Implementation Plan Guidance

Title of ELO – Come up with a catchy title for your ELO! Some version of this title will appear on your transcript, so make it descriptive, yet short. Here are some examples:

• If you are completing an ELO where you are working with a teacher in an elementary school classroom, you could name it “Early Elementary Internship: On the Path To Become a Teacher”. 
• If you are completing an ELO in which you have designed your own project in microbiology, you could name it “Advancing Laboratory Strategies in Microbiology”.

Type of ELO – below, the descriptions of each type of ELO are listed. Check the box on your form that most closely matches the ELO experience that you have in mind.

• Career Exploration – I am working on exploring careers through informational interviews, job shadows, and career research. 
• Advanced Coursework – I am working on a curriculum for a course offered at Winnacunnet that is not currently offered.
• Project-Based Learning – I have designed my own interdisciplinary project to answer an essential question. I may also be working with a Community Partner or Mentor Teacher.
• Internship – I will engage in regular, on-the-job, learning for a portion of each day with a Community Partner.
• Independent Study – I am working on extending my knowledge in a subject area in which there is not a predetermined curriculum. I wish to study a specific topic within a subject area.
• Work-Based Learning – I will be working on building career-readiness skills through my current job.

Trimester(s) – check all that apply.

When will I complete this ELO? – this refers to the time during the day when you will complete work related to your ELO. If you check either of the first two options, make sure to add the block number within the blank space.

Teacher of Record – This term refers to the adult in the building who will be responsible for guiding you through your ELO and assigning grades. Iif you will be primarily mentored by a Mentor Teacher in a specific subject (most common during Independent Coursework & Advanced Study), that teacher will be your Teacher of Record. If you have designed your own project or are completing an off-campus ELO, your Teacher of Record will be the ELO Coordinator.

PowerSchool Assignment – this refers to where the ELO will fall into your schedule. Since ELOs are credit-bearing and you will be assigned a letter grade, ELOs need to go into your schedule. If you are completing an off-campus ELO during the school day, or you will report to a teacher’s classroom each day for attendance, you will check the second option and fill in the correct blocks in the blank space.

Goals or Essential Questions – this section should be driven by your actual interests in completing this work. 

• If you wish to articulate this through “Goals”, you must write 2-3 sentence-long bullets about what you wish to learn or be able to do by the end of the experience. 

• If you wish to articulate this as an “Essential Question”, you should develop a question which focuses the activities, motivates you, and drives the learning. It should be broad enough to not be answered easily and able to be approached from many different entry points. It should lend itself to interdisciplinary research (Beyond Classroom). See some examples of Essential Questions here.

Timeline & Benchmarks – This section contains a lot of the “meat” of the ELO – what learning activities will you complete to achieve your goals or answer your Essential Question? You should include at least four benchmarks per trimester that mark your progression through the ELO. In this section, sometimes it helps to describe your work week-by-week (and it’s okay if this changes, but it’s a helpful way to keep everyone on the same page and keep yourself on track). If you are working towards department competencies (see below in the Curriculum section), you will need to list within this section how your learning activities will demonstrate mastery of those competencies. 

Communication & Transportation Plan – here, talk about how you plan to communicate with your ELO Coordinator, Mentor Teacher, and/or Community Partner. You should plan to check-in with each of these individuals at least once per week, when applicable. Also answer questions such as: through which communication method will you check-in (phone, email, text, in-person)? How will you transport yourself to and from the internship site, if it is off-campus (walking, driving, public transportation, etc.)?

These are the four required components of an ELO. You must start with initial ideas for how you plan to complete each, but be as creative as you can! These can also change midway through the ELO, with permission from your ELO Coordinator, Mentor Teacher, and/or Community Partner.

Research – Research requires you to purposefully take on a topic, diligently work on it, and sharpen your deductive reasoning and communication skills which will benefit you throughout your educational and life experiences. Find examples of what your ELO Research could look like HERE.

Reflection – Reflection is a chance to ponder and share your ELO experience in order to encourage insight and complex learning. Find examples of what your ELO Reflection could look like HERE.

Product – A final product is the natural end result of your ELO learning journey. The final product should provide you with a valuable means of processing and exploring your learning goals and essential questions. Find examples of what your ELO Product could look like HERE.

Presentation –  Presenting your ELO will not only help you reflect on how the entire experience went but it will also help you draw connections between what you learned and your future career and life goals. Find examples of what your ELO Presentation could look like HERE.

ELO Competencies – these will stay the same for every ELO.

Department Competencies – if you are earning credit within a subject area department at Winnacunnet, competencies for this department will be listed below by your ELO Coordinator.

In this section, it is your responsibility to list the names of each person who will be supporting you in this ELO, and therefore will eventually agree to this plan when this form is sent out to all of them. Only list Case Manager, Mentor Teacher, or Community Partner information if that applies to you.