Students at the iSchool will present TED - style talks on topics they care about ranging from the impact of natural disasters on the spread of HIV to is there a 'We' and 'Them' in terms of age of first marriage to the causes of high suicide rates in Japan. These students are a part of the school’s Gapminder course led by Jesse Spevak. The course is designed to help students develop a framework for asking questions based on data and then find answers to their own questions. Students build their capacity to analyze data, research, write analytically, and speak publicly.
The students will be presenting their talks live on June 10th and 14th from 10am - 11am EST. You can find the talks live online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ischool-gapminder.You can learn more about the project on the school’s website here.
Please watch the students and spread the word by inviting others to check these students out live. You can do so by sending out a Tweet such as this one tomorrow morning before 10 a.m. "Let kids know u care abt what they say. Watch iSchool students do TED - like Talks live. Details @ http://t.co/yApN66G #edchat"
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The iSchoolwhich I featured as the Immunization to an Uninteresting Curriculum has become even more interesting. The school ishelping students become experts through their area of focus program which allows students to select a two-year focus for their studies enabling them to really concentrate on their area of passion. In its first year, the program is already increasing motivation and attracting college interest.
The first thing that impresses me about the program is that it addresses a personal frustration of mine. Like many traditionally schooled students, I was learning-dependent, believing my passion was to do what I was told, get good grades, and finish school so I could reap the promised rewards. I did all that and at 19 stood with a college diploma in my hand, scratching my head with no idea what I was going to do next. iSchool students won’t have the problem of wondering what they want to do with their lives. They are given the opportunity to think about what they want to do with their lives today.
I had the opportunity to learn more about this program at the recent EduCon conference conversation where Alisa Berger and Mary Moss, the school’s co-principals shared their ideas and elicited feedback from attendees. While the program is still being formalized, some of the ideas school leaders and session participants discussed that might support students in focusing on their area of expertise include.
Exploring Passions and Interests with Area of Focus Profile
Teaching Assistanceships or Field Experience
Focus Fairs
Developing a Plan That Connects School to Area of Focus
Helping Students Build Personal Learning Networks
Quarter or Semester Check Points
Honoring the changing of passions
Here is more about each component.
Exploring Passions and Interests with Area of Focus Profile Students at the iSchool are not only encouraged to think about what their interested FIX WORD are, they are also asked to document this in their personal Area of Focus profile. There they answer questions like:
What are your interests/hobbies outside of school?
When have you experienced “flow,” which means a time when you have been SO engaged that you lost track of time?
Which classes/subjects have you enjoyed the most?
What about them did you enjoy?
How do you like creating best i.e. writing, video, photos, audio, sculpting, painting, music
Students can receive this as a focusing document as they enter the iSchool. This enables them to always think about their passions, interests, and what it is they want to focus on. Students may also have opportunities to be exposed to areas beyond current experience (perhaps career inventories, in which they might discover unexpected long term goals, aligned with strengths and interests, from which to back map). There are also websites and blogs likeMy Child’s Path that expose students to a variety of possibilities they may not have thought of.
The Area of Focus profile is similar totalent profiles (see samples here) used by schools likeThe Island School which follow the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. These profiles can be digitized in a data base as is the case withThe Renzulli Learning Differentiation EngineTM. Once the profiles are digitized you can align engaging, individualized resources to students passions, talents, interests, and learning styles. It also provides a convenient tool for connecting students. Additionally, it really helps educators differentiate instruction and build student-teacher relationships by giving every staff member a deeper insight into all their students.
This simple tool helps strengthen the student / teacher connection because it drives home the importance of teaching students, not subjects.
Teaching Assistanceships or Field Experience Students will choose between Teaching Assistanceships or Field Experience Apprenticeships. Both provide a valuable mentor-type experience for students. Field Experience Apprenticeships will enable students to serve in the community for a business or organization of interest. Teaching Assistanceships will give students the opportunity to work side-by-side with a teacher in a subject they love. What's interesting with Teaching Assistanceships is the circular mentor relationship that occurs with the teacher serving as a mentor to Teaching Assistant and the Teaching Assistant in turn serving as a mentor to younger students. This might resemble the work that occurs at Chris Lehmann’s Science Leadership Academy. For more information visit this link.
