Our Approach
Instructional Philosophy…
At Arts & Letters 305 United, we believe that well-rounded students receive a balance of direct, skills based instruction along with opportunities for experiential learning that is culturally responsive and offers relevant, real life experiences for students across all grades and disciplines. We use a combination of externally created, research-based curriculum and internally school created interdisciplinary Units of Study to achieve this balance.
Together, we create a classroom culture that centers students;
as well as student discussion using protocols/thinking routines, feedback and revision processes, student ownership of their own learning, and student choice. At United, students across all skill levels will:
Master knowledge and skills through the exploration of complex, compelling, culturally-relevant topics where they grapple to make sense of and connect to their communities, the world and themselves.
Create beautiful, authentic, and complex work that is shared with an audience wider than the classroom community, contributing to a more just and equitable world.
Engage with compelling topics and learning resources.
Be able to name what they are learning, why they are learning it and how they know if they are making progress.
Revise their work and give peers feedback using student-friendly rubrics, self-assessment, and peer and teacher feedback.
Engage in thinking routines and protocols that help them collaborate with their peers.
Interact with each other with kindness and curiosity.
Feel like they can belong and succeed in academic and social spaces.
Make progress towards targeted outcomes.
Talk about their learning and learning processes with their teachers, peers and the wider community.