Four Phases to Transform Your Traditional Classroom into an Individualized Classroom

Post #2.0 — There is no single answer because teachers are individuals too.

Just like all classrooms are full of individual students who have individual needs, schools are composed of individual teachers with individual beliefs. There is no general recipe for how a teacher should transform their classroom, but I can share with you the phases that I went through to change.

Phase 1 — Get Sick of the Tradition — Starting my first day of teaching, there was something that was unsettling about the traditional pedagogy used in many public school classrooms. As I slowly became consciously aware of the causes of my unsettling feelings, I quickly became sick of the tradition. It wasn’t until around my 10th year of teaching that I began individualizing my classroom. This post(Post #2.1) discusses this phase in more detail.

Phase 2 — Get Tech Savvy — Appropriate use of technology is the key to educational reform. Technology should not replace a teacher, but give them “super powers.” This post(Post #2.2) discusses how I used technology to evolve my pedagogy and become a 21st century teacher.

Phase 3 — Develop a Faith for the Individual Student — A vital ingredient in a bold change like this is faith. Faith created a foundation for me to develop confidence in myself, trust towards individual students, and a solid ground for both of us to stand on. This post(Post #2.3) discusses the power of faith.

Phase 4 — Constantly Refine and Improve — No extra blog post for this is needed. Do you remember your first year of teaching? Welcome back! Don’t worry. It’s not as bad, but as with building up anything from anew, this will be a consistent “refine and improve” cycle. Everyone’s challenges and growing pains will be different. Don’t be afraid to contact me with questions or if you need someone to help you troubleshoot.