Woo! So happy to see your notification today! :D

I loved being self-contained because I did so many units and loved all the planning and having my kids all day. When I moved to middle school and just taught math, it was a letdown. When I go back to teaching in a few years, I definitely hope to be self-contained again. I understand your points, but I guess we all have our preferences.

I can totally see the benefit of departmentalizing. I have always thought it would cool to only teach one subject. Teaching all the subjects almost daily is exhausting ! Thanks for sharing!

I taught 4th grade in a departmentalized structure for about 10 years. We had a half/half subject split, though. I taught all of Language Arts and Social Studies. My partner taught Math and Science. Our kids were tested on Reading, Math, and Social Studies at the end of 4th grade, and their Science curriculum was tested at the end of 5th grade along with that grade's Science curriculum. Some years I had each class for one large chunk of time and I divided it between the two subjects. Other years, the kids switched for LA and Math every morning. Then, some afternoons they had Science and some they had Social Studies. I loved teaching that way,! Having more time to plan allowed my teaching to grow exponentially in both subjects. Sadly, in the past two years, my district has begun to do away with departmentalization. They say we lose time in transition and cannot integrate the subjects. 😣 Thank you for speaking out in favor of this kind of collaborative teaching!

When I taught 4th grade last year I did ELA and there were two other teachers; one taught Math and the other taught Science/SS. We also had over 30 kids in each class so we definitely needed it split up like that.

Omg! I am so glad I found you. This my second year in fourth. I taught kinder for 9 years and first for 2. When my boss moved me to fourth, I was scared especially with the state testing. I teach writing and I love it. Departmentalized is great!!

This is so interesting to watch! My middle school is transitioning from being departmentalized to be as integrated as much as possible. I had a hard time switching to teaching so many subjects, but I'm enjoying it now (1.5 years in!)

Thanks SO much for doing this video! I am a first grade teacher and our team (there is three of us) are going to departmentalize next year. We got approval from our principal and we are super stoked! Thanks for sharing. I am sharing your video with my team!!

We are departmentalized as well. I think it really has a lot of pros, but a few cons. I agree having a partner to work with, share kids, etc. is nice because they see the joys and struggles. We have 2 teachers that share kids. Each teacher does English for their homeroom then one of us does Reading & Soc. Studies & the other does Math & Science. We switch about half way through the day. I have my afternoon class a shorter amount of time than my homeroom because I don't teach them English only my homeroom. Next year we may move to self contained so it's going to be a big adjustment to go back to teaching all subjects. I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet. Thanks for sharing your schedule with us. Sounds like you guys have a great team and flexibility to be able to share kids and fit your schedules to allow kids the option to differentiate and meet their needs. Sounds interesting.

I feel like I’m not benefiting from departmentalization because mastering the content and building loving relationships with the students is important to me. The two experienced teachers on my team don’t teach the same subjects I do. Coming from teaching a lower grade, there’s a lot I have to adjust to, and I think it would be great to have an experienced mentor guide me along the way. Although I taught everything previously, I feel like there’s so much more I could do if I had my entire team to depend on. My co teacher who teaches the same subjects as me is in her first year if teaching and she’s loving it! Me on the other hand am worried about reaching my students if content is such a big struggle.

This year I am team teaching with someone who is very similar to myself in how we approach the students and the curriculum. We have opened up our classrooms so we have a double room with both classes. I also have an Education Assistant (Aide) in my room, so we have three full time adults. I have taken on English, History and Geography and he teaches Math, Science and Technology. It sounds like a huge class (52 kids) but when you think about it, when you are on the mat teaching explicit skills, it doesn't matter whether you have 5 or 50 students. This way we have two adults supervising the extremities of the group while one gives instruction. These two teachers can also give pinpoint advice/support as needed. Once the major teaching is finished we break off and there are three staff members to work with different levels of students and to conference as needed. So, I only plan, grade and directly teach three subjects, but I work in all areas and I am involved with all students. We both teach subjects we are passionate about and the kids get the benefit of our strengths in these areas. It's working really well so far.

Woke up, saw this notification and I'm so excited! I'll be watching when I get home from school. Very happy you're talking about this topic-I'm student teaching in two classes that departmentalize (4th grade) and my thoughts and opinions of it change on a daily basis. I love it but dislike it at the same time so I'm excited to hear your side and perspective!

This made me feel so much better about departmentalized teaching!!

This came just in time for me! I am interviewing for a fourth grade position tomorrow 😬 I'm in third now!

