The Complete Case for Modern Classrooms

In 10 simple bullet points.

Last week, I visited my old middle school to catch up with my former sixth-grade math teacher, who is now the principal.

He was interested in the work I’m doing with Modern Classrooms, and he thought his teachers would be too. So he asked me to send him something that explained what Modern Classrooms are all about. He warned me, however, that:

• His teachers are busy. Whatever I sent needed to be short.

• His teachers are discerning. They are experts in their craft, and want to understand the rationale behind new practices.

This seems right to me. When I was a teacher I always had lots to do, and I was often skeptical about new ideas. So I decided to send my own principal a single article that would explain, to busy and discerning teachers:

• Why I think Modern Classrooms are necessary.

• How Modern Classrooms benefit teachers and students alike.

• What any teacher can do, today, to start their own Modern Classroom.

But when I looked for it, I realized that this article didn’t exist (yet).

So here goes! In 1,180 words (~5 minutes to read), the case for Modern Classrooms.

Defining the Problem

The Modern Classroom model developed in response to three real challenges that I and other teachers faced. 

1) Different learners need different things.

In any given class, some learners will need to be challenged while others will need support. Some students will learn new things quickly, and others will need more time. It doesn’t matter if these students are all the same age, or saw the same lesson yesterday. Every student has their own learning needs, and it’s the teacher’s job to reach them all. ¹

It follows, therefore, that any lesson which is:

• delivered by a single teacher,

• to a group of diverse learners,

• all at once,

can’t possibly meet every learner’s needs. One size, in other words, fits none.

2) Existing approaches to differentiation are insufficient.

There are things you can do to differentiate instruction - provide scaffolding or design low-floor, high-ceiling tasks - but these create extra work for teachers, while widening the gaps between learners. Learners who need support cling to scaffolds just to to drag along the floor, while high flyers bump repeatedly into the ceiling. 

Realistically, there’s just no amount of differentiation that can make the same sixth-grade content appropriately challenging for:

• a student with third-grade skills,

• a student with sixth-grade skills, and

• a student with ninth-grade skills.

You can try your best, but it simply isn’t possible. Yet teachers face this challenge every day.

3) The greatest obstacle to learning is limited time.

If teaching one lesson at a time doesn’t actually meet learners’ needs, why are teachers expected to do it?

The answer here is time. We’ve decided that we want all students to encounter a certain amount of content before they graduate, so we divide that content into courses, then units, then lessons. And we push students through it, regardless of whether they understand, in hopes that they’ll somehow be prepared for college by the time they finish 12th grade.²

This hurts

• advanced students, who must move at the teacher’s pace.

• struggling students, who are rushed through content they aren’t prepared to understand.

• chronically absent students, who return to class and can’t catch back up.

And it makes teaching and learning really freaking stressful for all involved.

Fortunately, there is a better way.

Toward a Solution

There is nothing so practical as a good theory. So here’s the theory behind Modern Classrooms.

4) Every young person is capable of true understanding.

With enough time and the right support, any young person can learn anything. It’s our duty as educators to provide that time and support. 

5) Learning happens best through human connection.

Most knowledge is accessible in books and online. So the point of going to school is really to learn from teachers and classmates, through interpersonal interactions. 

These interactions also allow for instruction that is tailored to students’ actual needs. When you sit down with your learners, or when they work together, students can ask questions and engage in ways that help each of them individually learn. Plus, it’s much more fun than staring at a page or screen.

The goal of any instructional practice, therefore, should be to maximize students’ opportunity for high-quality human interactions.

6) Technology expands time.

I wrote that the greatest obstacle to learning is limited time. And taking time to connect and build relationships with students takes time too. Fortunately, technology creates time.

Here’s what I mean. If you can take the explanations you deliver live in class, and put them on video instead, then:

• You never need to repeat those explanations again.

• You can spend class time working closely with your students.

• Your students can watch those explanations at their own paces - in school or at home, alone or with friends and family - in as much (or as little) time as they need.

That saves time, makes learning accessible, and lets you and your students make better use of class. Technology makes this possible.

7. Understanding builds on itself - and success breeds success.

Too often, learners move to Lesson 2 before they master Lesson 1. This creates gaps in their learning, and dents in their self-esteem. “If I didn’t fully understand Lesson 1,” a student might wonder, “am I really capable of understanding Lesson 2?”

The way to prevent this is simple: require that learners master each successive learning objective before they advance. This

• prevents learning gaps.

• helps students build knowledge and self-esteem.

Each a student masters something new, they become better prepared for - and more confident about their ability to tackle - what’s next.

