I posed the "Jack of all trades, master of none" dilemma in a past post.
Since, then my role has switched from a generalist fourth grade teacher to a math/science fifth grade teacher, and I must say I LOVE the switch.
With the depth and detail of content, assessment, and pedagogy today, teaching all topics at the upper elementary grades is simply too much! When you teach all the topics, the intricate weave of all subjects means you spend a lot of time prioritizing and planning with lots of people and lots of content, when instead, like this year, you could use that time to dig in deep, learn a lot, and perfthe curriculum in only one or two areas of study.
I know that many schools have models like this in place, and in the old days, before CCSS and such great tech integration, I was actually a critic of such models because I enjoyed the ability to play the schedule as I wanted. Now that learning standards and the tools have changed, I've changed too--I like the day split with more streamlining and specialization and less "Jack of all trades, and master of none."
What do you think?
