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!
Interesting approach. I like that it can be tailored to meet the needs of all students. I see this a great tool in helping the resource students be successful in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful blog. It has a practical idea that can be adapted for any curriculum. It engages students at all levels because kids can choose their level of participation. I can see some the real achievers having fun with this, but also the kids who just need a little break being able to satisfy requirements.
ReplyDeleteTami Bird
Interesting idea! I'm curios though, what do you do with the bright student who is simply lazy? I do novel projects where the students determine their grade by choosing which elements to complete. Most do really well, and I think they work harder than they would normally. But there are always those little lazy ones who do the bare minimum. They are not interested in challenging anything. Do you still keep pressure on them to move along because I do. AND, do you find that it kind of drags down the spirit of the task?
ReplyDeleteThe bright lazy students are sometimes the most frustrating ones to teach! The neat thing that I LOVE about this teaching method is that I get to have one-on-ones with students virtually every day. I know who my bright lazy students are. I have asked them flat out at times why they don't do the work they are totally capable of doing for a better grade. Sometimes their answer is just as blunt as my question: "Because I don't want to. Because I don't feel like it." No, I don't stop harassing them to work for the better reward (a higher grade); but, unfortunately I think life gives us similar examples. It makes me think of the movie "Good Will Hunting" which is about a BRILLIANT GENIUS kid who is a janitor and simply continues on with his life the way that it is because he lacks interest in his alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI guess my continued challenge and strife is to always try to find MORE activities to add to my list to give students MORE choices so maybe they WILL find one that interests them and causes them to learn.
Yes it drags down the spirit of the task, but it's also a nice continual challenge for me as the teacher! :)
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ReplyDeleteI have never learned about layered curriculum before. This is a revolutionary idea for me. Thank you for sharing it. It really gives students the option doesn't it. If they want an A then they need to do the work to get an A. What about correcting assignments, how do you score their work? If they completed all the required assignments for an A, but didn't do an exceptional job on any of them, would you still give them the A.
ReplyDeleteI could see this really working well for some of the classes I teach, but it sounds like a lot of work to start out right away. Have you just implemented this approach one unit at a time, or did you start with the entire curriculum at once. Are their some concepts the C students are left hanging on, or do you give them everything they need to know, but the A students just do more?
These are a few questions I have, but it really sounds interesting. I am going to give this a try in the future just to see how it works. It sounds like a way to involve the gifted and talented students in some exceptional curriculum. They could participate in extra things that they wouldn't normally learn about in a regular class setting.
Tara,
ReplyDeleteYour layered approach to teaching is very interesting. I think this format is a great way for students to learn to take responsibility for there own education. I am sure you will find students that will be enthused to achieve an A by doing extra assignments. Of course you will always have a few students that will settle for a C. I would be interested in finding out the average grade your students recieve in your class. I assume you teach high school or junior high to be able to use this method of teaching.
Keep us posted
Pat parkinson
Nathan,
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to lie, it has been a lot of work to implement this curriculum! I've been doing it one unit at time. I wanted to get started on it this summer, but with four classes of 12 credit hours, that was enough on my plate! I already have some worksheets and assignments that I like and I just slid them in somewhere in the layers. Other than that, I have had to come up with more creative activities and worksheets which takes time, planning and creativity on my part. Now that I've gone through three units, I get more ideas along the way and I've already gone back and edited some of the assignments that didn't work the way I had envisioned them.
For your other question, C Layer assignments are designed so that ALL students are REQUIRED to participate and learn the very basic information that I NEED them to know (or that the state says they need to know). B and A Layer assignments are either more in depth, or they touch on other related information that just may give those types of students additional learning opportunities. I don't want to just give my A students more busy work; they're the ones who may actually ENJOY learning and so I give them activities where they can really get a deeper learning experience that may be challenging or interesting.
I hope that helps! It really is an awesome method. I love it, despite all the work that it has given me to do! Or I should, all the work that I've given MYSELF to do. I really hope you'll give it a chance! Let me know how it turns out!
Tara
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea. I have actually been thinking about similar strategies to implement in my classroom. I think it is important that students learn to do the higher level stuff rather than just the memorization. I realize that it will be a lot of work, but like you mentioned, its worth it. I think developing the new ideas is difficult at first but then it gets easier the longer you do it.