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| Every child should experience "serendipity"; the search for one thing but, you find another., Jack Prelutsky, Poet |
- Command is where the student says "Teacher I want you to teach me, tell me what to do, how to do it, and when to hand it in." It is the closest thing to traditional teaching. The teacher is to teach the objectives step by step and assign practice items to be completed. If a secondary activity is required the teacher will provide it. The student will listen to the instruction, complete the assigned work and complete a declared score and flexibility factor on each Perception Check or Unit Test.
- In Task the student listens to the command lesson but has choice in what to do as practice. The student will demonstrate their ability to select and complete the appropriate amount of practice to complete the objectives. During the selection process the student is expected to consider what they know and don’t know when choosing the amount and type of practice. Choosing items that challenge themselves is always encouraged. The teachers duties remain the same as in Command but have the added responsibility of using good questioning techniques to help steer the student to becoming more independent.
- Peer-Partner means the student looks for a peer to work with. It may be that the student needs a sounding board, a person to brainstorm with, or someone to compete against ("If your pencil is moving, my pencil is moving.") Both students must produce separate products. Peer-Partners do not need to be in the same grade or even working on the same subject. The teacher will provide a Unit Plan complete with Objectives and a timeline. The student will select a partner carefully, decide jointly how learning of the objectives will take place, check each other’s work, prepare a plan on how Earned Time will be used. The students will listen to the Command lesson if the objective is beyond the experience of both students. Peer-Partner, Self-Directed or Student-Teacher Contract students may slip in and out of the Command lesson as needed.
- Student-Teacher Contract is when a student wishes to do the classwork in a different order then the daily objective outline or creates a project to complete the required objectives together. . The teacher can not determine if the student is keeping up with the daily outline unless s/he has a contract from the student on what they are doing each day. The teacher’s duties are the same as in Peer-Partner. The student will study the objectives and determine how learning will take place, complete a contract, present the contract to the teacher for approval, listen to the Command lesson if necessary and prepare a plan of how Earned Time will be used.
- Self-Directed students want the teacher to stay out of their way. They know this subject matter and do not want to be slowed down or told how to explore or investigate the information. The teacher will regularly visit the student to make sure that the student is on the right track, provide the same items as in the previous two Teaching Styles The students will begin work without teacher direction. All other student items found in Peer-Partner and Student-Directed Teaching apply to these students.
There are at least two rules that need to be in place when using these 5 Teaching Styles to ensure that it works smoothly. The first rule is that students have 61/2 seconds to prove to the teacher that the teaching style chosen is the correct style for you. The second rule is a student must be equivalent or ahead of the daily outline to choose Peer-Partner, Student-Teacher Contract or, Self-Directed.
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