Benefits+of+Layered+Curriculum

Notes from AASL on the benefits of Layered Curriculum:
 * Motivate Students: control satisfies the flight/fight areas of the brain, the quest for survivial areas, so students are free to create and grow. It eliminates the us vs. them mentality
 * Student Centered: Involves students the designing activities and assignments. Students ask, "What should I learn?" This takes the mystery out of school
 * Holds Students Accountable: Grading is on work completed, not on the ability to recall information. Grades measure understanding, not recall. Students are responsible for learning. they maintain unit sheets. The relationship between learning and the activities they do is tranparent. All unit instructions and levels of thinking are shared up front, as a road map for learning a unit.
 * Teacher Facilitators: Build trust with students. There is a lot of formative assessment in layered curriculum.
 * Encourage Complex Thinking: Activities in the A and B layer involve problem solving. Tthey get at the higher levels of thinking described by Bloom. Students have to think to get a good grade.
 * Differentiates Instruction: There are no regular students, every student deserves a special education. some learn by modeling and others by direct instruction. Some are visual learners, and some need to wok with their hands on activities.
 * Work Smarter: Structure and firm deadlines do the work. More effort goes into design and less into behavioral management, like prodding students and grading.
 * Collaborate More: Lessons that use layered curriculum are rich in resources. The design is not easy, but two heads work much better than one.
 * Assess Learning: Assessment is more effective and efficient. C layer assessment is entirely oral. Students complete the C layer so they can work on the B layer. They complete the B layer so they can work on the A layer.