self-assessment
- Do a Windows & Mirrors analysis of your current curriculum
- Do an analysis of your current curriculum using the Historically Responsive Framework
Module 2
Priority Standards
Here’s where you’ll start digging into curriculum design.
You will choose your priority standards, define what mastery of each those standards look like, and create your course rubric.
After exploring different curriculum mapping approaches, you will sequence your standards and map them to your unit or course.
Module Highlights:
- Use selection criteria to choose your priority standards for your course
- Create a course-long mastery based rubric
- Use the Mapping Curriculum Template to create your own map
Module 3
Quality Assessment
Once you’ve identified the priority standards for your course, you’ll need to figure out how to assess mastery of those standards (in a way that is super engaging, of course!)
Using the Buck Institute’s “Gold Standard PBL” criteria, you'll begin brainstorming a summative assessment for your first unit.
Following your brainstorm, you’ll develop a compelling driving question, and check for alignment with the gold standard checklist.
Finally, you’ll consider the standards assessed in your summative project, adjust your map as needed, and add in formative assessment check points.
Module Highlights:
- Get inspired by sample PBL projects
- Use the Assessment Planning Doc to build your project-based assessment
- Return to your Mapping Curriculum template to ensure project alignment
Module 4
Unit Arc
Now that you’ve figured out where you’re going, we’re making the pedagogical road map to get there.
This is where you’ll explore a model unit arc, its key components, and how it aligns to phases of learning.
You will explore various planning approaches such as daily vs. weekly and skills-first vs. content first planning.
Module Highlights:
- Use the Unit Arc Template to build your personal unit arc
- Evaluate how well different design approaches meet your needs and style
Module 5
Purposeful Protocols
This module is where the magic happens! This is where I introduce the 4 core protocol purposes, and for every purpose, I share 3 protocol examples I used in my class.
You’ll get to explore 12 incredible strategies and 13 templates that accompany them. When you decide which protocols you want to use, you can make a copy of the template and make it your own!
Module Highlights:
- Identify one or more protocols for each of the 4 protocol purposes
- Build a reusable template for each protocol you select.
- Work your chosen protocols into your personal unit arc
Module 6
Lessons
We’re just now getting to the individual lesson planning after frontloading a lot of the work. I’ll walk you through what really needs to be in a lesson, where to cut, and why you should use my List, then Look approach to planning.
You’ll use my tips about when to curate or create to finish building your lessons, and set up an ongoing curation system for gathering resources for future units.
Module Highlights:
- Use my Lesson Essentials Template to outline each lesson of your unit
- Use the List, then Look approach to streamline your lesson planning process
- Curate or create remaining resources you’ll need for each lesson
Module 7
Differentiation
At this point, you’ll have all of your lessons outlined! Next, you’ll explore Tomlinson’s differentiation framework and choose one area of focus to prioritize as you get to work on differentiating your lesson resources.
Then, you’ll look at why and how to support students’ independent learner skills and identify tools you can offer students to help them take more ownership of their learning process.
Module Highlights:
- Annotate your existing lessons with color-coded highlights
- Add scaffolds or adjust resources in lessons as needed to differentiate for all students
Module 8
Reflection
After you’ve built out your amazing unit(s), you’ll make a plan for reflecting on how it went once you implement it.
I’ll walk you through key sources of data to examine and ways to include students’ voices in this refining process.
Finally, you’ll learn how to keep your momentum going after you’ve completed the course!
Module Highlights:
- Pick an initial focus area for data collection and refinement
- Create or curate any documents you will need to see the desired data
- Identify a strategy or resource you will use to maintain momentum after you’ve completed the course
Bonus #1
Genius Hour
At this point, you may have completed the course, or you may be exploring this model after you finish Module 5. Either way works!
If you are excited by the idea of student voice and want to learn more, be sure to check out this bonus. I walk you through what Genius Hour is, how to set it up in your class, and how to keep it manageable.
Oh, and I share all of the templates I used as well!
Bonus Highlights:
- Decide what you want Genius Hour to look like in your class
- Make a copy of any of the resources I share in my Genius Hour folder, and personalize it for your class!
Bonus #2
Interdisciplinary Units
You may want to explore this bonus after you’ve built out a unit for one subject, but if you’re looking to create an interdisciplinary unit right from the start, I recommend watching this bonus after Module 2.
I walk you through the benefits of interdisciplinary units for students and teachers as well as a guide to planning steps if you’re collaborating with other teachers.
I share a sample 5-subject interdisciplinary unit too!
