The Menu
The Menu
To ensure that students meet the objectives and fulfill the requirements of Seminar, students choose from a “menu” of options for how to use Seminar. Students are expected to choose one or more of the following options for each of the two WAVES of the Seminar period:
Requests
Student/teacher logs a request for a one-on-one or a small group academic support experience. Students visit their teacher's classroom during the Seminar period at designated release times [10:39 AM + 11:04 AM].
Students engage in a personalized implementation of their state-mandated, four-year Educational Development Plan. Each semester, students will explore various elements in the plan to help prepare them for their future--course schedules, career/college exploration and planning, test preparation, etc.
Students participate in an independent, inquiry-based project. Inquiry-based learning is about learning something new, triggering curiosity for which students develop questions that they are hungry to answer. Students will construct a proposal indicating their purpose and developing their action plan. Students then explore their topics using time in Seminar to research. After a time of information acquisition/research, students “do something” with their new knowledge or awareness--develop something tangible. Finally, students will "go public" with their project and reflect on what what they gained, what worked about the process and what didn’t, as well as what effect this project had on them.
As Penny Kittle says, “Teenagers want to read - if we let them.” Literacy is one of the most important indicators of academic success. Students engage in self-selected texts and track their progress and their takeaways from their reading.
Students can access this resource for independent learning, remediation, and preparation for the PSAT/SAT. Just six hours spent with Khan Academy is associated with an average 90 point increase on the SAT. Students may also take advantage of resources on a number of subjects and areas of interest.
The Forum is an option open to all students three times each semester to help them with navigating high school and to prepare for life after high school. This can include topics such as personal finance, personal branding via social media, career readiness, mental health and wellness, or preparation for college. This option requires students be passing all classes to attend. The Forum also requires advanced sign-up/request. All Forum experiences will be held in the auditorium.
Course Work
In the second wave of Seminar (11:04) students work on formative course work.