(by Don Meador, Public Information Officer, Allen County School District)
The Allen County School District is working on the development of Non-Traditional Instructional Days which will start during the 2016-17 school year.
“Non Traditional Instruction Days allows for the continuation of learning when school is canceled due to inclement weather,” noted Rick Fisher, Direction of Instruction for the Allen County School District. “The Kentucky Department of Education has granted school districts up to 10 days on which students may continue learning off-site, such as in the home or daycare. This plan helps us extend learning in a situation where we can.”
Allen County School District has submitted an application to the Kentucky Department of Education to begin the program. In the application, the district explains how the program would work in Allen County.
“Allen County Schools strives to provide relevant and challenging instruction to all students in every classroom daily,” the application notes. “We have built our instructional program around four critical elements; student ownership of learning, using results to drive improvement, relevant and challenging instruction, and collaborative professional learning. While no program can replace the instruction and personal connection provided daily by our teachers, our non-traditional instruction will represent these core beliefs.”
The application explains that the school district will develop instructional units which follow the common core learning targets found in the classroom each day. The non-traditional learning experiences will vary in nature---from reviews of critical concepts previously covered to the introduction of new concepts. The NTI program will also include opportunities for students to think critically and extend learning.
“Primary grades will focus on reading, mathematics, and writing,” Fisher said. “Primary students will also have opportunities for engagement with the fine arts and personal health. Intermediate, middle and high school students will experience content from each course in which they are currently enrolled. Students in these grades will experience a virtual school day, engaged in learning experiences from each of their daily classes.”
NTI will revolve around a digital platform as the primary mode of instruction. The district website will be the home base from which each student will begin their learning.
“The district homepage would have an icon designating the NTI learning material,” Fisher explained. “Clicking on the icon will take students to a page listing all teachers for their school. Students would then go through the school day by selecting their first content class. The link would open to the teacher’s Google Classroom page where the assignments will be located. Once a class is competed, students would then click on their next teacher until all designated content is complete.”
The lessons will be arranged as Day 1, Day 2, etc and will be made available for a student beginning at 8 a.m. on the day school is canceled. Students will only be able to access the digital learning experiences one day at a time. The local plan also calls for NTI learning to start on the fourth day school is missed for inclement weather. Reminders of a missed day being an NTI day will be made as part of cancelation information.
“Students who have limited access to digital tools, such as a computer, the Internet, will be provided with alternative media. This could include flash drives, DVD’s, or paper booklets.”
The NTI plan calls for the student assignments not to exceed thirty minutes in length. Hence, for a student with six classes, their material for the day would not exceed three hours. The assignments are to be completed and submitted to the teacher within three days of returning to school. Students working with paper copies will also be expected to return their assignments upon resumption of classes.
“Google classroom will serve as our learning management system,” Fisher noted. “Lessons within may use Khan Academy, Discover Video, or YouTube as well as other materials and resources. Additional digital resources such as Stem Scopes, Big Universe, and CERT will be available.”
The district’s plan also calls for certified and classified staff to be available during the school day to provide student assistance. The connection may include e-mail, phone, or other social media outlets.
Since February, a team of educators from across the school district has been working on plans to implement NTI days during the upcoming school year. The work sessions have included sharing ideas, addressing potential problems, and collaboration to discover the best way to start the NTI days in Allen County. Later this month, the team will see samples both potential online lessons and paper copy lessons.
“We don’t want this to be too complicated for the teachers or the kids,” Fisher said. “We want our teachers to learn how to provide some form of instruction, whether it’s written, video, or audio. We want the kids to have a way to practice the material presented and offer reflection as to what you know or don’t know. We want to keep it to one page, per subject, per day. We are not trying to replicate a full day but we are trying to extend learning.”
The end of the current school year will see teachers and school administrators receiving training on the NTI program. Teachers are expected to begin developing Google Classroom pages during the summer months or early in the school year.