Melissa’s Butterfly

My take on Ron Berger’s approach to revision and quality; a personal perspective on the school year 2022–2023

I’ve recently been thinking about how this school year can be compared to the feeling of when you finally move into a newly constructed house.

The hard part is over. I’ve saved up the downpayment, I found a place that I’m excited to call home, the mortgage is approved, the building is complete, and it’s time to move in and become settled.

Having spent the last four years grade hopping from Kindergarten to 3rd grade, I’ve finally landed at home — 1st grade. It has been such a treat to not have to create something from scratch. My treat, I mean a relief to my mental bandwidth, because I have time to think and revise rather than constantly digesting new curricula and creating.

With that said, I’ve been thinking about “quiet quitting,” teacher shortages, and burnout. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about what’s different about this school year that’s allowing it to feel significantly more manageable than the prior year. For me, the most obvious difference is the fact that I’m teaching the same grade level and content again.

I’ve been fortunate to learn from some amazing educators and school leaders. Years ago, I had the pleasure of learning directly from Ron Berger of EL Education. During this professional development workshop Ron Berger shared a lesson and/or teaching philosophy about revision, and the importance of allowing students to learn about revision, “Austin’s Butterfly”.

Credit — EL Education

“Students [and teachers] produce high-quality work through a process of critique and revisions.” — EL Education

In short, the lesson learned (for students and adults):

1. is about the importance of looking at your “subject” — a butterfly, with increasing levels of awareness,
2. that specific, kind, and helpful critique and feedback from others will support one’s progress and growth,
3. and is provided with ample time is key. Teachers need space to revise their work so that high-quality learning and outcomes can be achieved.

Credit:db_beyer

This school year is my “Butterfly Revision” and I’m grateful for the opportunity to stay put in my newly constructed “home” so that I can improve my craft.

Here are 3 thoughts/tips on how to support teachers or yourself with a revisionary school year:

1. The Looping Tax

Teacher Looping can be great for experienced teachers, students, and families. There’s a familiarity that allows for hitting the ground running with academic content during the second year of the loop. However, does the cost for the teacher(s) outweigh the benefits?

I believe that if the teacher is inexperienced with the grade level content, then the second year of the loop can be incredibly taxing and teachers may miss out on the opportunity to revise their lesson plans from the previous year.

2. Coverage -Think Time

Planning time. Planning Time. Planning Time. There are millions of things that can and will interrupt teachers’ planning time. If a school has a permanent substitute or can provide class coverage (on a regular school day), then leaders should consider providing teachers with a few hours of extra planning time once a month or even once or twice a year. I promise your staff will appreciate the think time or collaborative time with their colleagues.

3. Hyperlinks are Your Friend

Photo Credit — Me (Melissa Black)

I use Google Docs religiously (OneNote always gives me grief). A few years ago I noticed that one of my colleagues hyperlinked all of her google documents into one big Google Sheets file.

At first, I thought, “What on EARTH?!” The document looked similar to the picture above. However, I quickly realized the practicality of having one Google Sheets/Excel document with all of your other important docs linked into it.

I link all of my plans into one spreadsheet file, this way I can find all of my plans online; all I need is Google access and I’m set.

Cheers to revision, thoughtfulness, and self-improvement!

If you liked this blog post, check out “Mindful Back to School Shopping” and “The Essentials” which feature my favorite classroom gadgets under $20.

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