Deeper Learning 2023

Far too often, deeper learning is seen as something separate or additional to curriculum development or even the academic standards. In fact, the two approaches are sometimes made to seem contradictory. In this session, we will consider how curriculum development is actually the keystone to fostering meaningful deeper learning. Our session goals are threefold. We will explore what we want for each of our students, each child in the chair. We will challenge our collective definition of curriculum to go beyond just academic standards but instead create a pathway that fosters deeper learning and skills that transfer beyond the classroom walls. We will examine how that educational journey may take different paths, but ultimately it must lead to equity in access and equity in opportunity. With a clear understanding of grade-level standards and a design mindset, we enable teachers to determine acquisition, meaning and transfer goals that support student learning with a 40,40,40 mindset. Then and only then can teachers design instructional progressions that connect what students will know and be able to do not just in 40 days or 40 weeks, but also in 40 years. In building connections between standards within the curriculum design process, teachers learn to intentionally design for focused and meaningful deeper learning. Therefore with this 40,40,40 mindset, teachers can foster standards- mastery AND deeper learning competencies. By integrating the two, we can truly provide a guaranteed and viable curriculum for each and every child in the chair.