One result here is that, if you really require students to achieve mastery, they will inevitably advance at different paces. Different learners are different, remember?

But there’s a model for that too.

From theory to practice

My principles may sound good in theory. How do you actually put them into practice? 

I’ll be pretty general here - if you want the details, you can read my book. But there are a few simple things you can do right away:

8) Digitize direct instruction.

Make learning more accessible by creating your own videos - which really isn’t hard³ - or by finding good videos online. And keep these videos short, which holds students’ attention and lets them spend most of class working together, off-screen.

Once you do this, you will

• Have more time to work closely with students in class,

• Provide individual students the support they really need, and

• Enjoy class more, too.⁴

You can still do whole-class activities whenever you want, but you’ll spend most of your time working one-on-one and in small groups with your students. It’s amazing.

9) Require mastery.

Don’t let students move on until they are ready!

For each learning objective you teach, create a brief Mastery Check, then ask each student to take it whenever they are ready. Then

• If a student shows mastery, let them move on.

• If not, make them revise, then give another chance.

Once the student really understands your lesson, they’ll be prepared for what’s next - and proud of their learning as well.

10) Develop structures for self-paced learning.

Learners will achieve mastery at different paces. So you’ll need systems to keep them all organized and on pace!

First, define clear intervals for self pacing, which prevent gaps between learners from growing too wide. (For instance, each student learns at their own pace for one week, then the whole class resets.) Recognizing that some learners will inevitably cover more content than others, you’ll also need to determine

• what’s truly essential (Must-Do),

• what’s nice but not necessary (Should-Do), and

• what extensions make your content come alive (Aspire-to-Do).

Once you’ve done that, set a clear path for learners to follow - in both your learning management system and physical classroom - and decide how you’ll track and communicate students’ progress. There are lots of good options here. The result will be a classroom in which students can essentially teach themselves - and you just show up and help them learn.

This may all sound complex. But the steps to achieve it are simple. And there are thousands of educators around the world who have done this. So you can too!

Summary of the case

Teaching is hard because:

1. Different learners need different things.

2. Existing approaches to differentiation are insufficient. 

3. The greatest obstacle to learning is limited time.

However:

4. Every young person is capable of true understanding. 

5. Learning happens best through human connection.

6. Technology expands time.

7. Understanding builds on itself - and success breeds success. 

To bring these principles to life:

8. Digitize direct instruction.

9. Require mastery.

10. Develop structures for self-paced learning.

Thousands of teachers are doing this every day, and you can too.

FAQ

You might have questions. You should! And while I can’t possibly answer all of them here, I can address what I think are the three most common.⁵

For whom does this work?

Any teacher, in any school, anywhere in the world. I used this approach at a low-performing urban public high school and an elite international boarding school, and I’ve now seen everyone from pre-K teachers to university professors adopt these practices successfully, in every subject you can imagine. If you think this can work for you, you’re right.

Is it a lot of work?

Maybe at first. But over time, this makes teaching so much easier. You won’t have to repeat yourself, you won’t have to manage disengaged students’ misbehavior from the front of the room, and you won’t have to stay after hours to meet one-on-one with students - you can do that every day in class! Plus, you’ll enjoy teaching more too.

What’s the evidence for this?

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University surveyed teachers and students and found “overwhelming positive support” for the Modern Classroom approach. Teachers feel happier and more effective, while students feel more capable and more engaged. You can find lots more about this model’s impacts on MCP’s website.

Have more questions? 

Good! I hope you’ll consider:

• Subscribing to this newsletter.

• Reading my book, and/or enrolling in MCP’s free online course.

• Joining MCP’s Facebook Group to connect with colleagues worldwide.

I can’t wait to see what you achieve!

1. In 2020, MCP commissioned a comprehensive literature review from the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. That literature review begins by stating that “Research has long demonstrated that students learn at different paces and, for any age group, the variations in rates of learning are considerable… In recent years, research on the neurology of learning has reinforced these findings.”

2. Sadly, most students aren’t: only 22% of graduating American seniors met all four college-readiness benchmarks on the 2022 ACT Test. But this shouldn’t be all that surprising, given that the vast majority of American students are already below proficient in math and reading by the time they completed fourth grade.

3. If you can join a video call, you can record a video. Just start a video call with yourself, hit record, explain something, and voila! You never have to repeat that explanation again.

4. A survey of teachers trained in the Modern Classroom approach found that 85% enjoy teaching more as a result.

5. If you have questions that aren’t addressed here, I encourage you to consider MCP’s premium supports.