For those feeling harried and harrassed by too much to do at this time of year, and you just want to let the train coast along the tracks for awhile, don’t forget that that is the intent of the new bi-weekly schedule. When we use it, we start with two or three structures and can teach from them as a starting point for lots of reading, listening and writing CI for up to three weeks or more. That is the value of these templates we keep creating here. Everything is done for us, the sequence is there. We need but riff off the what the bass and drums lay down for us. I want to include this schedule in the new template and rubric hard links for this page that James and I are working on together right now. So here is the link to the already published bi-weekly schedule for those interested. You’ll see that it is basically a plug and play deal where you don’t have to plan a thing as long as you have a story script and a few target structures to start with:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2013/02/08/new-bi-weekly-schedule-2013/
One thing about this schedule is that it just flows. We want flow in our lives. Teaching is a process and when we focus on outcomes we get crazy. Just look around. The intense focus on outcomes, uniform outcomes no less, and the data collection game, is driving everyone crazy.
We need a more process oriented way of teaching, and this biweekly schedule offers that. It’s like the Lazy River at the theme parks. We come to a bend in our inner tubes, we go around the bend and there is something new to look at and laugh about with our kids. This is what I have tried to create in designing the above plan.