Specials in most elementary schools still have a factory feel. Students line up and all go to the special at once. Every child has their favorite specials and they generally line up quickly and quietly for that special, and almost every child has their least favorite special too which means they line up slowly, go to the bathroom often, and grunt.
Is it possible to change the way specials are handled in school?
One solution would be to give specials choices. Every child would have to choose a particular number of each special during their elementary school years. Specialist teachers would offer quarterly multi-age or single age choices. For example, perhaps the offering for one quarter was Art Ceramics grade 4 & 5, Musical Performance multi-age, Musical Percussion grades 3,4,5, Capture the Flag 3,4,5, Dance multi age, Making movies, and so on.
Special time would occur for all during two blocks in the day and the corresponding teachers would have their planning periods during that time. Multi-age classes would rely on older students helping younger students.
This could be one way to break down the old factory walls of the schoolhouse and provide more choice and voice to students. A model like this might build in more investment and interest too. What do you think?
