“How do I teach English standards in a mastery-based way when the standards are cyclical and interwoven with each other? I’ve only seen resources for more linear subjects like math and science.“

Anonymous, ESL Teacher, Arizona

I am not sure we can. More, I am not sure we should.

Certainly not in ELA. And, probably, not in any other subject, either.

Mastery is a myth.

I believe we have discovered this in ELA. As you accurately point out, our standards are indeed cyclical and interwoven (necessarily, I believe, for learning). Ours is not a learn-it-and-leave-it subject. Ours is a learn-it, live-it, learn-it-again (and again) subject. Learning is a circle, a cyclical experience of growth in a (at most and best) pursuit of a mystical, mythical moment of mastery–which never happens (for anyone, ever). And to believe otherwise, to believe mastery is an arrival, a check off a list, is being disingenuous. A true master would never–I believe–suggest they have mastered anything. They are only ever moving towards (pursuing) greater growth.

And yet, questions like yours linger and cause doubt in our work, and we find ourselves wondering about the “how” of mastery-based approaches and why they don’t really seem to work in ELA.

They don’t.

As such, I’ve come to embrace seasons of our growth cycle.

~sy