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Two-week ‘Bear Term’ proposed between 1st and 2nd semesters
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · January 19, 2017
A group of teachers want to stick a crowbar between first and second semesters, wedge them apart and place a two-week “Bear Term” in the middle.
And the West Branch Board of Education likes the sound of it.
Similar to how some colleges — and, increasingly, high schools — offer short terms in January, nicknamed J-terms, the classes mean significantly fewer days to take a course, but longer hours each day.
Project Lead The Way instructor Matt Cain, fifth-grade teacher Amanda Tisinger and PreK-12 STEM Project-Based Learning Coach Kelsey Strope pitched the idea at the Jan. 9 school board meeting. The Bear Term still needs work, they said, but offers three opportunities:
• Teachers offer a list of classes from which students choose to participate. At Hoover Elementary, the teachers decide what pupils will take, Tisinger said.
• Students pitch their own ideas, which would need teacher approval.
• Students use the time to get caught up on work or learning standards from the first semester.
Tisinger said the classes should incorporate hands-on projects.
West Branch Middle School Principal and district Curriculum Director Sara Oswald said staff listened to four different schools share four different ways to structure a J-term and class ideas from consumer automotive to studying “The Cold War through James Bond.”
Cain said he enjoyed J-term at his year-round school in Cedar Rapids.
“It was a positive experience,” he said. “It made me want to go to school.”
Asked if teachers are “excited” about the idea, Tisinger answered that she is, though Strope said some teachers hesitated at first.
“Some said, ‘What? Give up two weeks of my curriculum?’” Strope said, but many then liked it after hearing the schools’ proposals, asking only logistical questions after that.
Board President Mike Colbert asked if the teachers could get the Bear Term ready with less than a year to implement it for 2017-18.
“I am,” Tisinger said.
The school board had on the agenda a draft proposal for the 2017-18 calendar, but set it aside for the teachers’ calendar with the Bear Term included.
“I’ve been wanting to vote ‘yes’ on this for 3 1/2 years,” Colbert said.
High School Principal Shannon Bucknell said the Bear Term would fit in right before dual-credit courses, done in conjunction with Kirkwood Community College, would begin.
He noted that Bear Term would need to accommodate show choir, which starts its competition season in January.
“It’s a really big time for them,” he said.
Bear Term classes may be offered on a pass/fail basis, Bucknell added.
“Mount Vernon does pass/fail,” he said. “We might not grade.”
Tisinger said fifth-graders produced presentations for veterans recently, a project that would fit well in a Bear Term setting.
“Their grade is the veterans’ facial expression,” she said.
Bucknell said the term offers an opportunity for internships, too.
“I like it,” board member Jodi Yeggy said. “You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you.”
Superintendent Kevin Hatfield said this is a move toward competency-based learning.
“It think students will gravitate toward this,” he said.
The school board will further discuss the school calendar at its February meeting.
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