The students at James H. Bean Elementary School in Sidney spent the first weeks of the 2011-12 school year setting their priorities and ground rules for learning — and for having fun as they do it.
James H. Bean is among a handful of schools in Maine that have begun the transition to a standards-based model of learning, in which students and their teachers start the year by developing their own code of conduct and procedures for the classroom.
Under the standards-based model:
- Lessons are driven by the academic expectations — or standards — students are expected to master;
- Students play a role in deciding how they’ll learn and how they’ll prove they’ve learned what’s expected of them; and
- Students advance to the next unit of study only once they’ve reached proficiency in the previous unit.
The staff and students at James H. Bean prepared this video to show what they accomplished in their first days at school this year.
Do you have a story or video from your school that you’d like to share? Use the comments section below to tell us about it! Or contact us directly.
Resources and more information
- Nancy Reynolds, Principal
James H. Bean Elementary School
207-547-3395
nreynolds@rsu18.org