6 Reasons You Should Try Self-Paced Assignments in Your Classroom

“Self-paced lessons”: does that phrase excite or terrify you? I know good teachers who react in both of those ways. And I’ve been both of those people! Recently, I tried a little experiment. Let me tell you how it went.

Imposter Syndrome: Who’s the Boss?

There’s nothing new under the sun, right? Back in the day (when we were still listening to the endless screeching of our dial-up modems) we experienced the same mental health issues as folks do nowadays…but there was no social media let us know what these things were called, or that we weren’t alone in them.

So as a fresh-out-of-college 23 year old brand new teacher, I definitely had some “imposter syndrome” going on. I had excellent grades in college, did great in my student teaching placements, had glowing recommendations, and was able to choose between multiple job offers for my first teaching position. 

But…

I was also only 6 years older than some of my students and was feeling pretty scared about how I would establish my authority in the classroom and garner respect from my students. Yes, I had done well in my student teaching placements, but this was a whole year of my own classroom…pretty daunting, to say the least.

I think this is a pretty common feeling amongst new teachers, and a lot of us just fake it ‘til we make it. Because we are afraid of losing control, we hold on to every bit of minutiae with an iron fist, and take a “my way or the highway” stance.

As I’ve written about before, this is not the best way to garner respect, establish authority, or manage a classroom (especially with adolescents, who are often just looking for an opportunity to challenge authority and flex their you-can’t-make-me muscles in front of their peers).  

Why We Hesitate: Obsessive Control, Habit, and Fear

In college and professional development courses, we learn about teacher-centered vs student-centered learning. And the verdict always comes out: more student choice! More autonomy! More student voice! 

But can we be transparent for a moment? Raise your hand if this is your default style of teaching.

…Anyone?

Most of us come from a background of teacher-centered learning: whether it be lectures or simply “teacher says jump, student says how high”…so especially when we’re new, or unprepared, or being observed…we default to “Teacher gives information, student takes it in. Look at me teaching…Look, I know what I’m talking about!” We attempt to put on some kind of show for those around us to validate our title of “teacher.” 

The research, though, is right to encourage more student-centered learning. Students truly are more engaged, less bored, and have a higher rate of assignment completion (and thereby stand a larger chance of actually learning something) when they have more choice, autonomy, and voice. 

The dilemma is: as teachers, we are trained to be the authority in the room. We have a desire to share that information, and we enjoy helping others…and then we are asked to step aside and give the floor to someone who is less knowledgeable than we are? 

As a person prone to perfectionism, this really rubbed my grain the wrong way. I was more comfortable with the motto, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Problem is, that angle just shows off your own knowledge. It does very little to help the student learn, internalize, and retain that information or skill for any meaningful length of time.

If you want a student to really learn, they have to do it themselves!

There are a lot of students, teachers, and parents who have a bit of self-paced-PTSD from the COVID online “learning” days, where teachers were asked to do the impossible, and BOY did we try our best…but (let’s be honest) most of the time it was a train wreck. 

So it’s not surprising that now that we have our students back in our classrooms, we are VERY hesitant to do anything that resembles those days…like self-pacing.

The Challenge: Do Something that Scares You

For most of my teaching career, I have been pretty hands-on as far as teacher-led lessons. Leaning toward a Type-A personality, being in control is my comfort zone…but as we all know, growth only happens outside your comfort zone. 

At my most recent classroom observation a few months ago, my administrator challenged me: “Do something that scares you; something outside your comfort zone.” Honestly, this is great advice both inside and outside the classroom. We only grow when we stretch.

So I dove in. I pivoted and made my next upcoming unit of study almost entirely self-paced, something I had never done before. My fellow PLC members thought I was a little crazy, and it was 4 weeks of a whole lot of “Welp, here goes nothing!” pep-talking myself, but I was actually pleasantly surprised, and now I love self pacing, and so do my students! Here are a few surprising benefits I found. 

Real-Life Results: Benefits of Self-Pacing

1. You can give more attention to the students who need it most

When you’re lecturing or running a teacher-led whole group, there are a lot of great things that can happen in a lesson. I definitely utilize this kind of teaching strategy. BUT there are a lot of kids who can fall through the cracks too, or quietly fade into the background. Typically, in a whole-group lesson, 1/3 of the kids are bored because it’s too easy/slow. 1/3 are struggling to keep up, and 1/3 are just about getting it right in the middle. 

