I REALLY do need to get used to the Saipan way of utilizing acronyms. It’s taken me some time to recognize many of the combination of letters, much less trying to remember all of them. I had my students in my Inquiry Strategies and Developmental Concepts classes help me out. Do you know all of these? PSS, SOE, CRC, CLS, DPW, NMC, DOJ, CC, MV, FS, SV, CK, CUC, CHC, DPS, DLNR, CPA, NMPASI, MHS, OPA, GOV, DOLI, DOC, OPN, JTPA, AGO, LEG, SPN, CNMI, DOF, MOS, MVB, DMV, EMO, MCV, PCI, PDI, PAWS, CDA, DPH, CDAC, BEH, FEMA, DFW, AGO, FBI, DLNR, NMHC, NMA, OCSH, OPM, GTC, WSR, USDA, CJPA, NPMB, to name just a few. Look in today’s Variety and see how many acronyms you can count from just one issue. Needless to say, there are many.
In one of my classes, a student wrote a lesson plan about the BTS. Thank goodness for the context clues in the lesson. One sentence went like this, “The BTS was presented by NH, DFW in A-12.” Try to decipher a paper like this. It does make life interesting. BTW, BTS means brown tree snake, DFW is the Department of Fish and Wildlife and NH is Nate Hawley, who presented an outstanding lesson on the BTS, in addition to bringing the snake to class for all students to observe first hand and touch, although a few were a little dubious about getting anywhere near the snake. BTW is “by the way”. Do you realize that on Saipan, entire sentences are created with just acronyms?
Speaking about acronyms, I wanted to devote a portion of this column to inform the readers about the CLS, our own College Lab School of Northern Marianas College. The CLS grew out of a need for a setting that could be used to present best teaching practices and current developments in curriculum materials and methods.
The CLS is used by the College as a model classroom setting where NMC students pursuing a BS degree in Elementary Education can observe and experience ideal methodology of teaching and working with children.
When the CLS was first developed, NMC’s Education Department focused on early childhood education. The early CLS, known as the Teacher Training Lab, was designed so that teachers-in-training could work with early childhood teachers for a few hours a day. As the Education Department’s course offerings increased and improved, the value of enhancing the CLS to include the early primary grades was recognized. When the department applied for federal funding for its teacher-training program, the CLS was designed to be a major component of that particular program.
The CLS has grown from a preschool and kindergarten program to what is today a five-teacher laboratory for early childhood and elementary teacher education. I’m sure that not many people are aware of the fact that grades 7 and 8 were incorporated this past year to meet the growing needs of the student teachers beyond the K-6 programs. Since the School of Education BS certification is for K-8, it only made sense to expand this program further.
The general philosophy of the College Lab School is to provide a rigorous, creative, well-rounded education for a diverse student body. The school is committed to helping each student master important subject matter, learn to think critically and creatively, understand the values and traditions that underlie our society, and develop a sense of personal and community responsibility.
The CLS believes that students have different needs at different developmental stages and they foster this development in four main areas: intellectual, emotional, physical, and social. All children go through distinct developmental stages in their growth. Each child develops at his or her own pace and with his or her own unique interests. Thus, specific learning experiences are important to prepare each child for the next sequential level.
The curriculum is cognitive-based, which means that these theories assume that learners are mentally active and construct their own understanding of the topics they study. In this sense, curriculum construction is closely aligned to the PSS System.
CLS views every student as an individual in his or her combination of developmental readiness, culture attributes, personal preferences, learning style, temperament, and special talents. Only by assisting and encouraging each student to reach his or her full potential for making positive contributions in the classroom, at home, and the community as a whole can students develop a love and capacity for life-long learning.
CLS is open to anyone who would like to observe current teaching methods and practices. Contact the principal, Rob Schultz at NMC if you’re interested in setting up an observation time.
Until next time, Si Yu’us Ma’ase for reading and have a wonderful week.
