| Practical Learning
In addition to teaching children, CEED teachers support and model best practices for local teachers. CEED teachers receive their own professional development to both use and model the following practices:
Classroom Management Before a teacher can find the time to personally assess and instruct individual students, the teacher must learn how to structure the class so all students are engaged in meaningful independent activities. Teachers train the students how to move and work in the classroom with routines and procedures. They build a healthy environment where students work and help each other even when they are working on different tasks. They also help the students learn a number of “anchor activities” or great practice activities where students know what to do without the help of the teacher. Once students are engaged in activities that are meaningful and important to their learning, the teacher has time to pull students aside for assessment or small group instruction. Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment Traditional Assessment: assesses basic knowledge & skills separate from real-world tasks.
CEED Authentic Assessment: CEED recognizes that all students should have the opportunity to move forward based on their current understandings and abilities. CEED teachers use meaningful assessments to determine what students really know. Many of the assessment tasks are performance based. Teachers try to discover where language learning, concept development, memory, and behaviors meet to determine what students know and can do. Using a Step Based Curriculum and different assessment strategies, teachers’identify students’ skills and abilities and develops a plan for each student to advance through the curriculum independently. Differentiated Instruction and a 25 Step-Based Curriculum Before teachers can truly differentiate instruction for students, they must know how students move and develop through communication skills, reading, and writing, mathematics and the science process skills. A basic curriculum encompasses these basic skills and determines what students should know at standard age levels. Unfortunately, not all students fit into the norms of these levels. CEED teachers understand that regardless of whether students meet the standards, they still need help working through the curriculum. By breaking the curriculum into steps that cross grade levels, the teachers can better guide students through the learning process. Practical life applications – Patterns and relationships Students also need developmentally appropriate opportunities to practice creativity, decision-making, problem solving skills, and collaboration. CEED Teachers help students connect what they are learning in school to living in the community. Integrated learning projects, community observations and hypotheses, help the community are all implemented to demonstrate to students how learning can be used to help themselves and their communities. Students at all levels can participate and use their new skills. |
