In my classroom, I always wish I could do a better job of differentiating instruction. I have this idea that each student could complete self-paced learning modules like this one and move through the curriculum at their own pace.
I know this idea is a reality for many teachers. They have mastered this skill and I must say I am a little envious. I would love to sit with each of them one-on-one and learn how they do it and implement their best practices into my own lesson planning.
We all know students in our classrooms that learn at a quicker rate than others. They want to progress forward in the material. They want to learn more. However, we hold them back by how we structure our teaching. On the other end, we have students who can’t keep up with the pace of learning we have set. They fall behind and ultimately fail the class.
I know the problem for many of us is we just don’t know how to balance this in a world language classroom. I like the idea of the self-paced classroom, however, I know there are some downfalls to self-paced learning.
- Students who aren’t motivated to learn
- Finding the time to design the lessons
- Aligning student work to standards
- Ensuring everyone has equal access to materials
- Developing communication skills
I could go on and on about concerns. However, here are some things I know to be true about students:
- all students learn at a different rate
- not all students retain the same information
- not all vocabulary will stick in the student’s long-term memory
In the current state of education where we are teaching distance learning, I like this idea of self-paced modules even more. Our world has been turned upside down and as teachers and students we have had to quickly adapt to the “new reality.”
So over the past few weeks, I have been turning this idea over more in my head. How would it look? How can I implement this idea? But most importantly I ask myself how can I get information and material to students in a stress-free way to not add more anxiety to home life situations I know nothing about?
At Home Self-Paced Learning
Here is how I have been creating and designing learning opportunities for students using self-paced lessons. This is a quick snapshot that I hope will help you engage your students in meaningful, self-paced lessons.
Step 1
I will use my example lesson for family with distance learning to explain my process. This is the unit we were starting when school was canceled with face-to-face interactions in March 2020.
I have a topic I want students to know about, family. Then I need to set goals that are aligned with what I will test (expect students to know and do) at the end of the unit. My goals for what students can do at the end of a unit in the classroom are much different than what a student will be able to do at the end of the unit during distance learning. I have to modify my unit goals and align them with standards. Again, I want to give students learning opportunities, but I don’t want to cause them anxiety. What they will learn at home is much less than what they would learn in the classroom. As teachers, we need to understand this and let it go.
Step 2
You will need to create self-guided instructional lessons that students can independently work through. You want to provide vocabulary examples. This can be already created videos, vocabulary lessons you have created, or vocabulary lists that students explore the Internet and learn on their own.
Then you will need to provide some type of practice opportunity students can do on their own. This can be a matching activity, an online game like Quizlet or Gimkit, a fill in the blank activity, or a watch and draw.
Step 3
Next, you will need to provide some type of modeling for what you want students to do. More than one example is always the best practice. In the case of family, I want students to be able to narrate a family tree of a famous family. I want them to be able to use the skills learned in the self-paced lessons.
- Family vocabulary
- Personal and possessive pronouns
- Contrastive structure
- Ranking
For the above, you could provide video examples and articles that explained what these things are. This is not how I would do this in my classroom, however, these are not typical times.
Step 4
You will need to provide an activity that allows students to practice the skills and vocabulary they have learned and provide them with feedback. Feedback and guidance will be the key to student success. You can’t skip this part. This is not an assignment you can check off that a student completed and move forward. Students will need to know what they did well and what they need to improve on. If you are not sure about how to provide feedback, here are some different types to consider.
Step 5
You will need to provide some type of time to help students along the way. Meeting with students one-on-one or in small groups will be best. Because time is difficult to find, working in groups with like-leveled students will be your best bet. Provide office hours for students to meet with you. Offer time to help with vocabulary review, grammar questions, and skills students need to improve on.
Step 6
Assessment will be your last step. You really need to test students on what they learned and practiced during a unit. In this self-paced module, it is best if students are tested on a performance-based assessment. Let students show you what they learned and can do with the material they worked on.
For example, if you only practiced presentational skills during the unit, you can’t test students on interpersonal speaking. If you want students to be able to communicate with each other, you need to add that component into your unit and provide feedback on it.
Conclusion
Understand that distance learning is not how we teach in our classrooms on a typical day. We have to be gracious and flexible during this time. Our students can’t be expected to sit in front of computers for 5 hours a day then do more homework after their lectures. Consider how you would learn if you were in this situation.
A Few Tips
Understanding that not all students are motivated or learn as quiclkly as others, here are a few ideas that I have found to work with students.
- Provide a pacing guideline for students
- Set dates for the start and end date of the unit
- Schedule meetings with unmotivated students who are not getting the work done
- Let students decide how many lessons they need to complete and when they need to complete them
- Let them decide how much practice they need
- Have the next unit ready to go for those who move quickly through the material
You provide the needed materials and let the students do what with the materials. This is the true self-paced part. It is difficult to switch from teacher on to a guide on the side. But you can do this and so can our students. We need to give them the opportunity and the confidence to succeed during this time.
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Distance Learning Lessons and Activities
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