What if students had a choice in their daily class schedule?

Typically, in May, as the current school year winds down, I start to make plans for the following year.  I reflect on the things I liked about the current year and the changes I’d like to make for the fall and even though this year has been anything but typical with the Covid-19 outbreak and resulting school closures, I am still making plans for next year.

As I reflect on the 2019-2020 school year there are things I really liked about it.  I implemented interest-based instruction where students learned about what they were interested in and I weaved learning standards into lessons/units based on their interests.  I also feel really good about how I transitioned from the physical classroom to the virtual classroom.  The transition was certainly challenging, but once the structures were in place and distance learning began, I fell into a very comfortable routine of delivering instruction and supporting my students, and now I’m beginning to think about what the new school year will look like.

There are so many unknown factors with the return of school in the fall…

Will we start on time?

Will we be in our physical classrooms or distance learning?

If we’re in the physical classroom what will that look like?

These unknowns make it difficult to plan for the future, however, I do know one thing…I will not be going back to my classroom in the Fall teaching the same way I did before the school closure.  This pandemic has given me the opportunity to pause and reflect on what is best for kids and to gear my instruction to meet their needs.

For several years now I’ve been uncomfortable with my classroom schedule.

Granted, there’s nothing wrong with this schedule, but…could it be better?

About 4 years ago I implemented Flexible Seating in my classroom.  Giving students choice as to where they sit throughout the day has increased student engagement, increased student collaboration, increased student ownership of their learning, and decreased the number of behavior challenges I have to manage on a daily basis.  Choice in where they sit has made a positive impact on my classroom, so my wondering is…what if I gave them choice in their schedule??

In my distance learning classroom, students get ALL of their assignments on Monday.  They have all week to complete the tasks and assignments are due on Friday.  Then, I spend the week working with students via email, phone calls, and Zoom meetings.  I review their work, offer feedback, and give them opportunities to revise their work before turning it in.  My students have responded well to this structure.  It gives them control over time and pace.  There are some students who wake up early in the morning to do school work and there are some students who wake up later in the afternoon.  Some students want to get all of their math work done first before tackling the reading/writing task. So many students are motivated by the flexibility in their schedule and are therefore more engaged in the work.  What if I created a structure where students can have a choice over time and pace in the physical classroom too?

Instead of chunking the day into subjects…reading, writing, math, what if the day looked something like this:

Each day would start with a class meeting.  We would discuss success stories, failures, answer questions, and set goals for their independent work time.  The goals would be displayed visually in the room so students can support each other AND hold each other accountable.  At the end of the day, time would be set aside for a daily reflection where they can self assess their progress towards reaching their goals and make a plan for the next day.

Independent work time is where students would work on their assignments for the week and where I would support students in completing the tasks and reaching their goals.  Based on the information I gather from class meetings, reflections, and assessments, I would plan lessons that meet the needs of students.  I may work 1:1 with a student or pull a small group or teach a lesson the whole group would benefit from.  This would also be a time for students to collaborate with a partner or small group.

For 1 hour of the day, the whole class would participate in a collaborative problem-solving activity using the Thinking Classroom strategies I implemented this year.

A flexible schedule would give students more choice in their learning.  Choice gives students ownership and promotes student engagement and when students are engaged, they want to learn!