Most Likely to Succeed @ The Kildonan School

Poster for Most Likely to Succeed.  Promotional
advertisement provided and shared by permission
of mltsfilm.org.

Having completed the first month of the 2015-2016 school year, the students of The Kildonan School have realized a fundamental fact:  we (the faculty) spend a vast amount of time discovering how they learn best.  Our pupils engage in innumerable conversations with tutors, subject matter faculty, and administrators to design those conditions under which they can receive the greatest academic benefit.  In focusing on education at the individual level, the community ensures that our students experience success while developing their particular learning strengths.

Despite the benefits of this process, we occasionally forget to extend these specific thoughts toward larger questions.  Because they concern the nature and design of education on a fundamental level, these queries also deserve our attention:

• "What is school for?"
• "What does school look like right now? 
• "Going forward, what can school be? What should it be?"
• "What do students need to know in the 21st century?"
• "If we can agree that students need to know something, how should they learn that content/skill?"

Cover of Most Likely to Succeed (print version). 
Image located at amazon.com through
The Global Achievement Gap.

Fortunately, we did not need to invent the wheel in order to probe this conversation on-campus.  Spurred by an insightful analysis of 21st century learning that he co-authored with Dr. Tony Wagner (@DrTonyWagner), Expert in Residence at Harvard University's Innovation Lab (@innovationlab), entrepreneur Ted Dintersmith (@dintersmith) teamed up with American filmmaker Greg Whiteley to create a fresh perspective on American education in the form of a documentary:  Most Likely to Succeed (@MLTSfilm).  After MLtS gained recognition at notable festivals such as Sundance and Tribeca, interested educators, administrators, community members, and entrepreneurs began a movement to spur screenings (and conversations on innovation within education) nationwide.  Passionate about the philosophy contained within the film and excited to bring the conversation to the Mid-Hudson Valley, Kildonan signed up and applied for a screening during the summer.

Fast-forward to Friday, October 9th:  the beginning of "Parents' Weekend."  During this annual celebration, parents and family members join faculty and administrators in celebrating student work, raising money for the school, and discussing student progress.  This year, after observing all of their children's classes and meditating upon the day's information over a communal meal, parents and families sat down with administrators, students, and faculty to watch Most Likely to Succeed in its entirety.  Eighty-seven individuals brought eighty-seven different educational perspectives with them to our screening.  Though our distinctions remained to color our impressions of the documentary, they nevertheless fell away due to a shared sense of earnestness.  Indeed, our common threads, already exposed by the day's preceding events, tightened and manifested as an expectant hush.

(What occurs within the film, you may wonder? For that, we refer you to mltsfilm.org to request your own screening.)

Faculty, students, alumni, and administrator representatives on the MLtS panel. 
Picture taken and owned by The Kildonan School.

At the conclusion of the film, representatives of administrators, students, faculty, and alumni came together as a panel to help the community reflect upon the documentary.  They began by discussing their own school-based experiences with dyslexia as well as their thoughts towards the future of education.  They then meditated upon Kildonan's programs using the film as a lens.  They highlighted the innovative, project-based learning (PBL) approaches practiced by the Kodiaks and Middle Years Program (MYP).  Additionally, because a majority of the panel members are (or have been) affiliates of Edge, the panel then switched gears to consider questions of 21st century learning using the program as a reference point.  We explored questions concerning self-directed learning, interdisciplinary content, organic collaboration, marketability to colleges, and the future of the program in relation to Kildonan and its Orton-Gillingham (OG)-based tutoring approach.

Due to time constraints, we adjourned the screening to a complimentary sale of Wagner and Dintersmith's book (graciously supplied by a local bookstore, Oblong Books and Music).  However, as with any good film or striking news story, the conversations did not end there; they took on a life of their own.  More than one Kildonan parent has expressed gratitude for the film, claiming that it has helped them align themselves with the School's vision, maintain faith in the face of the college application process, and even negotiate parent-teacher conferences with Kildonan staff more effectively.  The immediate school community has seen changes, too.  One junior has cited the film as his inspiration in electing to join Edge.  A freshman, too, felt inspired to ask his Science teacher to continue working on a project because he wished to present the very best product (to himself and his parents).

