I can't tell you how many times I've stood in a classroom after a lesson and heard a teacher say something like,
“I just can't find time for small groups.”
A few minutes later, another teacher says,
“I'd love to confer more, but I have to get through the curriculum.”
Then someone else adds,
“We're supposed to fit in intervention too. I don't know where it's supposed to happen.”
The interesting thing is, they're all describing the same problem.
It feels like every important instructional practice is competing for the same minutes in the day.
Whole-group instruction competes with small groups.
Small groups compete with conferring.
Conferring competes with intervention.
Independent practice competes with getting through the curriculum.
By the end of the day, it can feel like you're choosing what to leave out instead of deciding what students need most.
One of the biggest shifts in my own teaching happened when I realized those practices weren't supposed to compete with one another.
They were designed to work together.
Small groups aren't an extra. They're part of responsive teaching.
Conferring isn't something to squeeze into the day. It's one of the ways we respond to students while the rest of the class is engaged in meaningful independent practice.
Independent practice isn't time away from learning. It's where students begin taking ownership of what they've been taught.
When we understand the structure of a lesson and the structure of a day, the pieces stop competing with one another. They begin supporting one another.
The goal isn't squeezing more into the day.
It's building a day where each practice naturally strengthens the next.
This week's article explores why the Teaching Structure changes the way we think about every curriculum we teach.
I wrote more about why the Teaching Structure isn't another thing to add—it's the piece that helps everything else work together.
Great teaching has a structure. This week's article explores what it is and why it makes every curriculum stronger. Read it here.
Gail
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