Focus Fairs To help students determine their area of focus, in addition to the Area of Focus profile that helps students think about what they may want to develop expertise in, The iSchool hopes to hold “Focus Fairs.” At these fairs community experts with businesses and organizations who have field experience opportunities for students can come to let them know about what it is they do and how [this student] STUDENTS might get involved. They can explain more about their business, future career opportunities, and what further education might help them best prepare them for work in this field. Students and their families are encouraged to recruit participants for this event. There will also be booths set up by subject where teachers who teach different subjects can discuss with students what a teaching assistanceship might look like. They’ll discover what kind of opportunities for deeper study in the area may help prepare them for, and what it is they will be doing in an assistanceship with that particular teacher. In future years there might also be other students who selected particular areas of focus at each booth and the school is considering having students who select a particular area make videos at the end of each year to advise fellow students what they learned to help them determine if this is the right path for them.
Developing a Plan That Connects School to Area of Focus Once students select their area of focus they develop anarea of focus plan that helps to align student’s school work to their area of focus. Making this explicit connection is powerful always keeping at the forefront of the student and teacher’s mind the answer to the age old question of, “Why do we have to learn this?”
Helping Students Build Personal Learning Networks A part of the area of focus plan might be supporting students in developing their personal learning networks connecting to others who share their passions in authentic forums much in the same way high school student Armond McFadden has. Armond has a love of buses. He participates in transportation discussion boards, has a blog about buses, contributes photos (another passion) of buses to relevant online communities and he has created a bus video series with a substantial following. He also has real life connections with MTA workers. As a high school student, he has already established himself as an expert in the community.
Quarter or Semester Check Points Students will have quarter or semester check points where they reflect on their learning so far. This might include how well they feel they’re addressing their area of focus, if they feel this is the right choice for them, and what has made them feel this way. This These reflections can become a part of a students ePortfolio and might be captured in a way that best meets the students’ learning and creation style. For instance, one student might have a photo montage with captions, another a video, another a voice thread, and another a blog.
Honoring the changing of passions In many cases, traditionally schooled students have not spent much time thinking about what their passions are. At the iSchool the staff and peers certainly do their part in helping students discover their passions, but upon pursuing a particular path, sometimes students change their minds and that’s okay. It’s just as important to have time to discover there is something you thought you liked, but once immersed you learn it’s not really the right direction. Part of the journey indeed is not finding your passion / area of focus but discovering what it means to explore possible passions.
What education should be about The iSchool’s Area of Focus program provides a vision for the future that should be a part of every child’s education. Unlike many other schools who are misleading their students to believe the key to success in life is doing what you’re told and getting good grades in high school and college, the iSchool keeps it real. They know the key to success for their students is helping them discover what they love and supporting them in the discovery and development of their passions. In a school setting the staff and students can make direct connections to what they’re learning and how it relates to the area of expertise they are pursuing. Not only does this give students a focused vision for success, it keeps their school experience, real, relevant and engaging, and after all, isn’t that what school should really be about?
----------------------------------------------------- Hats off to Shelley Krause and Kate Fridkis for their feedback and ideas in the development of this post and of course to Alisa Berger, Mary Moss, and their staff for providing this wonderful learning opportunity for their students.
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Anyone who has or works with children knows that we have a huge crises in education and it has nothing to do with test scores. Our students are literally bored to tears in disconnected schools that kill their creativity, force them to power down as soon as they pass through the school doors and are completely disconnected from their passions, talents, and interests. In many cases these are students who are bright and gifted but struggling in school in some cases to the point of being medicated (see highlighted portion of previous link) so that they can survive the day and fit into an environment they find boring and/or irrelevant. Sadly in many cases rather than fix the boring schools, we try to fix the bored child. This often leaves parents in deep despair and children and teachers frustrated and feeling stuck in their situation accepting this as “the way things are.”
But, it doesn’t have to be this way. There is help. There is a solution. And, it’s a little out of the box.
