Greetings K-12 educators! Thank you for exploring how to use digital curricula created by the University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula and distributed the Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET) in your classroom!
TCET offers deeply-digital, TEKS-aligned curricula for K-5 for ELAR, science (based on NGSS), math (based on EngageNY/Eureka math).
Getting Started with Roadmaps!
Click on a topic below for more information about it.
Creating an Account and Giving Google Permissions
To get started with Roadmaps, first go to https://roadmap.center/ and create an account. Make sure to also give Google permissions for the different apps. (The two videos below show how to do this.)
Accessing the Curriculum
To access the curriculum, search the Roadmap Repository on https://roadmap.center/#/repository by subject-area or grade-level, and save the map to your collection. When searching the repository for curricula, simply search by typing in “UMCDC”, as all of the curricula Roadmaps begin with this phrase. To view samples of the curricula you can go to the Curricula tab, click on a grade level, and click on the map you want to view which will save it to your collection. (Note: If you don’t wish to use the curricula, you can always modify the Roadmap to fit your needs. You can also get an empty Roadmap template instead from the Learning Schedules tab and populate it with your own materials. We currently have templates for full days, half-days, daily, and weekly maps.) When you save the map to your collection, this creates your own individual copy of the map that you can modify without affecting the original. These maps can be accessed under “Modify My Roadmaps” at https://roadmap.center/#/collection. (The two videos below show how to do this.)
Navigating and Modifying the Roadmap
Roadmaps can be personalized to fit your students’ needs. To customize your Roadmap, first open your individual copy of the map which can be accessed under “Modify My Roadmaps” at https://roadmap.center/#/collection. Most of the curricula Roadmaps are “hierarchical” – and thus one Roadmap can expand and expand until the actual student lesson is reached. To modify a Roadmap, you can follow the How-To-Videos for Teachers or visit the Need Help? tab for further questions. You can also add other teachers as collaborators to your Roadmap and allow them to also edit it. (Note: collaborators will be able to modify the Roadmap as well. If you do not want them to edit your original map, then make a copy of it and add them as a collaborator to the copy.) (The videos below show how to do this.)
Student and Teacher Versions of the Roadmap
Students and teachers have different platforms and view different versions of the same Roadmap. Students go to https://start.roadmap.center/ to access their Roadmap, while teachers go to https://roadmap.center/. The students’ version includes a microphone that can read instructions to them and does not include the nodes marked with the apple. To see the student version of the Roadmap, you can simply go to the three dots in the upper-right corner of your Roadmap, click “Student Link”, click “COPY LINK”, and then paste this link in your browser and click “enter” to open up the student version. When you finish your Roadmap and want to send it to your students, you can also send this student link to them. (The two videos below show how to do this.)
What to do for the First Week of Class?
Check out the First Week Resources tab for more information about what to do for your first week of class. We recommend beginning with the “UMCDC My first Roadmap (K-2)” and “UMCDC My first Roadmap (3rd grade and up)” Roadmaps so students can give Google permissions to all the apps in Roadmaps. For ideas about what to do during the first week of class, check out “UMCDC Getting to know Roadmaps and getting to know our class (week 1 of school)“. Also, to introduce parents to Roadmaps, check out “UMCDC Explore a Roadmap! A Map for Parents”.
Roadmaps works on Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. It also works with the latest version of Edge released in 2020, so make sure your computer is up-to-date. Also, for Roadmaps to work at school please whitelist these URLs: UMich.CDC URL Whitelist for Roadmaps Word Document. For further help, check out the Need Help? tab for FAQs and How-to-Videos to learn more about Roadmaps. Also, join our Facebook group to ask questions to your peers and see their experiences with Roadmaps. Congratulations! With this, you should be ready to start your journey into Roadmaps.