Episode 221: Lucy Butler Pt 2 Designing Positive Teaching and Learning Environments in a High School

Lucy Butler is a special education teacher in a high school. In the 2021-2022 school year Lucy was given the task of working with all the students who were repeating their freshmen year of high school. Lucy has been a guest on our podcast several times before. She’s been sharing her classroom experiences with us. This year Lucy has another cohort of freshman class repeaters and she’s also co-teaching math classes. During the Christmas break she gave us a progress report.

In Part 1 she described how she used thin slicing, loopy training and the constructional design principles to help her students succeed in math class.

She is looking at the basics of how new skills are taught. This is universal. Whether you are working with human students or horses, teaching skills using a mastery-based structure leads to successful learners.

We begin Part 2 of our conversation with Lucy by asking her if she could design a school what would she create. Lucy’s thoughtful answer provides a blueprint for meaningful - and doable change that is as relevant for the teaching we do with our horses as it is for schools.