Get your child to a school that fits him or her…however you can. This is not as difficult as it may sound at first blush. There is a growing recognition that many schools are outdated relics from the past that sit awkwardly in a 21st century world. In response to this, there are pockets of educators, schools, even systems around the world that are rising up to the challenge of educating the 21st century child rather than the current industrial model of education that is pervasive in most schools. In fact a new batch of schools has just cropped up in New York City designed specifically for students who have zoned out in the traditional system.
The iZone schools have been specifically developed to challenge the following assumptions about current practice:
Schools are comprised of similarly-operated classroom units in which one adult delivers content to a room of between 12 and 34 students, for a set number of minutes per day and days per year
Adults dictate a course of study to children, who receive and process information for adults to evaluate
As part of one job, teachers manage classroom organizations; research and deliver content; differentiate the course of study according to student needs; assess performance; and deliver feedback
Special education students are best grouped and planned for according to class size requirements
These schools recognize the problem which they define as such.
Since 2002, the number of New York City students graduating from high school has increased every year, and more students than ever before are headed to college. The fact that a full third of our youth still do not graduate from high school, however, is a call to action. And that of those who enroll in college, only 50% graduate from four year colleges within six years and only 28% graduate from associate programs within the same time frame, is a call to change. (Statistics are from public school graduates who enroll in CUNY colleges)
Today’s schools are structured for an industrial model that is increasing obsolete to the 21st century knowledge economy where students will spend their working lives. The foundation of education has in many ways remained unchanged in that it assumes that information and skills must be provided only by adults who are physically in the same room as learners, performing jobs defined in the 19th century, on a notably rigid and brief daily schedule ]
In today’s schools, students are grouped in ways that do not maximize the potential of each and every student to personalize their learning.
The schools strive to address the problem with this powerful vision.
Transform our schools from a traditional, industrial model to one that reflects and embodies 21st century skills, tools, and experiences, so that our students graduate ready for success in college and in the workforce, regardless of race, language or socioeconomic background.
Personalize each student’s learning experience to meet their diverse and individual needs to the maximum feasible extent.
The Innovation Zone has adopted an approach of launching schools that embody a set of innovations that can be evaluated for scaling potential. The core innovations are:
Expand student learning time, stretching the school day and the school year without adding teacher work time
Optimize a match between individual student learning needs, learning modalities, content and instructional resources through an algorithmic engine
Blend distance and online coursework modules and personalized learning management systems into a brick and mortar environment in ways that allow students to differentiate their pace of learning
Apply gaming theory to standards-based content, creating challenge-based curriculum and an instant feedback and assessment loop
Create job embedded teacher teams as a vehicle for teacher organization and adult learning
If you're reading this and wondering how many thousands of dollars need to be dished out for parents to send their children to such schools, the answer is not a cent. In fact, schools like these have innovative leaders at the helm who believe that the fundamental right of children and responsibility of public education is to provide every child with the opportunity to attend the best schools. These leaders believe that in fact regardless of background or SESYou Can Get a Dalton Education at a NYC Public School.
Quest to Learn - Design and innovation are at the heart of Quest to Learn (Q2L), a school committed to helping every student to achieve excellence in the skills and literacies necessary for college and career readiness. The school believe that students today can and do learn in different ways, often through interaction with digital media and games. Q2L builds on this belief to create a nurturing and vibrant 6th-12th grade school environment that supports all students in the pursuit of academic excellence, social responsibility, respect for others, and a passion for lifelong learning.
iSchool - The NYC iSchool has taken a problem-based learning approach to education. Teachers collaborate on thought provoking topics to integrate into the classroom while ensuring they still meet state mandated subjects and testing standards. Students learn in the context of real world problems, and just like the real world, they have access to a host of technology and information anytime, anywhere, and from anyplace. The NYC iSchool is leading the way in creating a culture in education that truly engages students with successful results.
The Cinema School - The Cinema School is an academic high school that prepares students for top level colleges through a liberal arts education grounded in creative activity. They emphasize filmmaking because it deepens students’ learning while building confidence, responsibility and leadership. Our curriculum helps students become stronger thinkers and develop the skills needed to accomplish great things. Admission to The Cinema School is competitive no film making experience necessary.
