Day Nine of the Pacing Guide
Ms. P teaches second grade. Her district pacing guide allots ten days to place value to 1,000, and the unit test is in five days; the next unit is multi-digit addition. Today's exit tickets from her class of 21 show that 6 students can bundle ten ones into a ten and explain regrouping, 9 students can name hundreds, tens, and ones with base-ten blocks but cannot explain what a "hundred" means or write expanded form, 4 students still count by ones to build two-digit numbers, and 2 students are doing three-digit mental addition and have begun turning around in their seats during the lesson. The curriculum is scripted with a daily whole-group lesson and a worksheet. The 25-minute intervention block is currently used for reading, and the principal's message is "keep pace; we'll catch them in intervention later." The state standard requires understanding three-digit place value and reading and writing numbers to 1,000.
1. What is your instructional decision, and how do you justify it as professional judgment rather than either blindly following the guide or ignoring it?
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The data say the class is split, but not into 21 separate problems. The 9 students who name hundreds, tens, and ones without explaining them and the 4 who still count by ones share one gap: unitizing, the idea that ten ones become a new unit called a ten, and ten tens become a hundred. Moving to multi-digit addition in five days would build on a concept two-thirds of the class does not have.
The pacing guide is a planning tool; the standard is the obligation. My decision is to hold the standard, restructure the remaining days, and bring the evidence to the principal rather than either silently complying or silently going off guide. I would send the exit-ticket breakdown, name what I am cutting (worksheet volume and whole-group lecture time, not the standard), and propose keeping the unit test date but making it a formative checkpoint with a short retest window. Put the rationale in writing so the decision is transparent and reviewable, which is what makes it professional judgment rather than preference.
2. Describe how you would organize the next three lessons: grouping, materials, and what you would cut.
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Cut the 30-minute whole-group lesson to a 10-minute mini-lesson built on choral counting, a quick image of a quantity, and one place-value mat - the same opening every day, because routine buys time. Then run three stations for 12–15 minutes each.
Teacher station: the 13 students in the 4 and 9 groups work with bundled straws and base-ten blocks, physically bundling ten ones, saying "one ten and three ones," and recording it. Then move to a written representation and finally to expanded form, so the sequence stays concrete to representational to abstract. Their exit ticket is one number built, drawn, and written.
Practice station: a matching game with numerals, drawings, and expanded form, so students talk about the quantity rather than fill blanks. Extension station: the 2 advanced students work on three-digit problems and, crucially, justify their regrouping in writing or to a partner - extension means more reasoning, not more of the same worksheet. Collect exit tickets daily and regroup the next day; do not lock the groups for the unit.
3. How do you handle the two advanced students and the principal?
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For the two advanced students, compact the unit: give a short pretest, and where they demonstrate mastery, replace the worksheet with problem-solving and explanation tasks - multi-digit puzzles, error analysis of a wrong regrouping, or writing a word problem for a partner to solve. Keep them in the room and give them a real audience. Avoid making them tutors for the struggling group, which quietly removes their own instruction and can build resentment.
With the principal, bring data and a proposal, not a complaint. State the standard being taught, show the exit-ticket distribution, and explain that the intervention block is currently reading, so "catch them later" has no home. Ask a concrete question: can the 25-minute block be flexed for two weeks for place-value small groups, or can the interventionist push in? Offer to share the retest results.
Then follow up in writing with the agreed plan and date. If the answer is no, document what you did inside your own classroom time and keep the data - the record matters for the students and for you.