I decided to explore The Grid Method since I was unfamiliar with it. I visited the resource website and watched the video of the Spanish teacher who has tried it in her classroom. The Grid Method website states that it is student centered, competency based, and allows students to learn at their own pace. The teacher's role is that of facilitator and guide.
As I watched the video, I found that the grid method, at least how this teacher was doing it, was just a way to organize the assignments for a specific class. Basically, the teacher sets up a table or grid with the assignments that students should work through. Her grid had dates and links to videos, slideshows, online quizzes, and tests.
The pros included that students could work at their own pace and had check in points to see how they were doing such as quizzes. They could wait until they felt they had mastered the vocabulary or grammar skills before they took the test. I think this is highly motivating for your conscientious and advanced students. There is no more waiting to learn. The cons, however, are that students could get behind if they do not use their time wisely and in this particular class, the activities did seem very worksheet orientated with no chance for oral practice. Because students are working through content at their own pace, class discussions and group projects were not included which I think are essential. To me this seemed like an online class and better suited for junior high students and older.
With that being said, I do find value in possibly using this method in my classroom for certain subjects. As this Spanish teacher stated, it is more difficult to use with content such as Social Studies because there can be more than one right answer, so I think this method lends itself to subjects like math and vocabulary. I can definitely see the value of implementing The Grid Method for math where there is flipped learning happening. In my fourth grade classroom, we have daily math homework, so I could see assigning students a video to watch and take notes on and then setting up a grid with assignments to work through for the unit. During class, I would work as a facilitator to help students with concepts and check in to answer any questions. If I set it up with self-grading formative assessments, students would get immediate feedback and know whether they needed to review or move on.
I would definitely like to try this for a unit in math and see how it goes. My only hesitation is the responsibility that it takes. Some fourth grade students simply lack the maturity to manage their time effectively. I will have to know who these students are and monitor them closely to make sure they don't get behind.
Citations
Settanni, Sarah, director. How to Use the Grid Method in Your Classroom. Mr. & Mrs. Social Studies, Youtube, 11 Nov. 2018, youtu.be/p4kTquq9g5k.
“What Is the Grid Method?” Teach Better, teachbetter.com.
Robin, I got the same impression of the Grid Method as you did as I was working through the resources. I agree that it just seemed like a list of independent work to-dos. I'd like to know more about the check-in process that teachers use with students to ensure they feel ready to take the assessment. This model seemed more to me like something that would help facilitate personalized learning versus a method of assessment, although I suppose the students could be self-assessing as they work through the materials. I'm curious to hear how this would work in your classroom, and, as always, I'd be willing to tag team this with you to get it off the ground! :)
ReplyDeleteRobin,
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing your insight on the Grid Method. This reminded me a lot of our last assignment, and the Digital Badge idea. I think this model could really help students when moving towards the Mastery Learning framework! This could be something teachers could do to help students move along on a concept that they have not yet mastered. I love the idea of self-assessing as they go, Jessica! :)
Robin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about the Grid Method! I didn't research that one and was curious what it was about. I agree with you that this sounds like something that's better suited for advanced/high-achieving students and could be really troublesome for those kiddos with executive functioning difficulties.
I saw that you said that you anticipated being able to use this method in math. Your plan sounds great! Are there any other subjects that you think could be enhanced by the Grid Method?
I'm excited to see if you decide to try it out next year!
~Jessica
I agree with the comments above. I was initially overwhelmed when I watched the first video and subsequent ones within the grid resources. I felt that it was simply a list of activities to do, from one step to the next, independently. While I see value in giving students a road-map to reaching the goals and standards for each unit, I felt the assignment we did a couple weeks ago which took a goal and created tiers for each goal would be more helpful to students.
ReplyDelete