Bonus Highlights:
- Decide on the degree of interdisciplinary unit planning you’re willing to try
- Reach out to another teacher to collaborate
- Use the Interdisciplinary Planning Doc to organize your collaborative planning
Bonus #3
Live Mini Intensives 2x a Year
Have an idea you want to walk through with a coach? Bring your unit or project idea to our 3-hour live coaching intensives, held twice a year. Learn more about the process from others as they get coached to develop their units. Can't make the intensives live? We'll record them & make them available in the Bonus section of the course.
Bonus Highlights:
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Get inspired by other teachers’ course ideas and how they build units
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Receive coaching to develop your next unit
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Video and audio recordings of each coaching intensive will be available to watch/listen afterwards.
The 30-Day Exciting Curriculum Guarantee
This course has the power to transform the way you teach, the way students engage with your content, and ultimately the depth of your students’ learning. You’ll learn my exact step-by-step process with tips, tools, and templates to support you to confidently build your new curriculum.
But here’s the thing, as with any major transformation, it’s not going to happen over night. With this course, you can go faster than most, but building new units as well as your implementation and refining of each unit, will take time.
Being a teacher, I know cash is tight. So, here’s what I’ll tell you. If you start the course, put in the work for the first 4 modules, and after 30 days, you haven’t been able to outline a unit you’re excited to teach, email me (Lindsay) at [email protected], and I will refund your investment.
I don’t know of any other course provider that gives you access to the entire program and is then willing to offer a refund. So, why on Earth would I do that? Because I truly want you to invest your hard-earned dollars in generating the most engaging curriculum you dream up AND I am confident in my program’s ability to make that happen for you. Click here for full details.
Here’s what you’re getting when you enroll today:
The Curriculum Boot Camp Course
Includes 8 Training Modules, Videos, Audio Files, Slide Decks, PDF Guides, & Templates
- Bonus 1: Genius Hour Lesson + Resource Pack
- Bonus 2: Interdisciplinary Units Lesson + Sample Unit
- Bonus 3: Live Mini Intensives 2x a Year
The mini intensives alone are worth $5,000 each year.
But YOU will get access to everything for:
Pay Monthly
6 Monthly Payments of
$125
OR
Pay Upfront
A One-Time Payment of
$750
Frequently Asked Questions
Excellent Questions from Teachers Like You
This program is grade and content-agnostic. I have worked with elementary, middle school, high school, and college level educators of all subject areas. The curriculum design strategies in this program are not dependent on what or who you teach.
You know your content and your students better than I do. I just give you the tools to identify what works best and help you put that into action in a way that engages students and is sustainable for you.
First, I encourage you to consider the multi-month payment plan, which allows you to pay for the course over time.
Second, some teachers have had success asking their school to pay for the online course. It doesn’t hurt to ask!
Third, this is a lot of money to invest, but the return on investment is high. In non-financial terms, you have a chance to spark student engagement and see positive academic results. Financially, this course eliminates your need to buy anything on TPT again, and you could even use TPT to sell the beautiful units you create on TPT and make back the money in no time! It’s truly an investment, if not in your ability to make money on TPT, then definitely in your professional growth, in student engagement, and in student learning.
You know your students, their realities, and their interests, so your curriculum is going to be more interesting to your students than a stock curriculum. Also, starting from scratch sounds scary, and I will not let you start with nothing! This course is set up to make this curriculum design process as efficient as possible. That’s why we start with what you already know or use and identify how these existing resources can fit into repeating patterns as your unit and your year progresses. In Modules 4 and 5, you develop a unit arc packed with purposeful protocols that you’ll only need to create once, and then you can reuse them unit after unit—you don’t even need to create these if you want to simply use the arc and protocol templates I provide!
Of course, we cannot force a student to be interested in what we teach, but there are things we can do to make learning more engaging for them. The backbone of the Curriculum Boot Camp course is research that sparks student engagement. If this is a sticking point for you, I recommend reading this post from a colleague of mine, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at BetterLesson.
I created this course because, despite getting my teaching degree from a fairly reputable school, I didn’t learn this stuff in graduate school. I had to learn it on my own, through various professional development sessions, and working with instructional coaches, and seeing brilliant curriculum designed by my colleagues.
I’ll share some other differences between this course and a college class: this course does not have homework beyond the minimum work that needs to get done to produce a quality, finished curriculum; where college courses would ask you to purchase textbooks and read them, I have brought together the most important things I have learned from several textbooks and academic research so you don’t need to complete reading assignments; this course is self-paced, unlike college courses that go week by week; this course hands you the templates you can use directly with your students so you don’t need to start from scratch; and while academic courses will cost you around $1,000-$2,000, this course costs a fraction of that.
