Jumping Feet First Into Self-Paced Math

I have been feeling guilty about not posting to my blog but now I feel like I have so much to share about the great things happening in Nevada.  One huge endeavor some of our teachers have taken on this year is creating a self-paced environment in their classrooms.

Through this process, students progress at their own rate and are able to get individualized attention based on their needs.  Teachers put in countless hours this summer to align activities, lessons and assessments to the standards while still engaging students. They put great effort into not making these items drill and skill but rather a focus on students creating and applying their knowledge, as well as sharing these ideas with peers and the world.  Students can advance at their own pace and get their needs met by small group instruction with the teacher.

We have worked together to determine logistics, learn new technologies, and put all of the pieces into place to make self-paced math work.  Below is an example from one classroom this morning - the focus mini-lesson was on fractions and aligned to the grade level standards, but these 3rd/4th grade students were working on their own pacing guides based upon their needs.  This classroom looks like a well-oiled machine after a month of just jumping in feet first to self-paced math. Kudos to the teachers for taking on the unknown and putting the best interests of kids at the forefront of their teaching and learning.  I am lucky to work with some amazing educators and am grateful my own children get the chance to learn in self-paced learning environments.