Natick Public Schools

Natick's Instructional Core Values for Deeper Learning:

• Master Core Academic Content - Model and teach the skills, the language, vocabulary, process and the body of knowledge, so students can apply learned information in relevant and meaningful ways.
• Think Critically and Solve Complex Problems - Provide experiences where students can analyze and deconstruct information, ask meaningful questions, build and test plans, determine successes, compare results, consider designs for improvement, communicate findings.
• Work Collaboratively - Students have opportunities to collaborate with peers and others through a gradual release of responsibilities. Organize people knowledge and resources towards a goal, and to understand and accept multiple points of view.
• Communicate Effectively - Students are able to communicate and respond to communication respectfully and effectively with an authentic purpose and audience.
• Learn How to Learn - Learning is the individual thinking pathway in which students travel to achieve their goals and objectives.
• Develop Academic Mindsets - Through progress monitoring, feedback and support we will provide a relevant, rigorous, and creative environment that fosters risk-taking and problem-solving while maintaining clear and high expectations for all in the Natick Public Schools.

And

• Global Competence - Global competence is the disposition and capacity to understand and act on issues of global significance. http://www.worldsavvy.org/global-competence/

Read more about Deeper Learning

Experiential learning integrates the classroom and the real world. By engaging students with real word projects, research, and service learning they are able to transfer their knowledge and skills from the classroom into ideas that can make an impact personally, locally and/or globally.

Natick's Five Drivers of Experiential Learning

1. Research is a systematic inquiry that investigates hypotheses, suggests new interpretations of data or texts, and poses new questions for future research to explore. Research consists of: asking a question that nobody has asked before; doing the necessary work to find the answer; and communicating the knowledge you have acquired to a larger audience.
2. Interdisciplinary teaching is a method, or set of methods, used to teach a unit across different curricular disciplines. For example, the seventh grade Language Arts, Science and Social Studies teachers might work together to form an interdisciplinary unit of study on water usage.
3. Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. Natick uses the Buck Institutes model for PBL (bie.org)
4. Design Thinking is a methodology used by designers to solve complex problems, and find desirable solutions. A design mindset is not problem-focused, it’s solution focused and action oriented towards creating a preferred future. Design Thinking draws upon logic, imagination, intuition, and systemic reasoning, to explore possibilities of what could be—and to create desired outcomes that benefit the end user.
5. Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.