How do you pace a new curriculum when you're forced to move too fast?
Administrative mandates requiring a rigid one-lesson-per-day schedule make it nearly impossible to slow down for struggling students or those with learning disabilities. Teachers are left with a packed schedule that prevents them from pulling small groups, working one-on-one, or adequately pacing out a new subject's syllabus.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Searching online for public district pacing calendars or teacher-shared resources and tools.Did this help you?
- 2Handing out simplified versions of the same lesson as differentiated materials and pretending admin approved itDid this help you?
- 3Reading everything out loud for every subject including text and directionsDid this help you?
- 4Highlighting key parts of the curriculum every day to free up time for additional practice or small groupsDid this help you?
- 5Relying on parents to get tutors for struggling kidsDid this help you?
- 6Using a pacing guide with check boxesDid this help you?
- 7Relying on curriculum as a guide with lesson plan software featuring auto-populating essential questions and standardsDid this help you?
- 8Asking mentors and team members to explain the curriculumDid this help you?
- 9Dividing curriculum components into groups based on priority (have to do, would like to do, don't worry about)Did this help you?
- 10Editing lessons hard down to the one or two most important objectives and skipping sections or entire lessonsDid this help you?
- 11preteaching and practicing a lot of the skills first before starting the actual unitDid this help you?
- 12reaching out to teachers from other schools in the districtDid this help you?
- 13buying resources from Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT)Did this help you?
- 14Tweaking planned lessons to loosely align with a specific instructional technique mentioned in recent professional development right before a surprise observation.Did this help you?
- 15Prioritizing certain core subjects over others based on district emphasisDid this help you?
- 16Cutting back on in-depth instruction for subjects like spellingDid this help you?
- 17Integrating spelling and vocabulary concepts into other lessonsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m teaching environmental science this year and I’m having difficulty pacing out my year, does anybody have any resource/tool they can share ?”source ↗
“The problem is, I feel like I can’t even understand what I’m supposed to do, how to do it, or (possibly most importantly) what to skip.”source ↗
“However, by the time I’m planning it all falls apart.”source ↗
“I have not had this problem before but I feel like I’m reading a new language.”source ↗
“I’m a 15-year teacher in my second year of middle school and I feel like a newbie once again.”source ↗
“I’m taking these district-mandated reading courses right now that are all “teach explicit direct instruction!” but have barely any guidance.”source ↗
“I’m just not sure what to do.”source ↗
“I’m very lost and getting hopeless and it’s only week three 😅”source ↗
“I have been told by my administration I have to teach exactly one lesson per subject every day… I am elementary. I can’t slow down for my struggling students.”source ↗
“My students are getting overwhelmed because they have learning disabilities and I’m not allowed to slow down my pace.”source ↗
“And if they don’t understand, I still have to go onto the next lesson. My schedule is absolutely packed and I don’t have time to pull small groups or work one on one.”source ↗
“sounds amazing. my principal would have written me up for not teaching curriculum bell to bell lmao”source ↗
“What tools would help in making sure you have taught the required standards?”source ↗
“Our pacing guide has them listed”source ↗
“I've had admin like that. So frustrating when you are not allowed to deviate even a little to add something worthwhile.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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