I am a multigrade teacher in British Columbia, Canada. I began my teaching career in a one-room school on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. During my thirteen years at this school, the enrollment of students ranged between 5 and 17, in various configurations of Kindergarten to Grade 9. Like many of my multigrade colleagues from around the province, I had no training specific to multigrade teaching (or learning). Since then, multigrade teaching has become a career-long passion for me. I am currently teaching in a three-room school, where I taught a multi-grade class of Grades 6-9 for five years, and this year became the K-2 teacher.
I am also a student, and am working on my Masters in Education (Curriculum & Instruction) through the University of Victoria. This year I will be working on my final project: creating a resource to help teachers draw out the rich potential for learning inherent in multigrade configurations. This blog will provide a public space for me to share what I discover as I review the research and existing literature on multigrade learning and teaching. As well, its a place for me to reflect on and share some of my own multigrade experiences.
I hope this blog will also encourage other multigrade teachers – some of whom teach in larger schools, many who teach in our province’s smallest and most remote schools – to reach out to one another to share and explore the important work we do in our classrooms. You are also invited to contribute questions, articles, resources, and anecdotes to this site. Please contact me at heatherjjohnson@hotmail.com or via twitter: @hjjohnson2
Wishing you all the best in your own multigrade teaching and learning.
Heather Johnson
Multigrade Teacher 