Creative Curriculum Connections strives to inspire teachers, children, families youth workers, and the larger community to connect to each other for the complex work of respectful transformational change in school and society.
We believe that within safe, positive, and purposefully structured classrooms and schools all children, teachers, families and staff will succeed. Classrooms and schools need to enable each member of the community to see themselves as both teachers and learners who have the ability to reflect on experience and learning and support others to do the same. We have high expectations for every member of any community under my mentorship and we have witnessed both children and adults meet and exceed these expectations within an environment that supports their growth and uniqueness.
Our passion and deep connection to educational practice fuels our success as leaders in varying educational and community settings. The communities we mentor begin to know our heart for the work and for them. They quickly learn that we not only speak about educational philosophy but we practice it and have never isolated ourselves from the work in the field. Indeed, one of our strongest assets is our ability and desire to work in partnership with our teachers, staff and families to inspire students to increased levels of success, confidence, and citizenship. Our professional development session topics include:
- inclusive classrooms
- early childhood
- literacy, first and second language acquisition
- reflective educators
- connection between philosophy and educational practice
- positive discipline in the classroom
- assigning clear, productive homework
- project-based learning
- use of drama, poetry and music in the classroom
- reading strategies
- children tell their stories-writing process in the classroom
- setting up respectful, productive classrooms and afterschool/summer programs
Current research shows that positive connections between families and teachers have a powerful influence of subsequent student success in school. In fact, children of parents connected to teachers regularly exhibit positive gains in academic and social measures. Parent workshop topics include:
- Starting Off on the Right Foot with Your Child’s Teacher
- Enabling My Child to Grow Within Positive and Realistic Boundaries
- Dealing with the pressure of standardized tests
- Helping Your Child with Homework
- Helping Your Child Become a Better Reader
- Advocating for Your Middle School Child
- Encouraging your Child to Read at Home
- Understanding the Curriculum
Our work in the community has also enabled us to create groups of children and adults that connect to each other in both academic, professional, and personal ways. For example our girls group, Generation Connect…Reaching Across the Ages connects girls 13 years and younger and senior citizens in service and personal relationships. Here both generations have the opportunity to build a desire to deeply know and respect each other. We also pair older children/teenagers with younger children in mentoring/teaching relationships where they can form strong relationships while working on academics. Workshops in this area include:
- beginning an inter-generational group
- helping children teach children
- productive mentorship relationships that last
We also actively mentor students to tutor each other. Teenagers are taught to tutor middle school and elementary school students in reading, writing and content area. Elementary school students also help their younger peers with basic reading and math skills. In this way, all community members are honored as both teachers and learners.
