Self Paced Classroom

Some days, don’t you just wish you could clone yourself? Most days, probably.  Wouldn’t that be nice?!

It feels like we spend so much time repeating ourselves, and teaching the same concept over and over, that we never have enough time to spend actually working with our students. Having a clone would certainly make things easier!

The strategies of the self paced classroom help to address that need!  (not the cloning, but, the time for sure.) We first got excited by the ideas of the self paced classroom when Kareem Farah appeared on Jennifer Gonzalez’ Cult of Pedagogy Podcast.  It is there we learned about Modern Classrooms Project FREE Self Paced Classroom essential training (which is...of course also self-paced!) We realized that many of the things that educators are striving for in their students and classes (truly getting to know their students as learners and humans, responsible and autonomous learners in charge of their own progress, having a solid understanding of their students strengths and next steps), became possible within this model.

The Modern Classroom Project, created by Kareem Farah, combines three components: blended instruction with self pacing structures, and mastery based grading, to re-think the structure of instructional time. 

 

We are pretty pumped about the possibilities this type of class structure opens up for learners, and for educators as well:  more time to work with students, less lecturing, more flexibility for students to learn at their own pace, less pressure on the teacher to catch students up who fall behind, and less struggle trying to get everyone to move through the same thing at the same time, and at the same pace.

Having implemented aspects of this model in our own classrooms (though not yet as a complete system), the benefits really resonated with us.  

1. BLENDED INSTRUCTION 

Out of Class

Sarah and Rachel have implemented the flipped classroom component - where “whole class” learning is recorded (or curated) and shared with students to review at their own pace, and as many times as needed, in order to grasp the concept. This allows more time for teacher support within the classroom (small groups, individual and differentiated intervention, etc) addressing the different areas of need of the students - and giving them more practice applying the content.

In Class

Freed up from delivering lessons to the whole class together at the same time, we are able to spend more time working with small groups and individual students. 

Matt, a secondary art and photography teacher, used this time to do small group creative chats over Google Meet, called “idea jams” to develop new ideas, and “photo talks” where students looked at each others’ photos and talked about technique, cameras and generally had fun “nerding out” about photography together.

The Flipped Classroom/Blended Learning Model is also helpful should you, like Rachel did,  have a student who is out of school for extended periods of time (due to medical concerns, extended travel, etc).  What was necessary for one, was good for all.

FLIPPED CLASSROOM, ALLOWS FOR MORE FOCUSED, COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE IN CLASS, FACILITATES A THINKING CLASSROOM, SCIENTIFIC  EXPLORATION, MINI-CHALLENGES, AND EVEN FULL-BLOWN PBL UNITS. 

Blended Instruction in Primary class 

Here is an example of how blended instruction might look at the primary level. A curated video of Eric Carle creating his painted papers for his stories demonstrates his technique.  Students were able to view the video (the master at work) as many times as they wished - and even possibly practice at home, if they wanted. Sarah was then freed up in the morning to set up the classroom tables with supplies, so that students could enter first thing, and get right to creating. 

This reduced the transition time at entry and set up, and eliminated the need for Sarah to eat into the students’ creation time with a whole class lesson. In turn, students were able to create more papers, get Sarah’s support where needed, and allow for a smoother cleanup time, where students did not feel rushed, or unable to complete their work.  

In the cases where students were unable to view the video, Sarah put out the class’ tech devices for them to view the video upon entry. Typically, this happened only with a couple of students, and/or only on occasion. In instances where someone is consistently unable to view the lesson (lack of tech or support at home), Sarah adjusted to allow some time at the end of the day, for them to view the content on the class devices before going home for the day (and again the next morning, if needed).

2. SELF PACED STRUCTURE

Blended instruction is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential we see in this model.  

The Self-Paced Structure builds student autonomy as students use tools like public, or private, trackers - think “sticker charts”, but reimagined for today’s classroom - to keep themselves accountable for their progress through a “unit” of study. They work together to support each other and their learning, as the progress toward mastery.

3 Types of Learning Activities

Within the “units” themselves, there are 3 types of learning activities - ones that students must do (because they are essential to achieving master of the learning), tasks that students should do (those which would be useful for developing mastery, but can be skipped if necessary), and taks which students aspire to do (those which extend student understanding in new and exciting ways, but are not essential to the mastery of their understanding).

Trackers are used to keep students aware, and on track with their progress. They can be completely private and independent, or public & shared - strictly as a self-accountability measure for students, so they know if they are on, or off pace with where they “should” be within that unit.

Collaboration

If you’ve ever found yourself astounded by the fact that you can teach something over and over to someone, and they just can’t seem to grasp the concept. And then, another student says something to them, and they’re like “Ohhhh, I get it now!”, you’ll understand how equally frustrating, and invigorating that can be. Often, students receive information better and more easily from their peers, and maybe (brace your ego here), get fatigued from hearing our voices all the time.  

The great thing about the Self-Paced Classroom is that students work in a collaborative environment - support each other in applying and practicing with the material and concepts, and reinforce their learning. 

3. MASTERY BASED ASSESSMENT

The combination of Blended Learning, Self-Paced Structure, and Mastery Based Assessment of this system really does a re-think on the “one size fits all” style of learning.  

Once students have accessed the lesson concepts through videos, (and live-instruction - small groups, individual etc), and have worked together to practice and apply their learning, they then demonstrate mastery of the concepts and their application through various performance tasks and assignments (and yes, sometimes paper-based tools). 

Working toward a mastery-based assessment model, so that you have confidence that your students have actually internalized the concepts, deeply understand the material, and are able to apply it to other areas of their learning, not only allows them to spiral through the content and build on their learning, but also paints a truer picture of what they are actually capable of.

We were very excited about the extension to blended learning with self-paced structures and mastery grading (and portfolio-building). It is everything we have been looking for in terms of taking learning, and instruction, to the next level.

Learning Together

So, are you as excited about this model as we are?  We think that there are many strategies built into this model that offer benefits to teachers and students, whether they are virtual or face-to-face. 

If you would like to learn more alongside other educators, we will be facilitating a 5-week study to support the FREE Self-Paced Classroom Essential Training offered by the Modern Classrooms Project.  

Think of it as a PLC, or a book study to go along with the training, where you can get support from the SHIFT and collaborate and discuss with fellow educators.  

If you’d like more information this, come to one of our following intro sessions:  

• Wednesday, Jan 13 - 3:30-4

• Thursday Jan 14 4-4:30

• Friday, Jan 15 11:30-12

Look for the google meet link in the SPD Happenings doc, or send us an email with which session you’d like to attend, and we’ll send you a personal invite!

We look forward to SHIFTing with you.