Finally, while I cannot offer graduate credit, if you would like PD credit for taking the course, I am happy to talk to your administrator about this possibility.
If you follow the course, step-by-step, you’ll be building a curriculum based on evidence-based practices. Each big piece of your curriculum design (picking priority standards, building mastery-based grading rubrics, teaching through project-based learning, using student-centered instructional strategies, and planning for differentiation) has roots in research that says this is what highly effective instruction looks like—it yields results for kids, particularly kids who have struggled in the past. From my personal experience of using this design process for years, I can tell you, I have seen powerful results in engagement and student learning.
No! You will have lifetime access to the course and all of its resources. You will also have lifetime access to the live mini intensives, so you can join live when you're ready and, of course, view all recordings inside the course. Finally, you will also be able to access any future additions or updates to the course at no additional charge.
Before you give up, reach out! Post a question or scenario to the course group on Facebook. If during the 30 days after you purchase the course, you complete the first 4 modules and can show me what you’ve completed and you still feel completely lost with no path forward, email me (Lindsay) directly at [email protected], and I will refund your investment.
When you sign up, you will get the complete 8 modules of the Curriculum Boot Camp Course, which includes training videos, audio files, slide decks, PDF guides, and templates. You also get the Genius Hour Lesson + Resource Pack and the Interdisciplinary Units Lesson + Sample Unit as additional bonus resources. Finally, you will get access to live mini coaching intensives 2x a year.
Here’s what you’re getting when you enroll today:
The Curriculum Boot Camp Course
Includes 8 Training Modules, Videos, Audio Files, Slide Decks, PDF Guides, & Templates
- Bonus 1: Genius Hour Lesson + Resource Pack
- Bonus 2: Interdisciplinary Units Lesson + Sample Unit
- Bonus 3: Live Mini Intensives 2x a Year
The mini intensives alone are worth $5,000 each year.
But YOU will get access to everything for:
Pay Monthly
6 Monthly Payments of
$125
OR
Pay Upfront
A One-Time Payment of
$750
STILL UNDECIDED?
The Curriculum Boot Camp course is PERFECT for you if…
- You’ve never designed your own unit before, but you see the value in doing so, and you’re committed to doing it right from the start.
- Curriculum design is not new for you, but you are looking for a way to make your units more impactful (i.e., improving student engagement and student learning) and the design process more manageable.
- You want to make equity a priority, and you recognize traditional educational practices, being inherently inequitable, are not going to cut it. You’re looking to build a curriculum rooted in equity pedagogy.
- You have no problem investing in a new approach as long as you know that every bit of energy you invest is a strategic and meaningful step forward towards engaging your students in meaningful learning.
- You spend hours planning your lessons, trying to find the perfect set of resources that will match your students’ needs. You want to be more strategic in your approach to curriculum design, so you’re building cohesive units that deepen learning, not scrambling to put together one-off lessons.
- You are worried about starting from scratch. It sounds overwhelming and scary to build a unit from the ground up. This is why you appreciate the Curriculum Boot Camp course comes with step-by-step guidance and editable templates, so you don’t have to start building from nothing.
- You are aware that designing your own amazing curriculum allows you to witness students fall in love with your class, close the persistent “achievement” gap, enable students to own their learning, and improve student well-being…all without sacrificing good test scores.
- You are excited to build a unit that you just can’t wait to teach. Just thinking about getting to teach the very best parts of your course while all your students lean forward in their seats, eager to hear what they get to do next, gives you all the feels.
- You feel confident getting started knowing you have 30 days to test it out. It’s simple. Either you do the work and watch your students literally run to class, they love it so much...or you send me a quick email asking me to hit undo on this whole “let’s create amazing curriculum” experiment.
If you said “yes” to at least 6 of the above, I can’t wait to meet you inside the Curriculum Boot Camp course!
Here’s what you’re getting when you enroll today:
The Curriculum Boot Camp Course
Includes 8 Training Modules, Videos, Audio Files, Slide Decks, PDF Guides, & Templates
- Bonus 1: Genius Hour Lesson + Resource Pack
- Bonus 2: Interdisciplinary Units Lesson + Sample Unit
- Bonus 3: Live Mini Intensives 2x a Year
The mini intensives alone are worth $5,000 each year.
But YOU will get access to everything for:
Payment Monthly
6 Monthly Payments of
$125
OR
Payment Upfront
A One-Time Payment of
