INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES
Our charter school goal is for student “success” to include mastery of both content and emotions, so that students can meaningfully connect with each other, be part of any community, and courageously decide who they are in the world and how they want the world to be. Our teachers use a variety of instructional approaches and practices to plan lessons and engage students in rich and meaningful learning.
Our charter school learning model is based on Constructivism, a theory in which knowledge is built (or constructed) on earlier knowledge. We structure learning to build on what students already know and support them in revising and refining their understanding as they work toward mastery. We believe that people learn best when the process is active and hands on, relevant, accessible and developmentally appropriate. CWC teachers use a variety of instructional practices and approaches to bring this theory to life in each classroom.
Inquiry Learning integrates skills and knowledge through meaningful and fun projects that make abstract learning concepts concrete. In integrated projects, science and social studies concepts are brought to light through life-based activities that engage students in thinking, acting, and interacting with the real world.
Teaching for Understanding is a framework developed by Project Zero at Harvard University.It is a process for teachers in developing curriculum that ensures connection between learning goals, learning activities, and assessments of understanding. These strategies help teachers take students beyond the mere mastery of facts to the ability to apply learning in new and unfamiliar contexts.
Differentiated Learning ensures that instruction is tailored and appropriate for students’ current understandings, needs and personal experiences. Our teachers take time to get to know each child as an individual and receive the support, data, and resources they need to adapt instruction and lessons to the needs of diverse learners so that students can connect what they learn to their own lives, making learning meaningful for all.
Gradual Release of Responsibility presents a process in which the responsibility for learning is released from the teacher to the student. The gradual release of responsibility provides a process to help students become more independent.