The Old Man and the Sea: why a veteran teacher is changing the way he teaches

I stood there.  Still.  Basking in the early morning sun as the salty water calmly rushed over my ankles with its rhythmic persuasion.  I observed...drawn in by the magnitude of the ocean. I saw waves fighting, racing to be the first to tackle the packed-down shoreline; others in no hurry to reach their destination.  There were some, even, that appeared to be yearning to collaborate with other waves, jaunting sideways and defying the logic of the current to find their partner. Regardless of their pace and process, each wave left its mark, it's stamp on the land.  These marks, like the waves, were distinct and unique, forming a tapestry of  individuality that was both beautiful and inspiring.  Before I knew it, an hour had passed, and I had done nothing but stand and observe, peacefully enveloped by nature and my own thoughts, realizing that these waves were all around me, reaching the horizon as far as I could see: beyond my reach yet right there for me to hold, to support, to encourage.

Not that I ever needed the ocean to convince me that differentiated instruction is the best way to help all students learn, but the realizations, lessons from the ocean, now washed over me with the force of a thousand PD books on DI or standards based learning--in fact, greater than that force.  You see, for some time now, I  have been thinking about re-imagining the way I teach, putting the standards at the core and the skills at the forefront.  I have been conceptualizing what it would look like to create a structure in which the first month of school is a skills boot camp dedicated to teaching all the major skills that, traditionally, my students would develop slowly over the course of the year.  It's sort of the "learning how to swim by just jumping in" philosophy. My frustration over the last few years has been that all of these skills (close reading, academic writing in response to text without a prompt from the teacher, presentation, developing personal voice in student writing, etc.) are so intertwined that I really struggled teaching them in isolation, and, despite my best efforts to keep all of these skills married via my instruction, I feel as if I often times failed--that the traditional model of slowly presenting new skills over the course of the school year made it challenging for me to show students how all of these skills are connected and even overlapping.

Thanks to the ocean's mesmerizing uniqueness, I now see why I have struggled so greatly.  In the model in which I slowly present new skills over the course of time, the arbitrary nature of the school's calendar is what dictates the progression of skill instruction, and while we all do our best to differentiate in that model, the calendar still is the foundation for that plan with the skills and students being the next level of consideration. Yet, these waves know no calendar. They are beholden to nothing but their uniqueness and desires. So, if I were to give my students all the skills they will need up front (providing all the discipline-specific terms, strategies, and maneuvers) and make the rigor and difficulty of the text and task the elements that slowly change over the course of the year, each individual student would be free to follow the path of his or her own wave in meeting the standards. Assignments and time with the material will vary by student based on where he or she is in relation to mastery of each skill.  Let's be honest, the discipline of English has a wide-range of skills, and, for the most part, each student is inherently strong in some and weaker in others.  This model will allow each student to spend the time needed developing their weakest skills without "wasting" time on skills they have already mastered.

Here is the catch: I don't know if this will work or not. But I do know that the traditional model of instruction could use a face lift--at least in my class.  I plan on working hard to ensure all my students have the best learning experience possible, and that is no different than every year I have ever taught. However, this year, the calendar will not be the foundation of that learning experience, their learning will be!  I am sure I will fail. I am sure I will learn a ton.  I am sure I will have a great time along the way.  But most importantly, I am sure that in trying new things, I will become a better teacher.  So I ask: what new things will you try this year?