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That time a reviewer told me my lesson plans were too rigid | Fad or Future? - Vivisector

That time a reviewer told me my lesson plans were too rigid

I teach 7th grade history in Denver and a parent feedback form last year said my class felt like a checklist, not a discussion. I switched to letting kids pick topics from a list for 15 minutes each Friday and engagement went up by like 40 percent. But now I worry I'm losing structure and kids miss key dates. Has anyone else found a good middle ground between flexibility and covering the standards?

4 comments

4 Comments

carr.abby3mo ago

Read a study recently that said students remember more when they have some control over what they learn, but they still need a clear framework to connect it all together. Maybe keep your Friday choice time but use Monday through Thursday to hit the required dates and concepts. A teacher friend of mine does something similar with her middle schoolers and she maps out the whole year's standards first, then builds in two flexible days a month for student-led topics.

eva_moore3mo ago

Agree with @carr.abby on this, it's basically how my favorite local coffee shop works - they let you customize your drink but the syrup flavors are still organized by a little chart on the wall. That mix of structure and freedom just clicks for people.

olivia_white933mo ago

Wait, hold on - a chart on the wall? That's actually wild to me. I mean, I get the idea of having some structure, but organizing syrup flavors by a chart feels like it would take all the fun out of ordering. Like, half the joy of going to a coffee shop is just staring at the menu and picking something random that sounds good. Having a chart makes it feel like a math problem or something. Does it really work better than just listing them out like normal? I feel like people would just look at the chart and default to the first one they see.

kimw572mo ago

Tried this with my kids' homework routine and it worked perfectly. Gave them a list of topics they HAD to learn but let them pick the order each week. The structure kept them from getting overwhelmed but the choices kept them engaged.