This past year our elementary school did something different. We decided to try departmentalizing across grade levels. Why, you ask? Because we only have one section of each grade, yet we felt our upper elementary students needed to rotate teachers to prepare them for junior high. That, and the three teachers each had a specialty.
Our fourth grade teacher is excellent at teaching math and extremely qualified. I love reading and have my Reading Specialist degree. And finally, the 5th grade teacher was perfectly fine setting up the science experiments and doing some extra social studies. (I think we were all pretty excited to give up the subjects we weren’t as passionate about, so it worked out well!)
We started planning for this change months before we actually implemented it. There’s so much to figure out…classroom schedules, who teaches what, common rules, how to track behavior, how to contact parents, how to switch rooms with the least amount of teaching time lost, similar classroom policies/procedures to make it easier on kids, etc.
Pros:
- We all got to teach a subject we love!
- We had a common prep time each day so we were able to discuss things as needed. We didn’t have an “official” time to meet, but knowing that we shared a 30 minute prep each day made our lives a bit easier.
- Being able to bounce ideas off two other teachers when you have a student you can’t reach was priceless. We all have those “tough cookies”, and knowing you had two other people who work with that student every day made it easier to get ideas.
- It felt like I was working less. I know from an hourly standpoint I truly wasn’t, but because I was teaching only subjects that I’m really passionate about my job seemed easier this past year.
- Our 6th graders are going to go to middle school better prepared for switching teachers each day.
- When you have a “tough” class, they rotate between rooms. This helps prevent teacher burnout and gives everyone a break during the day by taking on another class.
- On the same note, when you have a really large class – they rotate! You don’t have to grade papers for that large class in all subjects, just the one/s you teach!
Cons:
- We had to attend a LOT of special ed and Title I meetings. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it didn’t dawn on me before we made this change that I would be going to three times the meetings. It was an adjustment.
- Parents sometimes contacted one of us with a complaint about another. Thankfully we had been upfront with one another at the beginning of the year and said that if we had a parent say anything we were to send them directly to the teacher they had an issue with. It worked out really well for us and we had all issues handled promptly!
- Some of the kiddos struggled with switching teachers at the beginning of the year. I had a few 4th graders who would just gawk around my room in awe and not really hear a word I said. Thankfully this ended within about a month, but it did take some getting used to for them and me. (The teachers told me that it wasn’t such a big deal going into year #2 because the third graders had been hearing about the switch all of the previous school year. That group adjusted more quickly.)
- You have to get along with all of the people on the team. We had a GREAT team and no problems. 🙂 However, I could see this being an issue if people don’t communicate well with one another.
- You don’t get to know the kids as well. But even as I type this, it’s not entirely true. Yes, I did not get as much time with this year’s 6th grade class as I did last year’s. However, in future years every teacher will have an equivalent of a full year with the students – except that year will be spread over three. It will all work out in the end. It just happens that the first year or two I may not know the students as well. (When I was doing research on being departmentalized last year I saw a bunch of research saying that you lose the relationships. I can honestly say that I didn’t feel that way! Even though I saw over 50 students each day, I had a good connection with the majority of them. And I think each subsequent year with them would just make it better!)
- Scheduling was a bit of a nightmare. We started the year with 60 minute blocks, but found that wasn’t enough time. We had to make the entire elementary change their specials schedules so we could change to 90 minute blocks. EEK! It ended up working out just fine, but the point is that you will need to be open and honest to get this to work. And be prepared for some bumps along the way. It took us about two months to have all the kinks worked out, but it was well worth it!
As I look at the above lists, from a length standpoint the cons win (although I did include our “fixes” to each con in this section). This could not be farther from the truth! This was a great system! All three teachers loved it, the students learned to love it (some did gripe a little at the beginning of the year), and we received a BUNCH of positive feedback from parents as well. Yes, it was a learning experience this first year, but we are definitely doing it again next year!
Now I realize this is jut my list of pros and cons. However, I’ve found a couple other websites that share information on departmentalizing across grade levels as well. There are real opinions from others teachers! Here they are:
In case you’re wondering how we did the switches- or how the schedule really looked – here you go:
- 8:15-8:30
– homeroom for all - 8:30-9:50
– 6th grade math/spelling
– 5th grade Reading/Language
– 4th grade Science/Social Studies - 9:55-10:25
– Morning Special (PE, Music, Research Skills) - 10:30-11:50
– 6th grade to Science/Social Studies
– 5th grade to math/spelling
– 4th grade to Reading/Language - 11:55-12:15
-lunch - 12:15-12:35
-recess - 12:35-3:15
– 6th grade Reading/Language
– 5th grade Science/Social Studies
– 4th grade Math/spelling
– Reading Intervention Time
– all other specials (band, computers, ++)
**This afternoon session is the craziest! Some days the teachers have more than their typical 80 minute block to get their core subject in, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Next year we are changing things up a little bit:
- 4th Grade Homeroom will teach ALL math & spelling
- 5th Grade Homeroom will teach ALL science & social studies
- 6th Grade Homeroom will teach ALL reading, writing, grammar
We will again go with 90 minute blocks in the morning with a 30 minute special in between. This allows each homeroom teacher to have their class all afternoon, and it gives us more flexibility with scheduling specials in the afternoon.
We are really excited to continue this program! The kids love seeing three different teachers each day, and we have received a bunch of positive comments from parents.
