EMPOWER: How can we create flexible instructional design that gives students permission to modify that design? How would that maximize student engagement and thus learning?
This is a more challenging concept for me as I am not a classroom teacher. I have not had to be in the position of trying to implement a flexible instructional design. So I will draw on my impressions and hope to not offend anyone or speak ignorantly about the subject. I think back to what I have read in my colleagues' blogs and topics that come up recently within our district. Recently, the district has brought up the idea of departmentalizing. Honestly, I don't have an opinion about that. (My concern is the relationship building piece for students and teachers at younger grade levels) When focusing strictly on the notion of a typical classroom setting. I have read blogs that note some have the opportunity to teach only two subjects. It sounds like they have more opportunity for flexible design in their classroom. I think of how the book discusses the ice cream analogy. It makes me think that if teachers became more departmentalized at the elementary level would that leave room for more flexibility. Would that flexibility to allow students have more engagement and investment in their learning progression? I am not sure if teachers at the junior high school level feel that they have more flexibility with their teaching design since they are content specific. Is this the line of thinking that has brought the administration to provide this as an option for teachers? If teachers do not want to departmentalize, does that make it more challenging to infuse flexible design into their classroom? I guess I can’t stay away the social and emotional part. If you do departmentalize around third grade, then the kids are switching classes for almost each subject. That then crosses over into the building trust piece for students to feel comfortable with the concept of “fail-ING.”We know that building trust takes time and switching classes for each subject could possibly impede that relationship. The questions posed for this week, honestly leads me to have more questions. I am not sure that I really answered the questions for this week, but again, I am not sure I really can. I look forward to seeing what others have written.
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Michelle, I too, always go back to the social emotional component. Can you build relationships with kids when you only see them for maybe 60 minutes a day? I guess the short answer is yes, but it’s hard. Last year I departmentalized for the first time and it was super hard at first because even my “homeroom” didn’t feel like mine for a long time. Additionally, I think I felt less flexibility because you were on someone else’s schedule. Overtime these constraints allowed me to teach more intentionally and allow my students to have more choice or flexibility because I was so hyper-focused on making every minute count.
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Tarah Tesmer
4/9/2018 01:01:23 pm
Great points here! I think there's something to be said about flexibility pros/cons with both scenarios of departmentalizing or not setting up that way. In addition to what you posed about the SEL aspect, I think we can always be more flexible with our time for students to build relationships, take a break for teambuilding/classbuilding, and also just brain break and go outside more often, right? I'm curious how staff might respond to the notion of "you have an extra 50 minutes in the day... how do you spend them to build better relationships with and between students?" I bet we'd get some pretty awesome and out of the box ideas!
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AuthorI have worked in social work for over 25 years. The past 19 years have been within an elementary school setting. Archives
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