Fifth graders at Webster School next year will have a little different learning experience.

Fifth grade teachers at Webster will be implementing a concept called departmentalizing. Fifth grade teacher at Webster school, Sarah Telford-Anderson explains the traditional style of teaching that many generations have known, where students remain in one classroom taught by one or two teachers will be completely changed, as the teachers will now teach towards their strengths.

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As with adjusting a style of teaching, before implementing, Webster School staff did some investigating. Fifth grade teacher Jessica Peterson explains they found other districts had implemented this into their classrooms and so they paid visits to several central Illinois schools to see how they did things.

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There are several advantages the teachers believe this will have for the students. Peterson feels it will allow students to create relationships with other students and they can benefit from each teachers style of teaching. It will also allow students the opportunity to move around throughout the day and it will create a smoother transition into the junior high school setting.

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Not only will this model benefit the students, but it will greatly benefit the teachers. Departmentalization will allow teachers to form instructional teams and allow them greater flexibility. Peterson explains it will also allow teachers to teach to their strengths and in turn, it will make their planning more in depth.

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There are currently seven fifth grade teachers and two special education teachers. What the teachers will do is split into two teams, with a team of three and four. For each set of teachers, students will have a homeroom teacher, who will also be the reading teacher. Students will then switch to social studies/science, math and language arts classrooms. Telford-Anderson will not have a revolving class, as she will have a traditional classroom, but she will have a co-teacher in the special education class.

Teachers are very excited to get this implemented, and feel this will allow them to introduce professional development and teaching style into the classrooms.