Using Our Curriculum

The "Using Our Curriculum" section walks you through everything you need to kick off your teaching journey at Brilliant Microschool.

Curriculum Philosophy

Watch this video to learn about our curriculum philosophy, key components, and overall vision, designed to help you confidently implement and embrace our model for teaching and learning.

For more insight into our approach, explore the key elements of our learning model located in the 'Later' section.

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Core Curriculum Elements

Universal Design for Learning

Our school believes in—and relies on—Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to reach all students. UDL is a teaching approach that makes learning accessible and meaningful for everyone, regardless of their abilities, learning styles, or backgrounds. It’s about creating flexible learning experiences that can be tailored to individual needs.

Think of it like hosting a dinner party: you’d offer a variety of dishes, including options for vegetarians, people with allergies, and those who prefer spicy or mild flavors. UDL works the same way in education. It provides different ways for students to learn, engage with the material, and show what they know. Listen to Katie Novak explain the dinner party analogy here: UDL, Universal Design for Learning and the Dinner Party Analogy (2min)

For example, a teacher might offer a history lesson through a video, a textbook, and a podcast, giving students the choice to learn in the way that suits them best. The teacher could also provide different ways for students to show their understanding, like writing an essay, creating a presentation, or acting out a skit. With UDL, everyone gets an equitable opportunity to learn and succeed.

UDL in Action Built-In and Beyond.pdf

This resource highlights UDL in action—showing how our curriculum supports all learners and offering strategies to help you maximize its impact in your classroom.

Learning Experiences and EduProtocols

To build classroom learning experiences, we use a variety of lesson frames and routines called EduProtocols. The structure stays consistent while the content changes, enabling students to focus on learning, collaborating, and creating—because they’ve mastered the process.

By teaching with EduProtocols, the daily workflow becomes nearly invisible, and the content takes the spotlight. These instructional frameworks are designed to engage students in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity—the Four C’s—while aligning to standards and UDL best practices. They’re pedagogically sound, easy for teachers to implement, and work across any subject or grade level.

Take 10 minutes to explore how our protocols work here.

Eduprotocols at Brilliant Microschool

This Google Slide deck provides an overview of the core EduProtocols used across our school. These are also embedded in the Brilow curriculum.

Master List Protocols

Performance Tasks

In educational design, a performance task grounded in the principles of UDL is a strategic assignment developed to assess a student’s ability to apply what they’ve learned in authentic, meaningful ways. Rather than rote recall, these tasks encourage creative problem-solving in real-world contexts.

The GRASPS framework serves as a helpful mnemonic to ensure tasks are Goal-oriented, rooted in Real-world scenarios, require Authentic performance, guided by a Specific purpose, offer Personal choice, and are Standards-based.

To support diverse learners and promote student agency, performance tasks offer multiple formats for completion and extensions to accommodate deeper exploration or advanced learners.

Each of our units culminates in 1-2 performance tasks, graded on a rubric using a 0–4 scale. We encourage reassessment, allowing students to try again if needed. Self-assessment and peer-assessment opportunities are also recommended.

Listen to a 10-minute explanation: Definition of Performance Tasks

You will find PT exemplars here for your subjects: Toddle > School Policies and Resources > Teacher Resources.

Please see the Toddle LMS and Academic Progress and Pathways handbook pages for additional information on assigning and assessing PTs.

Toddle & Brilow: How They Work Together

You will use Toddle and Brilow daily in your classroom. Review this diagram to see how they work together.

You'll dive deeper into Toddle in the next section of the handbook.

Toddle vs Brilow.pdf

Brilow Resources & Support

Click here to access Brilow, our learning platform.

Curriculum Flow

This spreadsheet provides an overview of our learning platform, Brilow, which houses our curriculum. It includes a list of the curriculum areas with brief descriptions of each, along with tips and tricks for effective implementation. Use it as a guide to navigate and make the most of the platform.

This guide includes implementation strategies to help you understand the learning experiences within Brilow and reflect on how to facilitate them in class. It is designed to support rich collaboration, meaningful discussion, and growth for your students.

Brilow Implementation Strategies

Watch this video to learn how to navigate the Brilow platform and explore its key features and tools.

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Explore Board

Watch this video for an explanation of the vocabulary card option on our Explore Boards.

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Watch this video for an explanation of the video option on our Explore Boards.

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Watch this video for an explanation of the text option on our Explore Boards.

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Watch this video for an explanation of the audio option on our Explore Boards.

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Watch this video for an explanation of the concept map option on our Explore Boards.

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Quests

This video walks you through the Quests feature—how to access quests, what they include, and ideas for how they can be used in your class.

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Stations

This video introduces the two types of stations in Brilow, station rotation and choice stations, and how each one supports student learning.

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Performance Tasks

This video explains how performance tasks are structured across both Toddle and Brilow, and how the two platforms work together. You'll see how tasks are laid out in Brilow to help you implement them effectively and support students in demonstrating mastery.

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Socratic Discussion

This video shows how Socratic Discussions work on Brilow, from both student and teacher viewpoints.

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This guide focuses on Socratic Discussion. It outlines how discussions evolve from Kindergarten through 12th grade, what they look like at each stage, and provides suggested timelines and tips for every grade band. You’ll also find details on implementing our curriculum’s Socratic Discussion through Brilow.

