Make your Modern Classroom manageable

Transforming your the way you teach is a process.  It's going to take time, and it's going to require commitment.  Here are three things you can do to make it easier for yourself:

1) Start small.  You won't be able to launch a full Modern Classroom overnight.  It's too much work!  Instead, try building piece-by-piece.  If you teach multiple preps, start by building videos for one; before you move to full self-pacing, try a blended learning station.  As you build, take note of what works and adjust accordingly.

2) Grade smarter, not harder.  If you teach 50 students, grade two submissions per lesson, and plan each lesson to last done day, you'll grade 100 submissions per day.  Not sustainable!  But if you grade one well-designed mastery check per lesson, and plan lessons that last two days, you'll grade 25.  This exact approach may not work for your particular district or students, but I hope it illustrates the point.  Choose what you really need to grade and focus on that.

3) Collaborate.  As you continue to innovate, find a colleague with whom you can celebrate your successes and troubleshoot your struggles.  Two minds are better than one here, especially when you're likely to face common challenges.  If you can get a few colleagues together, feel free to use our PLC resources as a starting point for sharing your experiences!

None of these tips is going to make launching your Modern Classroom easy -- things worth doing rarely are.  (But you're an educator, so you already know that!)  But I hope some of them will help.