LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A new way of teaching students is coming to three central Arkansas schools. We've been telling you about A+ program for a couple weeks now. Nearly a dozen schools in the state are already using the model. It teaches students by incorporating the arts.
Rockefeller Elementary in Little Rock is getting ready to teach students by using arts in all subjects through the A+ model. It's a way to keep students' interest by challenging their creativity. Teachers spent today training and doing projects themselves, so they will be ready when that bell rings come August.
Scissors check, tape check, rulers check. It's time to learn, but it's not students learning it's the teachers. Principal Janice Wilson says, "We're all smart we're just smart in different ways, A+ helps out children bring out the different ways they are smart."
These Rockefeller Elementary teachers are rolling up their sleeves and learning a new way to reach out to students through the A+ model. Thanks to A+ Learning gone are the days of teachers using black boards and notes as the only method to teach their students, now teachers at Rockefeller Elementary School are getting creative to reach out to all types of learners.
Rosalynn Wade says, "We start by sharing some questions that are big, that obviously don't have one right answer we call those essential questions and through the day we follow those and the questions guide their experiences and by the end of the day we hope they find their own answers."
Wade is a trainer from Oklahoma and she says Thursday is the first of five days in Arkansas this summer. During the day, teachers took part in many projects they will soon be doing with their students. She says, "We know that this will be a way to be creative and actually help the student learn the subject matter better."
About 30 teachers trained today, they will finish their training later this summer at UCA. Trainers come back every summer for three years to continue working with the teachers. Rockefeller Elementary is one of four schools implementing A plus in August.
Another is in Helena-West Helena, two are in North Little Rock.