A Positive Schedule
Together with colleagues, we would craft a positive week of learning and teaching that would probably include the following learning efforts each day.
- Morning meeting
- Math class: small group math instruction with follow-up practice and project work
- Book group: small group of readers meeting with a teacher or teaching assistant to engage with a good book and a focus on needed, valuable reading skills and strategies
- Writing class: Whole grade level introduction to writing project, followed up by small writing coaching groups led by a teacher or teaching assistant
- Read Aloud: Time in the day to listen to the grade-level read aloud online with follow-up activity to prepare for grade-level reading discussion online and offline
- Science/Social Studies: A whole grade level introduction to a topic with follow-up independent, small group, and whole class activities
- Specialist study: Lesson(s) by specialist teachers
This schedule would be as long as a typical school day.
Positive learning space
Children would be encouraged to create a positive learning space at their home. Teachers would discuss this space creation with students during the morning meeting.
Digital Portfolios
Students will create digital portfolios with teacher support. They will use these portfolios as points of reflection as teachers coach them to lead their learning with proactive mindsets, routines, self-coaching, and awesome brain-based learning strategies. Teachers would use the digital portfolios as points of assessment and reflection to determine how students are doing and what else they need.
Practice and Project Time
Students would be expected to practice their learning skills daily with a number of varied practice activities. As much as possible, students will be asked to learn offline too. Students will be asked to demonstrate their offline learning with photos, videos, audio recordings, and written reflections.
Assessments
Using strategies similar to colleges, students will be asked to take formative assessments regularly as one way for teachers to monitor progress of individual students and the group. These assessments will help students to reflect on the teaching program and make needed revisions to ensure that the learning is robust.
Celebrations
Unit study will end with doable celebrations--this highlights the joy of positive learning.
Teacher Meetings
Regular staff meetings, professional learning community meetings, and grade-level teacher meetings will be a mainstay of the week.
Parent-child-teacher meetings
Similar to in-school schedules, some kind of parent-child-teacher meeting would occur in the fall.
Special Needs and Counseling
Special educators and counselors will work with teachers, families, and students as needed and in ways that they can safely support children and families.
Potential outside meetings
There is the potential that small groups of students and teachers could meet from time to time for a safe, social distanced nature hike or outdoor exploration of another kind.
Potential outside meetings
There is the potential that small groups of students and teachers could meet from time to time for a safe, social distanced nature hike or outdoor exploration of another kind.