The School of One - The mission of School of One is to provide students with personalized, effective, and dynamic classroom instruction so that teachers have more time to focus on the quality of their instruction. To achieve this mission, School of One re-imagines the traditional classroom model. Instead of one teacher and 25-30 students in a classroom, each student participates in multiple instructional modalities, including a combination of teacher-led instruction, one-on-one tutoring, independent learning, and work with virtual tutors. To organize this type of learning, each student receives a unique daily schedule based on his or her academic strengths and needs. As a result, students within the same school or even the same classroom can receive profoundly different instruction as each student’s schedule is tailored to the skills they need and the ways they best learn. Teachers acquire data about student achievement each day and then adapt their live instructional lessons accordingly.
There are schools like these cropping up around the globe. Parents, students, and educators need to start voting with their feet, not as they are currently doing by leaving the school system with high school drop out rates above 50% in many cities, but by investigating what schools will suit the needs of their 21st century learning and teaching styles and then figuring out how to attend or work in such environments. The schools are hungry for innovative educators and students who will thrive in these new environments. Now parents, go find the right school for your child and teachers who are frustrated by their outdated employment situation, start connecting with these school leaders. They're looking for you.
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-Excerpt from a poem I wrote in science class at age 14
As I shared in my first post when I launched this blog, the primary reason I began working in education was to address the issues of boredom and irrelevance which I had experienced in schools. This is my constant reminder as I see other kids like me who are literally bored to tears in class. My teachers, some who threatened to quit if I were to remain in their classes, had to deal with kids like me who screamed out in Marc Prensky-fashion, “Engage Me or Enrage Me!!!” I demanded my teachers make class relevant, stimulating, fun. Unfortunately back then such spirited outbursts usually fell on deaf ears or landed me in the principal’s office. Alternatives were sparse as there was little opportunity for my voice to be heard. Today, as Sir Kenneth Robinson shares, kids like me would fall victim to a more current epidemic…the rate of children who are diagnosed (and prescribed medication for) ADD/ADHD. His opinion is that students are being diagnosed and drugged to cope with an uninteresting curriculum. I agree and provide for you a prescription to treat kids suffering from the uninteresting curriculum syndrome…
At the iSchool all students are involved in real-world, authentic curriculum where they are involved with addressing actual societal needs. The school has interesting, high profile “clients” throughout New York City and the students are working on exciting projects. For instance, one of the projects students are working on as part of their global studies program is assisting in designing a teen exhibit at the future September 11th museum at ground zero. The students are perfectly suited to the task of being in touch with what teens know and want to see, but here’s the interesting part. When you think of who is visiting this museum, sure, it’s the local kids, but in Manhattan there are kids from around the world. So these teens have to research perspective of September 11th from teens around world. What might an Iraqi student be interested in seeing, or student from London who experienced the subway bombing? These are the questions these students are figuring out answers to, and then designing a museum exhibit to meet their needs.
In addition to the school-directed projects, students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of options. They work with their advisors to set goals, select courses, and design independent studies that meet their personal interests and needs. These may include art, foreign language, music, technology, and roboticts. There are also student run organizations driven by student interest and may include athletics, school newsletter, student government, or the student computer support team. The school also supports students in experiencing a variety of career fields through problem-based courses and internships.
These projects last for 9 weeks each, 8 hours per week. Like all classes at the iSchool, all material exists online and includes clear goals, objectives, deadlines, and expectations. Part of what the students need to do when working on these projects is connect with an expert. For instance in the climate change project, every student is connected to expert scientists and science journalists. What’s also interesting is that in general, these 9th grade students take the responsibility of finding and selecting their own experts. Since the school was built on the premise that access to technology is a right, not a privilege, this task is much easier as the experts can be of amazing support without having to physically be onsite. This is also fantastic because the walls of the school are broken down and students are connecting with students and expert adults around the world both online and through video conferencing.
