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See how this Minnetonka Schools’ program pushes its highest achieving students.

By Ann McMullan

This is part 2 of 2. Yesterday’s story explained the genesis of the Navigator Program.

When students return to school this fall as part of the Minnetonka Public Schools #276 Navigator Program they will know they are entering a world created especially for them: highly gifted students with specific learning modalities and unique social and emotional needs. Since students are grouped together in grades 2 and 3 and grades 4 and 5, many of the students will be coming back to the same teacher and classroom they left last spring.

Liz Gluck, a veteran Navigator teacher at Excelsior Elementary School, explains what days are like for her students. “One challenge that is fairly typical among gifted students is organizing their work and setting priorities and goals. We begin the school year by working together to have students master the skill sets embedded in executive functioning. These skills are a set of processes that help students learn to manage themselves in order to achieve certain goals. This work helps students understand how their brains function and how various parts of their brain play a role in how they approach and organize their work. [For more on executive functions see Harvard University Center on the Developing Child.] Students have to create their own daily to-do lists, with priorities clearly defined. This process is a critical component of Navigator and is reinforced daily.”

Additionally the Habits of Mind framework, developed by Art Costa and Bena Kallick, gives structure to daily practice in each classroom. “By instilling the characteristics of the Habits of Mind,” says Gluck, “students learn to temper their need for perfection with specific problem-solving, life-related skills that promote insight, perseverance, creativity, and craftsmanship. Learning becomes a process of awareness and is very intentional.”

Gluck goes on to describe a typical math lesson. “Students are asked to look at the world and discover that math is everywhere. If a student thinks he or she may not be good at math, but comes to understand and connect math to their own world, through play and other activities, then they are better able to embrace the learning. That lays the groundwork for when we delve into the core of the math curriculum and connect it with other content areas.”

Assessment of student learning is based on the use of scoring rubrics. Often students will develop their own rubrics for their assignments. Teachers regularly conference with their students to be sure they are on track. Sometimes students are harder on themselves than the teacher would be, Gluck adds. “In those instances, we conference with the students to help them see that they truly accomplished their learning goals and in fact performed above their targeted learning goals.”

January “J-Term” Project

The start of the spring semester brings a special learning opportunity to the students known as the J-Term project. Founded in project-based learning strategies, students delve into inquiry-based study. In mid-November they’re asked to begin considering a real-world problem they would like to solve. When school resumes in January all subjects other than math are woven into the individual work that each student does around the problem they’ve chosen to research and solve. At the conclusion of the J-Term project each student plots out their work on a trifold poster which they individually present and discuss with visitors at an Open House event.

One recent J-Term project originated with a student’s frustration about not being able to bring his bicycle with him when he traveled. “He set out to create a collapsible bike,” Gluck recalls. “His starting point was research around the history of bicycles and why we have our current wheel sizes and shapes. He would conference with me and together we came up with additional questions. When he got to the design phase, he had to do the math and answer questions about wheel circumference and other aspects of a bicycle’s design. Even though there may already be a collapsible bicycle on the market, I would not let that deter him. His unique design could be patent worthy.”

Student and Parent Voices

The enthusiastic responses from students and parents to a recent evaluation survey about Navigator give clear evidence that the program is meeting the needs of these very special students.

Students said:
“It is hard in a good way.”
“In Navigator, I actually get to learn with people who learn like me.”
“It is different because I choose what I do.”
“The environment is friendly to me and I make friends easier than in a regular classroom.”

Parents said:
“My child really enjoyed being with other children who share the same interests and values. The best thing the Navigator Program offers him is an environment where he fits in so he can express and develop his talents without feeling that he should hold himself back.”

“Much more challenging and interesting. You are saving my child from academic failure because she is more engaged than before.”

“Being understood and accepted, knowing that his/her teacher understands his/her learning needs and is willing to facilitate those needs, as well as a classroom that allows a measure of freedom and encourages exploration and independence.”

To see the Navigator students and teachers in action visit https://vimeo.com/129242036 and https://vimeo.com/129242037

For additional information, consult the Navigator Program website or contact Diane Rundquist at 952-401-5100.