8th Grade Humanities – Meeting Student Needs
Managing complex change is often challenging for school districts. In order to begin the change process a school district needs to have a clear vision of where the school currently is and where the school would like to be in the future. It is important for school districts to entertain changes that will foster high student achievement. Schools have been looking for creative ways to increase student achievement and this year the Spencer-Van Etten middle school ELA and social studies teachers have combined their courses into one humanities class.
The ELA and social studies teachers discussed learning strategies and realized that they were teaching the students similar skills and decided “it just made sense” to combine the courses to offer more in-depth instruction focused on the ELA and Social Studies New York State standards. The vision for the humanities class was for students to have greater retention of skills and content because of increased instructional time, repetition of skills, and focused curriculum based on NYS standards.
In order for the teachers to meet their vision there were necessary skills to turn the vision into reality. The teachers identified 4 basic, yet necessary skills in designing a quality humanities class; (1) it was necessary to have training in co-teaching. Co-teaching involves teaching with at least two credentialed professionals who both coordinate and deliver instruction. Co-teaching allows teachers to engage all students using differentiated instructional strategies addressing the needs in a diverse classroom; (2) both teachers had to find ways to mesh their individual teaching styles to do what was best for students. This included looking at their classroom management styles, their comfort with their content knowledge and their teaching styles. One of the teachers said “You can’t have a humanities class, you have to have humanities teachers”; (3) the teachers researched lesson planning for an eighty minute block. Additional classroom time allowed for more guided and independent practice of skills and knowledge through a wide range of learning activities; and (4) the teachers switched from Whole Class Novel Study to Readers and Writers Workshop. Readers and Writers Workshop allowed the teachers to differentiate instruction using different books at different reading levels to deliver social studies and ELA content. Students chose books based on interests and readability which increased their retention, motivation and level of comfort.
The district welcomed the idea of a humanities class and provided the support and resources to create success. A curriculum mentor was hired to work with the teachers on Unit Mapping, instructional strategies and curriculum delivery. A Work Study grant was written which covered release time for the increased planning time needed to design curriculum. The district even sent the teachers on a trip to Campbell Savona to observe Readers and Writers Workshop in practice. With the districts support, one incentive was their desire to have greater student involvement in the content and classroom. Another reason for accepting this challenge was increased planning time to design a quality instructional program aimed at fostering higher student achievement.
If another school district wanted to develop a humanities class, the following action plan could be used:
1. Obtain administrative approval for the class from the building administrator and discuss funding options
2. Present the course to the Board of Education for approval
3. Sit down with guidance to schedule blocking two periods for the class
4. Obtain release time for planning (summer and once a month during the school year)
5. Plan for success using unit mapping
- Divide the social studies content into concepts
- Assign the New York State standards to the units (ELA & Social Studies)
- Plan teaching strategies for student engagement
- Assess students using parallel tasks
6. Identify future goals and analyze data for program effectiveness
The Spencer-Van Etten middle school was innovative this year in designing a humanities class to meet student needs. Education is about doing what is best for students and teachers work hard to provide quality instruction to our young students. Teachers being creative in the way they deliver instruction and working to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a diverse student population is the direction schools should be taking to foster personal and academic success for all. As a member of a professional learning community we need to collaborate with other teachers and not work in isolation. Educators, by sharing best practices, can foster higher student achievement.
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Denise Wickham
Spencer-Van Etten Middle School
Dean of Students
May 2, 2008
