Multi-Grade Teacher Blogs
- The Cornerstone for Teachers
- Multigrade Teacher
- Guided Math
- Center for the Collaborative Classroom
- Madly Learning
Teachers who have been assigned a split or multi-grade classroom might feel intimidated, because they don’t have any experience with this type of class environment. Fortunately, there are blogs where other teachers share their experiences as well as resources and a sense of community where inexperienced teachers can ask questions.
1. The Cornerstone for Teachers
This blog covers more than just multi-grade or combined classroom teaching. There’s a great guest post about split or combination classrooms, but she emphasizes that it’s really no different than teaching a classroom that isn’t split. She has tips like finding out what the administration requires of the teacher as well as considering the classroom as a range of abilities versus a range of ages. The blog has answers to many teacher-related questions for those who have been confronted with issues in their combined classrooms.
2. Multigrade Teacher
The blog covers a variety of topics that can impact the multi-age classroom. It’s geared towards Canadian school districts specifically, but has resources and personal experiences that teachers can relate to all over the world. The blog has been around for years and is written by Heather Johnson who has experienced teaching multiple grades for years. She busts some myths about the classroom as well as provides resources for those who are experiencing this for the first time.
3. Guided Math
On this blog, there are categories that cover how to teach guided math. Each category introduces a concept and explains how the teacher can introduce this concept into their own classroom. There’s an entire category on guided math in a multi-grade and multi-age classroom. The split classroom can seem challenging for those who have never done it, but this blog comes from an expert in the split classroom and provides guidance on how to teach in this type of class.
4. Center for the Collaborative Classroom
This is a non-profit organization that provides teachers with the curricula they need to support children in the classroom. They provide tools, guidance and resources for the teacher in a variety of classroom environments including split-grade class teaching. Along with the blog, there’s a community atmosphere on the site that gives teachers a sense of being a part of a larger goal. The blog talks about the challenges in split-grade classrooms, how administrators choose to assign the classes and how teachers react.
Read: What is Collaborative Learning?
5. Madly Learning
This teacher’s name is Patti, and she shares her experiences in a split grade classroom. While she finds it challenging, she admits to loving the style of teaching and finds many advantages in the classroom style. This can be a fantastic resource for teachers who are nervous and feel unprepared for teaching in this kind of classroom environment. She shares ideas from her classroom as well as pictures of how she keeps the kids organized. There’s a Facebook group and a store where teachers can purchase guides and templates from her.
It can be challenging to take on a split classroom, but that’s often because teachers feel unprepared and intimidated because of lack of experience. When teachers can learn from other teacher with experience, there’s less nervousness. They feel empowered and even eager to face these challenging types of environments.
