Audience: Elementary educators

Hear from Stevenson Elementary School principal Krista Adams about educator teams’ dynamic approach to supporting students.

Mountain View School kindergarten lead teacher Danielle Ashenbrener describes how a team-based approach has helped her to get to know her students better and to target student learning to meet individual students’ needs.

hat’s normal in education is broken. Nationally, teacher preparation programs have long seen declining enrollment. Teachers switch careers or retire early. They receive less pay and enjoy less social status than many other professionals. The job is hard in specific ways that inhibit success. That’s not good for educators. It’s not good for learners. And it’s not good for communities. In collaboration with school and community partners, Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College is working to change that. 

In this activity, you will create and share with your educator team a visual representing your social identity. Social identity is the story others tell about you and where you fit into society or the groups to which you belong (e.g., your race, ethnicity, gender identity).

In this activity, you will create and share with your educator team a visual representing your personal identity. Personal identity is the story you tell about yourself that creates your self-concept and makes you unique (e.g., your skills, your hobbies, adjectives that describe you).

In this activity, you will engage in an adaptation of the National Equity Project’s constructivist listening protocol. Together, with one or more members of your educator team, you will practice deep listening and construct new meaning about your identity and your lived experiences.

In this activity, you will reflect on a possible definition of equity, identify your equity imperative and share with your educator team. An equity imperative is a call to action representing an urgent and deeply felt need to address inequity. An equity imperative empowers you to answer the question, “What do I stand for and why?”

SPARK School at Kyrene de las Manitas has shifted from teacher-owned conferences to a student-led approach. This change supports the educator team’s goal of creating a student-centered learning environment in which learners own their progress and goals. This resource guides educator teams through steps critical to adopting student-led conferences.

In an effort to shift the ownership of learning from educator to student, SPARK School at Kyrene de las Manitas has implemented a system for students to reflect on their learning and progress, identify the academic support they need and schedule time to meet with the appropriate educator(s). This resource guides educator teams through steps to implementing student-selected support.

The educator team at Kyrene de las Manitas Innovation Academy co-plans project-based units that support deeper learning. The 10 tips appearing in this document are drawn from their approach to planning. To get started, consider how your team might implement these tips.

Community educators provide capacity and insight in service of deepening and personalizing student learning. They enrich learning environments by forging authentic relationships, sharing expertise and expanding networks. Use this template to guide your communication with community educators.

Next Education Workforce team-based structures can strengthen the project-based learning instructional approach. This unit planning template takes educators through the steps of designing a PBL unit, while also planning for how to maximize distributed expertise.

An asset map is a visual way to identify resources within your community. The act of creating a map of expertise can help you discover connections you already have, organizations you’d love to know about, and talents and resources near your school or available virtually.

Explore this resource to learn six tips for engaging a community educator in schools, community-based organizations and anywhere that learning happens.

Principled Innovation emboldens us to be able to ask the question, “We can, but should we?” This video, created by MLFTC’s Principled Innovation Team, introduces Next Education Workforce models and explores how their development is an example of principled innovation.

The Creighton Academy in Phoenix, Arizona serves about 300 students in grades K–6. Every student is a member of a covey: a multi-age group of 55–60 students. Students work with educators specific to their coveys and educators who work across coveys. In this resource, you’ll see the layout of their learning space.

The Creighton Academy in Phoenix, Arizona serves about 300 students in grades K–6. Every student is a member of a covey: a multi-age group of 55–60 students. Students work with educators specific to their coveys and educators who work across coveys. In this resource, you’ll explore their schedule.

The Creighton Academy in Phoenix, Arizona serves about 300 students in grades K–6. Every student is a member of a covey: a multi-age group of 55–60 students. Students work with educators specific to their coveys and educators who work across coveys. Here, you’ll learn how they’re implementing a team-based model.

At Sousa Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona, an educator team consisting of one lead teacher, three certified teachers, one special educator and three MLFTC residents supports a multi-age group of 104 first and second graders. In this resource, you’ll see the layout of their learning space.

At Sousa Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona, an educator team consisting of one lead teacher, three certified teachers, one special educator and three MLFTC residents supports a multi-age group of 104 first and second graders. In this resource, you’ll explore their schedule.