I work for a top 10 private school that is departmentalized. I teach in prek which is not departmentalized and I love the integrated curriculum but I'm an Elem ed major and want to work with older children but worry about moving up and picking just 1 or 2 subjects. Thanks for sharing your experience! It gives me a bit more confidence to move up. :)

With all due respect, your daily schedule list is the reason I don't want Departmentalization. You have shared 13 transitions. This is the problem I experienced in my internship. Get up and go somewhere 13 times means so much confusion and transition time and leaving things somewhere and not knowing where things are and about 12 other things I could share. I really saw a lot of movement and just confusion caused by it and it all takes away from classroom teaching time. What else would it take away from? By the way, what is the point of having a Homeroom for 20 minutes that gets up and goes to another class? Why doesn't the Homeroom stay in the class and then transfer after the class is completed? I have not found any one who can figure this one out. It is this kind of meaningless transfer that wastes about 7 or 8 minutes each time. Kids have to get up and take their belongings and go somewhere else where they have to settle down all over again and try to get comfortable after being moved.

I stumbled across your video. I got a job teaching 5th grade ELA right after my December graduation. I felt the exact same rut towards the end of the school year like you talked about in the beginning. I am now being moved to 4th grade ELA when my heart is with the young babies (first/second grade).

Many schools in Mn have been doing this for years, early 2000's... or sooner!

My son had 2 teachers for 3rd and 4th grade but now in the 5th grade he has 4.

Hey!! I'm in 9th grade of highschool and I really want to be an elementary teacher SOOO bad!!! What courses will look good on my highschool transcript?

Being waiting for this.just like secondary schools in uk.

So, you mentioned that you map out the standards for the year, would you be willing to show that? Like, you take all the standards for the grade you're teaching, but how did you decide on the order/frequency in addressing the standards? I'm a preservice teacher (I'm a nontraditional college student) and I start my field experience in about a week. I will be in a classroom (3rd Grade) for the mornings/literacy/ELA block. My school does these 4-5 week blocks in the field before a year of student teaching (I student teach starting next spring). I'm just curious about the process of how you work through mapping your standards out. Thanks! PS I love watching your videos! You're such an inspiration!

This is not new as I went to a pod system school - one teacher for each subject -changing classes in different areas of the pod. This was in the 1960's in Miami, Florida -grades 3 to 6. My dad retired from the air force and I changed schools in the middle of the year (grade 3). It was difficult as I was in a single teacher class from kindergarten to September to December in grade 3.

It's so weird to think of this being a new thing. I went to private school until 3rd grade but when I did switch to public school we had either two or three teachers. I think we had two. And this was in 02-03/ 03-04

In my school is similar, but I'm high school student but I want IB diploma go college i want choose teacher o marine biology my question what is hardest to be a kindergarten teacher or what obstacles I will phase through went I starting teaching them what are ur esperance ??? Thanks 🙏🏻

I really want to work in a school that is departmentalized once I finish school. My background is in Chemistry so I would love to teach Math and/or Science. In Kentucky students have science testing in 4th grade so that is what I am aiming for.

i love that classroom

My school is departmentalizing next year for 4th and 5th grade, and the biggest struggle we are facing is figuring out where the students will keep supplies. What should they carry with them, and what will already be in the room? Do the students have any personal supplies, or do they share everything? I would love to hear any thoughts on this topic!

excellent video :) totally unrelated question, can you tell me what the stone wall paper is called that you put up, we bought some for our club this term, exactly like that but it comes corrugated, so I feel we don't get good value for money. Maybe it's just a UK thing though.. who knows!

So I obviously haven't watched the whole video yet, but I wanted to comment to say we departmentalize, too!

I want to do this at my school so badly.

Can you make a video about what your child should know before starting kindergarten?

Good think I had notifications on

I went from 4th grade to kindergarten

I teach second grade and although I do not departmentalize our upper grade classes do. At our school the students their homeroom teacher for ELA or math/SS and then the classes switch. It sounds like your groups are more intermixed between the two classes as opposed to two whole classes switching?

Can you do an updated "day in the life of a teacher" video?

Comment for you or anyone in the comments…. I’m teaching 3rd grade- 10th year same school but feel like I need a change…. 5th grade sci/ss teacher is retiring… I’m feeling like since those are my favorite parts of my day, sci/ss, it’s almost a no brainer but i love building those strong relationships with “my” class. I’d hate to regret it…. Any ideas? Suggestions?

Hi ... Can you please let me know the difference between Close Reading and Guided Reading ?

my grade have 10 teachers pluses 6 studnt teachers

Do you think that departmentalization can work in the lower grades?

What exactly is a six day cycle?

when are you doing day in the life

NO ONE WANTS TO TEACH MORE SUBJECTS! It can't be done well my friends. Be happy and find what works for you. K to 4 is nuts, but I've done it!

Excellent! As always. I personally enjoy inclusion!