At Northwest Academy, students are empowered to be the architects of their world. They ask big questions, challenge their own assumptions, investigate and explore, create art, read literature, and produce work of value; through this enterprise, they develop proficiency and mastery, grow increasingly autonomous, and find meaning to fill their lives.
Our classrooms are warm and welcoming and provide a creative and intellectual home to students and teachers. Students participate because they feel seen and cared for. Our lessons are inspiring, well organized, and offer diverse modes for student access.
We can do this remotely, with some adjustments:
- We will have more asynchronous time than synchronous time- how can you best use your direct interactions with students to develop a strong learning community?
- We will utilize new resources (oh the apps!), create our own, and build out more creative projects.
- We will create approaches to support students for whom online learning and the self-directed nature of this shift is a struggle.
- Our assessment strategies will shift. More frequent formative assessments will take the place of summative assessments as each interaction with students will provide an essential opportunity to assess their progress and well being.
- This moment invites and insists on creativity and new ideas. Take risks! With so little normality in our world, your lesson plans have permission to sit a bit sideways.
- Most importantly, this is a uniquely human crisis in need of human solutions. Be kind to yourself, be kind to each other, find the gentle path forward, and stay connected.
The transition to online learning is borne of necessity, not an intentional pedagogical shift. As such, we request that you approach this work with a positive, can-do attitude, assuming good intentions from all. These guidelines are our best, first try and we anticipate the need to adjust as we get underway and learn from our experiences.
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-Culver Academies
