the administration is going to be actively involved in the groups as participants with teachers still being the leaders. It’s their intent to be an equal participant in the process. Teachers have been asked to choose which of the four groups they would like to join. The topics are differentiated instruction, cross-curricular projects, teaching with technology, and school culture – character education. All are meaningful, current topic areas that are connected to our school and board’s SMART goals.
Today students have the ability to view and read historical documents first hand, ‘interact’ with historical characters, and observe the events of the past through the eyes of the children who lived it. Thanks to technology, students can be truly engaged in the stories of history.
Digital Storytelling is the modern
expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive
their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby
giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences,
and insights. Tell your story now digitally.
Tough choices must be made regarding what to pare back in order to allow for more appropriate areas of focus
we need to infuse “themes” — important lenses such as global literacy, environmental literacy, information literacy, digital literacy, systems thinking, and design thinking
Higher-order skills such as the “4 C’s” — creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration4 — are essential for deeply learning knowledge as well as for demonstrating understanding through performance.
Character is about how we engage in the world.
Meta-learning is the awareness of one’s own learning and cognitive ability. Having such an awareness is the best hedge against continuous changes.
Historical inertia has been a large deciding factor when it comes to curriculum design, at the policy/process level.
we must keep two key questions before us at all times: Is education relevant enough for this century? Are we educating students to be versatile in a world that is increasingly challenged and challenging?