If I know something could be better, is it always right to improve it?
The other day, I asked Chris to take a look at a document I was drafting for our district school administrators in preparation of our new curriculum resources. After reading and clicking through a couple of the embedded links, he got to the summative assessment description for one of our sixth grade modules.
The year focuses on community, and the summative asks students to compose an argument for one key component of a community. It’s all based on the interviews, analyses, and discussions they’ll have during the quarter, but those aren’t mentioned in the project description.
Chris pointed out the prompt could easily lead students to answers that are an inch deep and a mile wide. While I have confidence that the accompanying and building assignments will give students what they need to craft something narrower and deeper, the summative description leave those connections to chance.
What we have could be better.
The thing, though, is we built these resources internally. For most members of our design team, this was their first time building curriculum whole cloth. It’s some really good stuff.
So, now I wrestle with how heavy my hand should be. Do I go through each piece and put it as I would have it done? It’s certainly within my domain professionally and positionally. It’s also in my wheelhouse as someone who’s been doing this kind of design work for almost 20 years.
I could do it.
I don’t know if I feel like I should. Leaving these imperfections in the documents feels like leaving an unfinished puzzle lying around for others to add to and mess about with. When we bring teachers together in the Fall to plan their first quarter implementations, it’s these little pieces I am compelled to leave where they are so that others might realize their own agency when they suggest an edit.
To say I have the better idea and to change it feels as though it undercuts the professional learning I hope comes along with this process and working to make sure our teachers own this curriculum and these resources.
In describing this process, I’ve likened it that of a startup. What we have is well beyond a minimum viable product. It’s good stuff. Am I wrong to leave a few bugs in it for others to find and fix?