Another philosophy the school’s co-principal, Alisa Berger shared that I found extremely interesting and enlightening was based on a white paper by Greg Nadeau about Virtual Education Spaces. Alisa contends based on her experience and research, that one-to-one isn’t quite the panacea it is touted to be. Instead, she argues that the key is a virtual education space. She believes student ownership of laptops, doesn’t provide all the assumed benefits. Instead, what’s important is that students can access “their” work, just like 21st century employees who can log in from any computer including using vpn at home. She shares that providing ubiquitous access, but not one-to-one alleviates a plethora of issues. For instance, there are a lot of problems with reimaging because students with their own laptops love to customize them. Her laptops automatically reimage and it doesn’t matter. This results in the devices being indestructible. She doesn’t have to worry about inventory issues that have become a nightmare and burden for some one-to-one schools. Finally, she says she has piece of mind that she doesn’t have to worry about safety or breakage issues that can occur when devices move from school-to-home across a school. As Alisa shares, most kids today have some sort of computer at home. With this option it doesn’t have to be top of the line as the virtual education space provides access to all school software and resources as long as the student can find someway to obtain internet access. For the students with device or internet issues, Alisa and/or her staff figure out a way to either secure devices or figure out alternate internet access options (i.e. libraries, community centers, family members).
With all this technology, one might suspect the students may not be getting their physical-world needs addressed. Especially as you notice what was once the school gym has been turned into an area called the “Creative Commons” filled with bright light, thinking and conferring spaces, a video conference area where students recently connected with NASA scientists, and high-speed/power computer stations. Well, the school has developed a fascinating independent study program that replaces gym. Students must submit their own personal fitness plan which they carry out in the community aligned to their fitness goals and interests. Student options are limitless from plans that include shooting hoops, running, weight lifting and dancing. The students are empowered to become self-directed in determining options and interests that work for them and determining, with the guidance of school staff, how to meet those goals.
By this point you may be thinking this all sounds wonderful, but if kids don’t pass the regents they don’t graduate, so how do they account for that? There’s a plan for that, and coincidentally happens to be a plan that has been at the top of my mind lately. They offer online courses for all the regents. The tests are offered every 9 weeks and many students are motivated to complete their modules successfully in advance of the test. The model has proved extremely successful with all the kids who’ve opted to take the test early, passing. The school has designed their own online Regents classes, but not by choice. This is a tremendous undertaking and they would have much preferred an option to buy, however, none currently exist!!! They are still looking at options going forward for such partnerships. This, I believe, is an area of GREAT NEED across New York City from which all students can benefit.
If you’re an innovative New York City educator reading this, you may be wondering just what kind of students attend this school. The population is diverse on many levels from performance level, to race, to interests, to socio economic status. This year the school has sorted through 1500 applicants who completed their Online Admissions Activity that includes these three questions:
Why do you think you would make a good iStudent?
Which aspect of the program most appeals to you?
At the end of the 10th grade we ask students to identify a Focus of Study, this can be anything from Dance, Visual Arts, Computer Programming to Entrepreneurship to Scientific research. If you were asked to select this focus today (and it does not have to be from the list above – it can be anything) what do you think it would be and why?
Based on their application and personal interview, 110 students were selected who were thought most likely to be interested in this type of environment. Once at the school students are always striving to answer the question, “What is an expert?” and “How do I develop expertise?”
At the core the school’s philosophy is that more important than anything is the deep intrinsic belief system of not only their students, but also the teachers they hire. In fact the principal’s have even played with the idea of an eHarmony-type personality screening to accurately get at the heart and minds of each individual’s deep belief system and passions. They truly must believe that this way of non-traditional teaching is the best possible prescription for student’s achievement and success.
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Students at the iSchool will present TED - style talks on topics they care about ranging from the impact of natural disasters on the spread of HIV to is there a 'We' and 'Them' in terms of age of first marriage to the causes of high suicide rates in Japan. These students are a part of the school’s Gapminder course led by Jesse Spevak. The course is designed to help students develop a framework for asking questions based on data and then find answers to their own questions. Students build their capacity to analyze data, research, write analytically, and speak publicly.
