One of the activities that day was a presentation about student motivation: what may enhance student motivation for learning, what could hinder it, and other implications for us as teachers. This is where Layered Curriculum was introduced to me. On the surface, it could seem like a very lazy way to teach; however, on a deeper level, in my opinion, it is how all classrooms should function.
With Layered Curriculum, students are given a choice of learning activities, which inevitably accumulates points as they complete the activities. They choose their grade essentially! How many students would LOVE to be the one who determines their grade? The neat thing about it is that you as the teacher set up the Layered Curriculum to cater to different learning styles and levels of thinking in the following ways:
C-Layer assignments should typically include activities that focus on basic knowledge: memorization, recall, listing, identifying, reading and answering questions, etc. This is a great place to put information that you NEED ALL students in your classroom to understand. If students CHOOSE to earn a C, they must accumulate a minimum of 70 points worth of C-Layer assignments.
B-Layer assignments are more application-based. Students have the opportunity here to participate in activities that allow them to build, apply, analyze, create, plan, reconstruct, tell, re-tell, and all the other ACTION-based words that Mr. Bloom used in his taxonomy. This is a fun layer where learning really starts to become more personalized and means more to the students. They remember what they learn, but it takes more effort and more time, hence a greater reward with a higher grade. To earn a B, students must complete their C-Layer requirements, in addition to at least 15 points of B-Layer assignments.
A-Layer assignments cause students to not only apply concepts they you have taught and that they have discovered themselves through their own learning experiences and activities, but these assignments also cause them to reflect and make their own judgments, interpretations, critiques, and evaluations. Once again, these types of assignments take more time, but the level of learning that occurs if students choose this route can be amazing! Just as with the B-Layer, students must gain all 70 C-Layer points, 15 B-Layer points, and an additional 15 points within the A-Layer of activities.
I spent all summer getting excited about this curriculum! The other health teacher and I got together weekly to organize and brainstorm ideas about this new and improved way of teaching. And then school started. Has it been a bumpy road? Yes. Are the students a little thrown off at first? Yes! It's very different than traditional teaching to only listen to your teacher for 3/4 of the time, and then be given the rest of the time to LEARN ON YOUR OWN!
BUT, it's not sink or swim time. During the individual learning time at the end of class, students and I get to interact! I get the opportunity to GET TO KNOW MY STUDENTS: what are their interests; what tough things are going on in their lives that they want to share with me; what are they learning in my class; what can I help to clarify; how can they apply concepts more consistently into their daily lives; am I making a difference? Everyday, instead of standing in front of the classroom and separating myself from my students with an imaginary barrier, I am able to break that barrier and TEACH my students on a more intimate and personal level as I walk around and help them discover information themselves.
I am STILL adding to my list of assignments for this first unit that I have taught while utilizing this Layered Curriculum style. I have a huge list of reminders written in the front of my classroom on the white board for my students to read on Monday about some of the things that worked, and some that didn't turn out exactly as I had planned that we will try to tweak this next unit so that it goes more smoothly. It's a work in progress. But I love it. I love teaching. I love learning. I love WATCHING my students learn. I love seeing their satisfaction when they discover something on their own, or make a personal connection with something discussed in class. Education--educatING-- is my reward! And a GIFT that I get to give myself daily!
