Best practices blog and culturally responsive teaching

http://elschools.org/best-practices/approaching-common-core-tollgate-elementary-school

“We take our students into all sorts of situations that are outside of their comfort zone—snowshoeing, high-ropes courses, hiking 14,000-foot mountains.” This is a great way to be more culturally responsive when teaching. The students are exposed to all kinds of different situations that the teachers can incorporate into the classroom to help students learn and teambuild!

http://elschools.org/best-practices/preparing-tomorrows-leaders

“Learning expeditions are a perfect way to teach science. My students use real-world information from original scientific research, newspapers, and the Internet to solve real-world problems. They understand the purpose for their work, and they view the hard work of research and skill-building as an opportunity to solve important dilemmas.” Learning expeditions are wonderful for kids. They will learn about the outside world and their neighboring  areas. This will get them involved in real world situations and know what is going on in the world.

http://elschools.org/best-practices/standards-movement-spirit-expeditionary-learning

“REALMS has always prided itself on creating strong fieldwork projects in which students are involved in authentic, ongoing studies of local habitats. These kinds of projects were central to our school’s founding mission, and over time they have become the driver of much of our curriculum. We engage students in the hands-on work that professionals in the field engage in, knowing that these kinds of authentic projects lend themselves to high-level learning.” Fieldwork (going out into the field and working) is a great way to get the students out there into the community and working for something in their school.

http://elschools.org/best-practices/more-just-motto-nobody-eats-alone-harborside

“When Harborside academy opened, the motto “Nobody eats alone at Harborside” was merely a set of words – a nice way to think about community. Five years later, the phrase has come to mean “Nobody should be left alone to solve any problem.” It stands for the value of getting to know others well and creating a school climate that celebrates both student academic growth and character development.” This is a great thing the school is doing so the students can get to know each other and their own ways of life. They work together and get along to solve problems.