Pros/Cons Departmentalized 5th grade

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Home : 2004 : January : 26

Pros/Cons Departmentalized 5th grade
By Kathy

We are departmentalized with about 120 5th graders & 5 teachers on two separate floors. This is my 3rd year after teaching self-contained primary for 15 years. Here's my two cents...
CONS- lots of travel time from class
to class, lots of "lost or forgotten" items, very little flexibility (at least with our team), every teacher wants their minutes with the kids- too bad if the Science Fair is next week, not as much family atmosphere within the homerooms, harder for parents to meet all teachers at parent conferences, working with 5 on a team can be stressful- inconsistent discipline within the team (some

staff too harsh or too easy or too unorganized),
PROS- less preps for the teacher, more concentration on single subjects bring about more knowledge of curriculum, encourages students to become more organized, if you have a major personality conflict with a student- you only have to see them one period a day. RECOMMENDATIONS- I would like to see us go back to teaching our own homeroom reading/lang. arts & departmentalizing Math/Science/Soc. Studies. We need to do what is best for the student, not to make the staff's prep easier. If you decide to departmentalize be sure to have common planning period plus additional time allotted for team planning/parent conference/IAT, etc.