Working the Gap

How do I find balance between the required scripted curriculum and pacing guides, mandated by school districts, and my own voice as a teacher? 


With all that I am learning in my Teacher-Ed program, as well as in my interactions with students, it is clear that the best learning happens when students are deeply engaged in their learning.  How do I get my students engaged in math when the textbook itself seems so dry and naturally unengaging?  I definitely believe it is my job as a teacher to take the curriculum and mold it in a way that works best for all of my students, not just some.  I also realise that doing this well will take time, perhaps a lot of time.  I don't expect to perfect this in my first year of teaching.  But, it also doesn't mean I am going to wait until my 5th year of teaching to begin trying to use alternate methods of teaching subjects like math.  I am constantly trying to figure out how I can make learning more interesting, exciting, fun and accessible for my students, both now and in the future.  For example, the interactive, hands on, small group ways of teaching math, that I am learning in my Math Methods course, seems like a drastically better way to teach math!  So why am I not seeing this style of teaching math in classrooms?