Do you departmentalize in this way? If so, I’d love to hear your persdata-pin-description=”Are you looking at departmentalizing across grade levels? Then you’re going to love the ideas presented here. Find out how three elementary teachers made a departmentalized system work with 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. It would be done at ANY upper elementary or middle school, even if you only have one section of each grade level at your school. Reading, writing, math, science, and more are all covered. See their schedule too! {departmentalized classroom, organization, setup, management}”pective on departmentalizing across grade levels in the comments below! Do you have further ideas, suggestions, or questions? Ask away!
Hi, my school also went departmentalized last year for grades 5&6 (4 classes at the time, this year, only 3 classes). I don't fully understand your schedule, as 3 classes of 90 minutes each, plus a special sounds like a 5 hour morning? We had 60 minute classes, which were later reduced to 45 due to administrators adding an addition 45 minutes of math work for everyone in the afternoon. 90 minutes sounds lovely! This year, I'll be teaching 1 class of 5th grade writing, 2 classes of 6th grade writing, and my 6th grade Homeroom science & social studies (possibly co-teaching s&ss with both 6th grade classes together). Thanks for any clarification of your schedule, as scheduling is our biggest battle with departmentalization.
We are currently trying to work out a schedule for next year’s 5th and 6th graders. It looks like we will have 23 fifths and 22 sixths with 3 teachers. Can you give me an idea of what dividing between 3 teachers looks like at your school?
We had homeroom from 8:15-8:25 to take care of lunch, attendance, etc. Then the first rotation was from 8:25-9:50. Specials take place each day from 9:55-10:25. The second switch is 10:30-11:55. Lunch is from 11:55-12:15. Then in the afternoon the students have their other specials classes and stay with their homeroom teacher for the course they teach. (I wanted to respond in case Sarah doesn’t see your response.) Best of luck!
Sorry I wasn't more clear! Here's a better look of exactly what our specials look like:
8:15-8:30
– homeroom for all
8:30-9:50
– 6th grade math/spelling
– 5th grade Reading/Language
– 4th grade Science/Social Studies
9:55-10:25
– Morning Special (PE, Music, Research Skills)
10:30-11:50
– 6th grade to Science/Social Studies
– 5th grade to math/spelling
– 4th grade to Reading/Language
11:55-12:15
-lunch
12:15-12:35
-recess
12:35-3:15
– 6th grade Reading/Language
– 5th grade Science/Social Studies
– 4th grade Math/spelling
– Reading Intervention Time
– all other specials (band, computers, ++)
**This afternoon session is the craziest! Some days the teachers have more than their typical 80 minute block to get their core subject in, sometimes more, sometimes less.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please let me know if I can clarify further! 🙂
~HoJo~
I am joining a new school this year that is starting to departmentalize and loop, like what you are doing, but with 1st-3rd grade. I will be teaching math and science to each grade level. I’m really excited about the experience and think it will be beneficial all around, but I am really struggling with figuring out how to do math centers! Every other year that I have taught, my centers have included several containers with manipulatives/games for the kids to use (one center each day, a different center the next). Unfortunately, having three grade levels it wouldn’t make sense to do my centers this way. It would take up too much room.
Any suggestions on a schedule for a 90 minute math block while teaching 3 different grade levels? Specifically how to incorporate centers or stations! I know that you didn’t teach math but I thought you, or someone else on this page, might have insight.
Thanks in advance!
You’re right in that I didn’t teach math this way, but I’ll try to explain how our 4-6 teacher did this. Because she had all of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade math materials – she had a LOT of manipulatives in her classroom. She had very few books (that was my department 😉 So she had LOTS of materials for students to use. They often did the same activity for 2-3 days at a time. I’m sure there’s a way to make it work. Give something a try, and tweak as you need to. Students in grades 1-3 are going to be very forgiving. 🙂 Best of luck!!! (And I hope someone else chimes in with a better answer because I’m not really sure I did you any justice right now…)
My school currently does teams of 2, where one teacher is responsible for ELA and her homeroom’s Social Studies and her partner teaches math and science to both group’s, along with her homeroom’s social studies. The years there is an “odd man out,’ a volunteer is self-contained. next year we will again have an odd amount of units, and we are trying to convince our principal to let us pilot a 3-man team(Math, sci/SS, ELA). one of his main concerns is scheduling, especially pullouts. could you please share some greater details about how you managed student pullouts, pe, and special classes like library and art? THanks!
We had school from 8:30-3:30 daily. The morning you had from about 8:30-8:35 for any “housekeeping” items – attendance, lunch, etc. Then 8:35-9:45 were the first “rotation” where the kids went to another room. From 9:50-10:20 every day we had specials (PE, music, or computers). Then 10:25-11:35 was the next rotation. Lunch was 11:40-12:10, with recess from 12:10-12:25. Then the kids came in and went back to their “homeroom” teacher – which is where they spent the rest of the day. All other specials were during this time. So some days we may have no specials, where other days we had two. It really just depended on what the principal was able to work out. Then from 3:10-3:30 each day was a “homeroom” so the students could rotate between any of the three rooms to get help with whatever they may need. I hope that helps in some small way, but feel free to comment again or email me at hojostptstore at yahoo dot com if I can answer any more questions. I helped develop our schedule, taught under this schedule, and then was the principal for this schedule as well – so I feel like I got to know it pretty well. 🙂