The Evolution of Socratic Discussion.pdf

Brilow Tools

Watch this video to learn how to unlock learning experiences for your students on Brilow. When assigning, please note that the date you select will be the due date.

Review this guide for step-by-step instructions on unlocking learning experiences.

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70/30 Guidelines

We want our curriculum to take about 70% of your time. Using Mastery-based, backwards designed curriculum focused on a small set of badges helps us achieve that. We are against content coverage, content is a means to attain skills! We want you to teach as you like for the remaining time. Bring your passion into your classroom, let students explore their own passions. If you look at the recommended schedule below, Fridays especially are days for fun, reflection and goal setting. Bring in projects and engaging experiences from your previous teaching life. Ask students to create their own experiences and surpise you. Spend lots of time on SEL creating relationships with and among students. This 30% time is where we will find effective, innovative ideas to continue evolving as a school.

This guide supports your understanding and application of the 70/30 framework, where you dedicate approximately 70% of classroom time to our curriculum while reserving 30% for your creativity and instructional choice. Inside, you’ll find clear guidelines on implementing the 70/30 balance, along with sample weekly teaching schedules for all grade bands to illustrate how this approach can look in practice.

70/30 Guidelines

Schedules & Routines

Review this Units-at-a-Glance guide to see start and end dates for each unit in the 2025–26 school year. If your classroom is new, begin with Unit 0 before joining the current unit for the timeframe.

Units At-a-Glance.pdf

ESE Schedule.pdf

This sample schedule for the ESE program includes two options designed to support the unique needs of exceptional student classrooms. These schedules offer structures that promote consistency, accessibility, and a positive daily experience for all learners.

This sample schedule for elementary is designed to help you structure your day and plan how to incorporate each subject. You’ll also find a suggested Friday schedule and a link to optional Friday activities to support an engaging and well-rounded weekly plan.

Elementary and Middle Schedule.pdf

MS Sample Schedule .pdf

This sample schedule for middle school is designed to help you structure subject lessons in a way that supports student growth and ensures a well-balanced distribution of learning across the week.

This sample schedule is designed to help you understand the structure and flow of the high school program. You will find a weekly schedule and a suggested Friday schedule to promote a smooth, engaging learning environment.

HS Schedule.pdf

Unit 0: Weeks 1 & 2 Daily Structure

This spreadsheet outlines the weekly structure for Unit 0, the launch unit of our curriculum. All new classes will begin with Unit 0, regardless of when they open during the school year.

For classes that begin throughout the school year, please review this guide. It outlines how to plan your first month, including when to administer MAP assessments and which units to cover.

MAP & Month 1 Guidance.pdf

Planning Versus Routines

This resource helps you understand the difference between planning and routines, explains why routines are emphasized at BMS, and provides example routines to help you get started.

Planning vs. Routines (2).pdf

A Day in the Life Routines

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of a lower elementary classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

A Day in the Life of Lower Elementary

A Day in the Life of Upper Elementary

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of an upper elementary classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of a middle school classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

A Day in the Life of Middle School

A Day in the Life of High School

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of a high school classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of an ESE classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

A Day in the Life of ESE

A Day in the Life Routines: Guided Study

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of an Upper Elementary Guided Study classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

A Day in the Life of Upper Elementary Guided Study

This guide provides a sample “day in the life” of a Middle School Guided Study classroom, highlighting the routine, flow, and implementation of learning experiences.

A Day in the Life of Middle School Guided Study

Our teachers are VIGOROUS (rather than rigorous)

Our teachers embody the essence of being "VIGOROUS" educators:

They possess an insatiable curiosity, demonstrating a profound hunger for knowledge that drives them to seek innovative solutions and fresh insights in the ever-evolving field of education.
They thrive on feedback, using it as a catalyst for growth and continuous improvement.
Their superpower lies in their remarkable ability to learn, adapt, and consistently enhance their teaching practices.
Their resilience and adaptability shine through as they navigate challenges with unwavering determination.

In this context, at Brilliant Microschool, we foster this spirit of growth through a multifaceted approach, including:

monthly schoolwide professional development sessions that address weaknesses
timely flash PDs for smaller groups, and
grade band-specific professional development opportunities.

These initiatives collectively empower our educators to excel and embrace the journey of lifelong learning.

Mastery Check 4

For Microschool Teachers

Now that you've spent some time reading and understanding the "Using Our Curriculum" section, it's time to demonstrate your mastery of the core concepts. Please create a Frayer Google Slide using the "Frayer template" in 1.6 General Curriculum above. Make sure to copy the template first before modifying it.

In your Frayer, please adjust the quadrant names to:

2 characteristics of Universal Design for Learning
Answer which part of the curriculum you will have the most issue mastering and why
A non-example of Mastery-Based Learning
An image or gif that reminds you of Social Emotional Learning

Once you've created your Google Slide, adjust the sharing settings to view only, and submit it for review the #bms-onboarding channel. Good luck!

Onboarding Nearpod 4

For Microschool Teachers, Tutoring Group Teachers

If you are viewing this content for the first time, click on the Nearpod.

Launch Nearpod

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