About
Technology in learning is becoming increasingly common in the classroom. From smartboards to interactive games on the computer, teachers are starting to incorporate various ways to teach students both about technology and core subjects. Tutors can do the same!
Our tutors use creativity to motivate students to learn. Creative teaching methods promote meaningful learning, student engagement, and peer interaction. Non-traditional ways of learning are viewed as more motivating and inspiring.
Our goal is to provide students with an opportunity to learn in a non-competitive space while creating a culture of achievement. We leverage the best of technology and human instruction to maximize learning while improving confidence.
Through our one-on-one and small group settings students may approach time spent in tutoring interventions with a greater degree of focus and effort than in classrooms. And, because there are presumably fewer distractions during tutoring sessions than regular classes, students may spend a larger share of time on task in tutoring sessions than in classes.
Creative education is when students are able to use imagination and critical thinking to create new and meaningful forms of ideas where they can take risks, be independent and flexible. Instead of being taught to reiterate what was learned, students learn to develop their ability to find various solutions to a problem. When designing learning experiences, teachers can plan and frame curriculum and provide tools that give students options, voice, and choice in order to enable them to be creative.
Through our one-on-one and small group settings students may approach time spent in tutoring interventions with a greater degree of focus and effort than in classrooms. And, because there are presumably fewer distractions during tutoring sessions than regular classes, students may spend a larger share of time on tasks in tutoring sessions than in classes.
Within our classrooms, we limit the amount of decorations to avoid overstimulation. Our classrooms support learning with anchor charts, maps, images of role models, and displays of student work. Even though our class sizes are small, we assign seats as another strategy to limit distractions. We co-create norms with students and have a conversation about the reasons why rules exist, and then produce a set of governing principles by consensus. Our classrooms follow Conscious Classroom Management, which is a series of tiered choices framed “as consequences, not punishments” to give students more autonomy.
Our Curriculum
The right mix of creativity along with curriculum helps students to be innovative and also encourages them to learn new things. In fact, creative expression plays a key role in a student’s emotional development.
To support school readiness, the curriculum is aligned across pre-k through second grade so that the skills taught at the beginning of each school year naturally build upon the skills learned by students at the end of the previous year.
An advantage of our staff writing the curriculum rather than purchasing curricula is that it can be revised as frequently as deemed necessary. After a year or two of a curriculum, we go back and revise it based on teacher feedback and our coaches’ logs.
For our English Language Learners, strategies such as including visual supports, using multicultural and multilingual read-aloud books, making explicit vocabulary instruction part of play, and using concrete materials to facilitate dialogue are all built into the curriculum as well as the professional development teachers receive throughout the year.
