How TNP Looks Different in Every School
One of my primary responsibilities is working with new and potential school partners, sharing about our programs, and helping them bring The Nora Project curriculum to their school communities. As I have these conversations, there’s always a recurring theme: FLEXIBILITY
The Nora Project as an organization values flexibility of program delivery because it allows us to reach more students in more schools. Our programs are designed to adapt to teachers’ and students’ needs. Every classroom - regardless of the population they serve, the age of students, their location, or whether they’re in-person or remote - can participate in The Nora Project.
How do we achieve this? Our staff is committed to making connections with each of our partner schools. Nora Project Program Directors connect with school staff throughout the school year to ensure they have what they need, to problem solve and brainstorm ideas, and to build materials collaboratively as needed. We are dedicated to ensuring that our programs are successful in each and every school, which is why our Program Directors and our Inclusion Specialist are available on-demand year-round for support.
Our programs look different in every school. Let’s consider some examples from each of our Lifecycle programs from this school year!
Primer Pack
Our Primer Pack program serves students in preschool through third grade with weekly lessons that address concepts from emotional literacy and regulation, to friendship skills, to disability studies. Learn more here!
This year we’ve provided a set of editable remote learning materials to make it easy for schools to deliver the Primer Pack content regardless of whether they’re fully remote, hybrid, or in person. Armed with these materials and comprehensive lesson plans, schools have been able to move between remote and in person learning without skipping a beat. We give teachers flexibility in delivery depending on the time they have available face to face with their students. In some schools, teachers push out the remote learning slides to students to complete independently, while others use the slides as a part of their synchronous learning opportunities. All of our teachers can edit the slides to meet theirs and their students’ needs.
Mila Kunis sits infront of a green and blue background with Elmo sitting to her right. Bold coral and white text reads “Being included makes me feel (blank)?”
Some of our schools use the Primer Pack alongside other social/emotional learning programs, while in other schools it stands alone as the primary curriculum resource. Some schools complete one lesson a week all in one go, while others take a lesson and stretch it out over a series of days, weaving it into their morning meeting routine. Regardless, we see educators integrating the Primer Pack across the curriculum, talking about it during other content instruction and adding in additional books and resources to help students draw connections between what they’re learning in Nora Project lessons to other aspects of the curriculum.
We encourage schools to use the lessons in the Primer Pack in ways that meet their needs and fit their curricular priorities. We’ve helped schools rearrange lessons, trim down content, and create new learning opportunities to extend what’s already in the Primer Pack.
Storyteller Project
Our Storyteller Project targets students in grades 4-8 and High School with a year-long project that helps them build strong relationships with their peers. This inclusive program integrates storytelling to help students develop empathy and an Ability Inclusive Mindset. Learn more here!
The Storyteller Project can be done in any classroom setting, and it plays out in a lot of different ways across our participating schools. Sometimes schools run the program in general education classrooms. Other times, a general education classroom partners up with a self-contained special education classroom. Still other schools have joined classrooms between two schools!
This year two of our partner schools teamed up unexpectedly. When one of our classroom teachers switched grade levels after the school year had started, she had to change her Nora Project plans to meet the needs of her older students. Our Program Team connected that teacher with another participating high school, and now students from both schools are working together virtually to complete the program.
Our schools are also delivering the curriculum in a variety of ways this year, tweaking the program to meet their needs. Some of our schools have transitioned back and forth between in-person and virtual learning multiple times this year. A complete set of remote learning materials has made it possible for teachers to adjust on the fly, customize slides and other materials, adjust the timeline of lesson delivery, and more to ensure a successful implementation in an uncertain environment. No matter the situation, our Program Team supports teachers in coming up with creative ways to help students connect with one another. For example, two of our schools in Georgia hosted a masked and distanced Activity Day in an outdoor park. Unusual to be sure, but kids still had a blast!
An animated notebook open on a desk with two pencils and one eraser sitting to the right. The notebook has text written on it asking questions about how to play a role in the disability rights movement.
STEMpathy Club
The STEMpathy Club is an inclusive program that can be implemented as an extracurricular activity or used during the school day for students in 5-8th grades and High School. They examine their school through a lens of inclusion to identify projects to make their schools more inclusive. Learn more here!
This year we’ve got several schools running our STEMpathy Club program, and they’re all taking a completely different approach. For instance, in one high school, the STEMpathy curriculum is integrated into the school day as a part of students’ advisory period. Students in this school are receiving content flexibly and running with it, going so far as to host workshops for teachers and administrators in their building.
Typed text lays out a vision statement and 3 meeting goals
Many of our schools this year have been meeting virtually as an extracurricular activity. Teachers host club meetings via Zoom, and students work together to define inclusion and generate ideas for their projects. At one of our schools, their club has been meeting virtually all year until very recently, when they have been able to come back to school and meet in person. That club just helped us host an inclusive family event as a part of their efforts to ensure that their school activities are more accessible and inclusive for all students.
Eight students shown doing various science projects. All students very focused on their experiments.