Rigor, Relevance, and Relationship-Building Teaching Methods

5 Stages of Teaching/Learning at SHS

Teaching and learning strategies based on solid personal relationships, steeped in rigor, and relevant to the learners’ world are represented in an overwhelming proportion of the experiences of the most successful students in high performing high schools.

Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching involves a conscious effort to apply knowledge, principles, and/or values to more than one academic discipline simultaneously. It is seen as a way to support

• transfer of learning
• teaching students to think and reason
• provide a curriculum more relevant to students

Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching is often seen as a way to address some of the recurring problems in education, such as fragmentation and isolated skill instruction.

Integrated cross-subject thematic learning units at Skyline will have five elements (Stages of Learning) in common no matter what the topic or who the teacher/learning-facilitator may be.  Each unit will:

1. Establish Relevance
2. Investigate & Reflect
3. Make Decisions
4. Act on Decisions & Communicate the Results
5. Mastery Learning