Every year, schools develop an instructional focus that guides planning around professional development, teacher feedback and conversations around pedagogy. An instructional focus helps to align priorities and move a school community towards the goals established in the Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP).
2018-2019 Instructional Focus- "We will plan learning experiences that demonstrate responsiveness to our students' individual strengths."
Our instructional focus will result in students experiencing opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of content in a variety of ways. For example, second grade teachers, Laura Varriale and Rosemary Graham (and some parent volunteers) facilitated an activity that got students working together to build Dutch farmhouses out of cardboard and paper. Students spent time exploring the historical period, visiting sites, sketching and ultimately collaborating with a team to create a final project.
Families can reinforce learning at home by engaging in conversations that help with meta cognitive development:
What did you like about this project?
How did you solve problems that came up?
Can you tell me about the steps you took?
Meta-cognition - https://childmind.org/article/how-metacognition-can-help-kids/
Check out the student designers hard at work-
