Crafting Learning: A Curriculum Design Podcast

In this special episode you will hear from a panel of our school's division leaders and the head of school who shared perspectives on job search processes. This panel happened live for our Apprentice Teacher Training Program cohort and is being made available on the podcast. Thanks for tuning in and please enjoy!

In this episode (recorded on Leap Day - February 29, 2024) we learn from Kelly Siegrist and Cindy Thom about the Social Emotional resources they developed for K-4 teachers.
They created a guidebook for teachers around SEL/Responsive Classroom strategies and practices with targeted goals based on recent classroom observations. Supplemental materials were provided around specific tools to increase classroom autonomy and self-regulation. These experiences and goals are being presented in divisional meetings with corresponding paper copies of the guidebook added throughout the year.
Please contact the Crafting Learning hosts for access to the guidebook.
 

Lindy Bourque and Jennifer Thiemann join us to share about their curriculum design work for Music and Movement in the lower grades (Beginners - 4th grade) at NCCS.
Summary from the Guests
In the 2021-2022 school year, we combined what had previously been a Lower school “Creative Dramatics” class and a Lower School “Music” class into one course called “Music and Movement”. In the 2023-2024 school year, we made that sameintentional shift to “Music and Movement” in EC. We reviewed and made adjustments to the curriculum based on a year of living the program. Then we worked backwards to create the new EC “Music and Movement” curriculum:
Skill development, from B3/4 to Grade 4, was defined.
Learning objectives and grade-level summaries were written.
Connections to external learning standards were identified and recorded.
Basic pacing guides were created.
 

Upper School faculty members Elizabeth Carroll, Lauren Romeo, Marshall Johnson, and Lacey Ramsey share about their newly designed Capstone project for the oldest students in our school.
Curriculum Description
9th Grade Capstone Project
This curriculum design project was centered around brainstorming and developing a culminating, interdisciplinary experience for departing ninth-grade students. In recent years, the 9 Capstone has consisted of a public presentation on current events run through the 9 Modern World History course. This new iteration of the 9 Capstone, however, looks to shift the focus back towards the personal interests and experiences of graduating ninth graders, centering on the basic question: “How can you [the student] make a positive impact on the greater world, and/or the NCCS community?” 
This design project team outlined the various project steps, determined scheduling, and created a basic project outline for students. Using an inquiry-based approach, students will brainstorm an issue about which they feel personally passionate; develop a guiding question around which they will research, collect, and analyze data; create a plan of action; and implement it within the community at large and/or NCCS. All ninth graders will then present their research to the school and their families in a special capstone showcase event in the spring. Finally, students will reflect on their capstone experience and how it relates to their time at NCCS in the final days before graduation.
Examples & Resources
Project Overview
Ninth-Grade Community Action Project

Learning Resource Teachers Hali Dorfman and Lacey Ramsey share about their design work focused on executive functioning curriculum.
Curriculum Description
Executive Functioning: Tools, Strategies and Methods
This curriculum is designed to develop the self-awareness skills students needto appreciate their strengths, recognize when to ask for help, and to grow comfortable learninghow to learn for life.  In Learning Lab, students learn effective study (and learning) strategies that will help them in school and beyond.  By modifying and creating our own curriculum that is inspired by MindPrint, this project addresses both the self-awareness skills and study skills that students need to be successful. It includes mini units that can be facilitated either as part of a larger unit or as stand-alone lessons for students both in and out of Learning Lab. While students will vary in openness to change, just as they vary in every other academic or social skill, the expectation is that after completing this work, all students will have a better understanding of who they are as learners and an appreciation and acceptance of the fact that there are tools available to them when they are faced with challenges. 
Examples & Resources
Overview of Course: 
EF: Tools, Strategies, and Methods: Scope and Sequence
EF: Tools, Strategies, and Methods: Lesson Slides
EF: Tools, Strategies, and Methods: Student Reflection Journal
Resources:
MindPrint Learning
LearningScientists.org
Life Skills