The Multi-Age Class St. Paul School

1. The Multi-Age ClassSt. Paul School Presented by Sandra Cormican & Carmen Larsen

2. How We Got Here • Alberta Education changes the focus of education in Alberta • research completed over the summer on the multi-age program (Carmen – scientific studies, Sandra – how to implement it) • proposal submitted to Gerry • proposal approved • planning of the program begins

3. Direction of Education in Alberta • Alberta Education’s Inspiring Education is changing how education is delivered in Alberta and is calling on teachers and schools to change the way they teach students.

4. What is multi-age? • overview of multi-age learning • A multi-age class has students of different ages and abilities placed in the same classroom to learn a non-graded curriculum. • This is not a new concept or “fad.” The philosophy of placing students of different ages together to learn goes back to “the one room school house.”

5. Key Components • student-centered • students progress and are assessed on a continuum (developmental stages) • students work at own level and pace through common activities and projects • team-teaching • peer-tutoring • fosters social-emotional skills and development • promotes collaboration and cooperation

6. How does multi-age connect with Inspiring Education? • They both focus on literacy and numeracy development. • They both focus on collaboration, cooperation, a sense of community, responsibility, self-reliance, confidence and an appreciation of diversity. • They both focus on teaching students the skills to become independent learners and thinkers.

7. Alberta Education’s Vision of the Future Albertan

8. Alberta Education’s Cross-Curricular Competencies

9. How does multi-age connect with “Visible Learning?” (John Hattie) • Many of the strategies shown to have the greatest impact on academic achievement are integral components of multi-age: • Student expectations, Piagetian programs, classroom discussions, feedback, teacher-student relationships, not labelling students and direct instruction. • Teachers should be working with each other, not in isolation. In the multi-age program teacher collaboration (planning and teaching) is central to the program working well. Different teachers bring their expertise to the table and learn from each other. • The focus in a multi-age class is students learning, not teachers teaching. Our conversations with each other need to be about learning not about teaching. • 8 Mindframes: Know Thy Impact as a Teacher

10. What are we doing this year? • As this is a pilot year, we are starting with one 3/4 multi-age class, which will be team taught by Sandra Cormican (full time) and Carmen Larsen (1/2 time). • We are going to educate staff and parents about the multi-age program through newsletters, blogs, show cases, open houses and presentations.

11. What will a multi-age day look like? • Morning Routine • Math Block • Gym • Fine Arts Block • Lunch • Literacy Block • Project Block • Dismissal • *The key is to have large blocks of time devoted to student learning. • **Learning is achieved through direct teaching, small group activities (teacher or student led), student discussions (whole or small group) and independent activities.

12. What is the vision for multi-age at St. Paul School? • We will be asking for teacher input to develop curricular themes for a 2 year cycle. • We will be asking for teacher input to develop assessment continuums for the primary skill areas (reading, writing and math strands). • We will be looking for other team-teaching units in order to expand the program next year to include 1/2 MA and 5/6 MA groups. • We will be encouraging parent and community support.