Crew is the heart of everything we do. Crew is our version of an advisory but goes far beyond the typical logistics and housekeeping is common in most homerooms.
In Crew, students focus extensively on building positive relationships with their peers and teachers, as well as being explicitly taught about the Habits of Success. Crew teachers also monitor the academic progress of their students.
Learning Expeditions drive all of our instruction. These expeditions are a long-term study (10-12 weeks) of a compelling topic or theme. Expeditions begin with a kick-off event, which includes consultations with experts and fieldwork opportunities, the conducting of original research, and the culminating celebration of learning where students publicly share and reflect on their learning and growth.
Students are put in charge of Student-Led Conferences. Instead of a conversation between teacher and parent(s) without the child present, the student shares their best work and openly discusses his/her successes, failures, areas of growth, and areas in need of improvement.
Passage presentations allow students to show academic growth during their entire PoDs career. They document their progress and best work in their portfolios (both physical and digital), then use that work to argue that they have met all pertinent learning targets. Students regularly participate in a critique process, where they learn how to give and receive feedback.
One draft is never enough at PoDs as students constantly seek to exceed personal bests and produce high-quality work beyond that which anyone expects.
