In this session, participants will be invited to reflect on strategies that bring Agency to children's learning in the Early Years. We will show some student's projects from Lower Primary and discuss the role of Play in our curriculum.

Effective questions produce thinking. Learning is the result of thinking. Therefore, questions are one of the most important tools used in teaching and learning. Participants will examine how teachers can ask fewer and better questions leading to more thinking time in class and explore hands-on routines to help students generate questions to further their learning. In addition, we will examine the role of questions in differentiating instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners.

When students practice a skill with regular frequency and targeted feedback, their performance improves. This is true for music, sports -- and thinking. In this High Intensity Practice workshop, we will explore how to further develop empathy, creativity, mental agility, and critical thinking skills.  Through an immersive experience, participants will consider and acquire tools and techniques that can be applied immediately in the classroom to enhance students’ ability to make their thinking visible and to articulate their process of thinking through writing and problem solving. 

Participants will learn about a strategy for differentiated instruction called Flag Time that ensures that students have time allocated for deliberate practice every day whilst being motivated to take part in the tasks assigned. The steps for implementing Flag Time will be discussed as well as how formative assessment should be used to inform planning for each individual child to work toward mastery of different academic and social skills. We will also discuss how this strategy helps introduce young children to self-reflection, and how current research at Avenues is measuring the impact of this strategy on students' metacognitive skills and self-regulation. Participants will be encouraged to adapt this strategy according to their own context.

How can we prepare students to deal with an increasingly complex, interconnected and uncertain world? What skills and mindsets should students hones in order to anticipate future careers, jobs, and environments that don't yet exist? In partnership with the Museum of Tomorrow, Avenues has developed the Futures Literacy curriculum, which focuses on equipping students with the ability to adapt to emerging realities, explore ecosystems of change and global paths toward sustainable and regenerative futures.