Self-pacing frees up this structure so that more kids get what they need, when they need it. The top 1/3 can work ahead, not be bored, and then practice time management skills by using any extra time they have getting things done for other classes or enjoying some quiet down time (yes, it’s ok for kids to earn down time! Remember that whole work-life balance thing? It’s a habit that applies to students too!) The middle and lower 2/3 can then get targeted help from you. 

During my experiment, I found that I was able to have detailed discussions with top tier kids about the finer points of correct grammar (because those were the questions they asked). I was also able to take 15 minutes of class time to read aloud a passage and walk through some questions step by step with some low level students who really struggle with basic writing and comprehension. In a whole-group setting, that really doesn’t happen. But here, everyone gets what they need from me and I actually have the freedom of time to give it.

2. It May Improve Student Behavior

Counterintuitively, self-pacing can also improve student behavior. You would think that when you loosen your grip on the reins, the wheels fall off the wagon…but that’s not automatically the case. This makes sense if you think about it: what do kids do when they are bored, lost, or disengaged?

A) they “check out” mentally

B) they act out behaviorally

What happened in my classes: initially, some students tried goofing off and wasting time during self-pacing. But when the grades started rolling in and deadlines came due and the work was piling up…most of them kicked it into gear. Especially notable was my 1st period freshman class, who was my smallest in number yet most difficult to manage class.

Before self-pacing, the students in it were extremely social and chatty and just took every opportunity to joke around with their friends, even in the middle of my whole-group instruction. Then when they had 20 minutes or so of independent work time it would get even worse and no one would get anything done.

However, once we established a pattern of self-paced work and it became a normal classroom expectation/routine, it completely changed the vibe of the class. Today, if you walk into my classroom 1st period during a self-paced lesson, you can hear a pin drop. Here’s some actual feedback from that group of students:

3. You can give feedback quicker

…And during the times when no one needs my immediate attention? I have time to do grading and planning at my desk! Amazing!

When students are working on the assignments you’ve already set up for them, you can use some of that time to be grading what they are turning in. Especially in English class, staying on top of grading is always a time-consuming challenge. This structure builds some more time into the day for that, which in turn helps you to be less exhausted and stressed, and have a better overall balance. For students, it’s useful for them to get feedback on assignments that are returned to them more quickly.

4. It’s Fantastic for Sub Plans

If you’re a teacher who’s ever been absent, you know that having a sub creates much more work for you, and you never can tell how things will go. It’s not always possible, permissible, or advisable to “just watch a movie,” and randomized busy work is more likely to create behavior issues in the students. Also, you never know who’s going to be in the classroom for you.

Self-pacing is awesome for sub days because it is relevant to your main content, doesn’t rely on the prowess of the sub, and keeps learning going even in your absence. If self-pacing has been set up as a norm in your classroom, you increase the likelihood that that norm of productivity will continue even in your absence. In my own class, I utilized this strategy several times when I had to be absent and always received glowing notes from the sub about great student behavior.

5. It’s a perfect way to build in Student Conferences

My students benefit when I am able to check in with each one of them about their grades and progress weekly. For those kids who try to slip through the cracks? Now you’ve got time during class to have a 1-on-1 conference with them. In a self-paced environment, your time is freed up so that you can pull one kid at a time aside and talk one-on-one about their progress, concerns, missing work, the current assignment, or anything else that needs to be addressed. This also helps build relationships with your students, which in turn is a key to good classroom management. 

6. Students Love It

I knew that I was really liking the self-pacing model during my Mango Street unit, but wondered what the students thought: what was the “end-user experience”? I gave them a quick google form poll, and was surprised at the results. Here are some actual screenshots of the survey results from two different classes:

Class A:

Class B:

While not completely unanimous, the majority of students responded that they really enjoyed the freedom of self-pacing, felt more engaged and focused, and were less stressed about their work. I call that a success!

Growth Doesn’t Happen without Risk

Just over a year ago, my husband and I left secure jobs and a comfortable life to move our family of 6 to a place we’d never been. We didn’t know anyone. I interviewed remotely for a brand new school that had only been open 1 year. We signed a rental lease over the phone for a house we’d never seen in person. 

The transition was not all sunshine and rainbows…but 18 months later, our family has experienced personal growth and opportunities that we never would have sought out or taken hold of if we had stayed in our comfort zone. I can personally attest: there are phenomenal blessings waiting for you on the other side of your fear.