Explaining the Model to Stakeholders
What is the Modern Classrooms Project?
The Modern Classrooms Project (MCP) is a nonprofit organization, founded by teachers, that helps educators use technology to meet every student's needs. MCP trains teachers to record their own instructional videos, which students can watch at their own paces in class and at home. This approach helps students achieve true understanding and makes class time more productive for students and educators alike. MCP's work is backed by academic research and has helped to transform thousands of classrooms worldwide.
Additional Resources:
Watch the model in action in Edutopia videos: Elementary + Secondary
Animated short “What is a Modern Classroom?”
How do I explain this model to caregivers or classroom visitors?
Our animated short, “What is a Modern Classroom?” offers the student perspective on experiencing the model and is a great resource to share with caregivers, classroom visitors, and other stakeholders.
Additional Resources:
Christensen Institute's Report on student-centered learning (MCP featured)
How do teachers train in the instructional model?
The Modern Classrooms Project offers two professional development options. Educators can take our blended, self-paced Free Course, which takes about 5 hours to complete, or enroll in the more personalized Virtual Mentorship Program (VMP), which takes most learners 25-30 hours to complete. In the VMP, educators are partnered with an Expert Mentor–an educator currently using the model in their practice–who gives personalized feedback on assignments for each of the five learning modules. Educators complete the course having created classroom-ready materials to begin implementing the MCP instructional model.
Does self-pacing conflict with school or district pacing calendars?
No! MCP units allow for a flexible pace with firm deadlines. This means the unit should have a common start and end date along with a common summative assessment date. Many educators include common mid-unit assessment dates as well. MCP units also allow for planned events, including guest speakers, seminars, and unit celebrations. Therefore, flexible pacing allows students to self-pace within school or district pacing calendars.
Are students just in front of the computer all day in a Modern Classroom?
In a Modern Classroom, educators design class time that is intentional and varied. This may include: a cycle of instructional videos/guided practice/mastery checks, station rotations, planned collaboration activities, and whole-class discussions.
Do educators execute whole-class activities when using this model?
Whole-class activities are regular parts of MCP units. This may include: inquiry activities, See-Think-Wonder exercises, Chalk Talks, labs, exploratory exercises, debates or Socratic seminars, labs, and mini-lessons.
Additional Resources:
Is the teacher really teaching if students are watching videos?
In Modern Classrooms, teachers spend their time working individually and in small groups with students, delivering truly personalized instruction. In a traditional instructional model, the teacher spends the majority of the class period delivering information to the whole group and managing whole-class behavior. In a Modern Classroom, that information is delivered through instructional videos so students can work at their own pace, which allows for more engaged classrooms.
Additional Resource:
How do educators use class time in a Modern Classroom?
Fostering Collaboration
In the most effective Modern Classrooms, educators implement daily opening routines to build collaboration, to nurture goal-setting, and to foster classroom community. A daily closing routine can also round out a Modern Classrooms class period with reflections or other directed prompts or activities. Modern Classrooms educators also lift student expertise by creating peer support structures, TAs, “lesson superstars,” and leveraging strategic, data-based flexible grouping to support further collaboration.
Delivering Individual & Small Group Instruction
In Modern Classrooms, it is common to see educators giving mini-lessons to multiple students, engaging in 1-1 reteaching, and meeting with targeted small groups based on unit data.
Giving Feedback & Assessing
Modern Classrooms educators schedule class time in intentional ways. For example, many educators create a flow that includes a warm-up/SEL check-in and opening routine, designated small group and individual meeting times, designated feedback-giving time, and a closing routine.
Supporting Modern Classrooms Educators
Which elements of the Modern Classroom model will I likely see teachers implement right away?
Many leaders see the presence of the most “visible” elements right away. This includes the use of instructional videos, pacing trackers (student and public-facing), and mastery checks.
Which elements will take a little more time to see in classrooms?
Collaboration, motivation structures, and routines, along with active learning elements in the class period take a little more time to see in classrooms. Also, educators typically take more time to vary their mastery checks (in terms of form).
What are the best practices in implementation you’ve seen?
After visiting hundreds of Modern Classrooms across the United States, we’ve seen that the most effective Modern Classroom educators:
Define and share clear criteria for mastery
Establish clear policies for revision and reassessment
Use class time intentionally to support students at all levels of understanding
Implement peer-review processes like “Ask 3 Before Me”
Our Implementation & Growth Rubric outlines other ways in which effective Modern Classroom educators can deepen and innovate upon their classroom practice.
We see clear revision and reassessment policies along with clear criteria for mastery that are shared with students in the most effective Modern Classrooms.
We have also seen varied and intentional use of class time by the educator and the students. Peer-review processes like those represented in this third-grade Modern Classroom are also best practices to celebrate!
The Implementation & Growth Rubric has other examples of deepening and innovating best practices in mastery-based, self-paced learning, and blended instruction.
What kind of planning time do the Modern Classrooms teachers I support need?
Launching a Modern Classroom takes time! While there isn’t a suggested or set time allotment to support this, our most successful implementers and leaders utilize designated planning, PD time, and faculty meetings for Modern Classrooms educators to create videos and unit plans, give peer feedback, co-create system and/or policies, and reflect as innovative implementers. In their first years of implementation, educators create the majority of instructional content. Years 2+ typically focus on revising and refining.
What other supports for Modern Classrooms educators do you suggest?
Modern Classrooms educators thrive in communities where leadership and educators are aligned on the essential knowledge and skills. Supporting educators with updated scope & sequences and clarified skills & objectives is a great place to start. Additionally, we recommend regular feedback from instructional coaches as educators work to move from implementing the model to innovating their Modern Classrooms practice.
Additional Resources:
How do I effectively use the Implementation & Growth Rubric?
The goals of the rubric are to encourage reflection on the Modern Classrooms implementation and stimulate discussion about areas for future improvement. This tool is NOT designed to evaluate teacher performance. We encourage educators to use the rubric to self-assess, set goals, and work in PLCs. We encourage observers and coaches to leverage the rubric to create conversations with educators, inviting them to explain or clarify classroom practices whose purpose is not immediately apparent. Observers and coaches should also remember that the rubric bands and comments are a starting point for discussion and collaboration with each educator observed. Also, multiple observations and discussions throughout a school year offer the most effective feedback to educators.
How do I encourage more educators I work with to implement this instructional model?
Sharing the Secondary and Elementary Edutopia videos or rolling out the Free Course during August PD days are low-lift ways to build momentum. However, the most powerful way to build energy is to allow current implementers to share their stories, open their classrooms to colleagues, and inspire grassroots change and innovation.