Passport to Learning
Through my work as a Learning Support Specialist, I have been experimenting with a variety of ways to help our Lower School students develop their executive functioning skills. These foundational skills help us regulate our behaviour, direct our actions, and achieve our goals. They are essential for learning and academic success and empower students to become independent and self-sufficient adults—every parent and educator’s dream! As a result, facilitating opportunities to practice these skills is a priority. We want to help our students develop the skills they need to be successful in their learning journey and build a strategy toolbox to navigate any challenges they may have along the way.
Passport to Learning is a series of workshops I have developed geared towards the unique needs of our Grade 5 and 6 students. Due to the incredible work being done in our Grade 3 and 4 classrooms, our Grade 5 and 6 students have a strong awareness of their personal executive functioning profiles and can readily identify areas for growth. Students of this age are looking for opportunities to refine their executive functioning skills in preparation for the more rigorous curriculum and higher expectations in our Middle School. This is where Passport To Learning comes in, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
The workshops take place during Community Time and do not interfere with class time. Initially, workshop ideas were generated from needs that were observed in classrooms but very quickly, students were offering suggestions for future sessions. The same session is offered multiple times over a two-week period to provide students with the opportunity to fit it into their schedules. Students are also invited to visit me after the workshop to further hone the strategies covered in the session. Workshop topics include study and homework strategies, organizational tips, building long-term memory habits, and note-taking skills. Students earn a badge in their online Passport to Learning tracker for each session they attend. There is also a fact pack of tips in each classroom to facilitate the transfer of learning and be readily accessible to all students.
The popularity of this new program has cemented my belief in the benefits of student agency and student-centric models of learning. The beginning of the year saw approximately 15 students at each session and, more recently, I’ve had almost 40 students in the sessions, which is quite extraordinary when considering that participation is completely voluntary. Students have been especially interested in learning about the science behind how our brains work when we are learning. Looking ahead, I’d like to explore the possibilities of tying in more brain science to help our students understand the connection between our brains and their executive functioning skills. I’m also keen to integrate this learning more authentically into our Lower School schedule to extend the program’s reach and provide opportunities for parent education on executive functioning skills. Continued expansion of Passport To Learning will further deepen students’ understanding and reflection of their learning processes while fostering a community-wide dialogue around brain science and the development of executive functioning skills.
