Class Timetable - Student Voice

Students used the PMI, a thinking tool, to help them identify the best delivery mode for their learning. The choice they had was between a normal school day of fitting in all subjects into one day, or focusing on one subject per day.

Below are images of what the timetable looked like and changed to:

Reflection:

It was a hard first term for me as for the first time in my career I had to share my class with another teacher. Not just any teacher, but with my boss. I was in class for 3 days of the week and as of term 2 was teaching Reading, Writing, and Math. Most teachers would just split the 3 subjects up across the day but as we know, we have other interruptions such as assembly, guest speakers, trips, and other curriculum strands that need to be met. The students felt rushed trying to get through their work loads, and I felt pressured trying to met outcomes in such a short teaching time.

After discussing options with my class, they decided to do a collaborative PMI to help them choose the best way to manage our learning time in the class. This was an interesting task as it meant the students had to really think carefully about impact either decision would have on them, their peers, and their goals.

After completing this task, the decision was to focus on one subject a day. This worked extremly well for us, it meant the students were able to focus on one subject for longer than 45 minutes allowing them to complete tasks and not lose their train of thought because it’s time to move on.

This was a very productive and collaborative way of getting student voice and their ownership into their daily routine. This showed the start of student agency, trust, respect, and the expectation that if you choose a way, you need to do it that way. We kept this type of timetable for the remainder of the year.