Image of High Tech High student at work.  Promotional advertisement provided
and shared by permission of mltsfilm.org.

As our community continues to feel the positive reverberations of this film, let's thank everyone involved in this event.  Thank you panel members for your participation; your words towards the film, towards the strategies that allow your dyslexia to work to your advantage, and towards your educational histories served as great pivot points for discussions between students, faculty, and parents.  Thank you, Dr. Mary Taft and Kevin Pendergast, for assisting the book sale and supporting this project from its inception.  Thank you, Admissions Staff and Logistics, for helping to embed this event within an already busy day; we could not have done this without you! Thank you, Oblong Books and Music, for facilitating the purchase of books for the event and thereby extending the message of MLtS across media.  The entire MLtS staff (Nora Parent, in particular) have proven endlessly generous in helping us negotiate the finer details of the screening; thank you for your aspirations and your film! Finally, thank YOU...the student, the parent, the faculty member, the administrator, the staff member, or the reader for proving brave enough to advocate for a new vision of education.

Have thoughts on the movie? Please post in the comments section below!

(P.S. Curious to see the film yourself? If you would like to host your own screening, please sign-up via mltsfilm.org.  If you would like to purchase Wagner and Dintersmith's book, we refer you first to the proper page on Oblong's site.)

FINAL: Trey Presents His Cartoon

Trey designed this year's work in order to transform the pursuit that he began last year.  After exploring the psychology of sound during the 2013-2014 year, he turned his gaze to sound design and ProTools (@AvidProTools) during 2014-2015.  This focus saw him spend little time in the IP building.  Partnering with one of Kildonan's music instructors Michael Klvana, Trey carved out a workspace for himself in the music building.  He received prompts from Klvana as part of a sound design class, but due to flexibility in his schedule, Trey devoted entire portions of his day to the projects.

What was he working on?

(1) A remix of David Bowie's "Changes." 

As published in a previous blog post, Trey expressed interest in revamping this classic Bowie song.  Inspired by Macklemore (@macklemore), he set off to create his own rendition of "Changes" by injecting rap breaks infused with hip hop.  He proved voracious in his approach, for he scoured the campus for local talent.  He brought in student trombonists, consulted faculty musicians for guitar, and even called upon a student rapper for the main line.  Trey ran into scheduling difficulties with his on-campus musicians, however, and at that point the process halted indefinitely.  He attempted to reach out to professionals in NYC, but these efforts did not yield results.  For now, then, the project is at a standstill; perhaps he will be able to revisit it while at Full Sail.

(2) A jazz line overlaid with dubstep.

As he said before to the IP faculty, Trey has a penchant for jazz and big band.  What if, he posed, he designed a music mash-up combining these styles with electronic/​dubstep? He made in-roads into this pursuit, but this too remains a work that he can revisit only post-Kildonan.

(3) An updated black and white cartoon.

This project constituted the bulk of Trey's work.  One day Mr. Klvana approached the sound design class and posed that they select a clip and replace some of the sounds with their own.  After hunting on the Internet for some time, Trey discovered Disney (@Disney)'s "Mickey Mouse:  Mickey's Mechanical Man."  Released on June 17, 1933, this black and white cartoon saw Mickey Mouse (per his original animation) create a robot and enter him into a boxing match with a gorilla, "Kongo Killer."  This clip possessed interesting sounds, so Trey selected this piece as the one that he would revamp.  To see the original clip, click here.

Once he had made his decision, Trey set off on a sustained process of sound engineering.  He was kind enough, too, to invite the IP faculty to his workspace so that we could begin to comprehend his process.  Separated in a small room, Trey manipulated ProTools on a desktop computer with his laptop, a microphone, and various instruments positioned nearby.  Viewing multiple lines of sound at once, Trey would highlight particular sections of the original clip and then begin to fashion his own in a parallel sequence.  He consulted banks of sound via public domain for more obscure noises, but he also did not hesitate to create his own when these searches proved fruitless.  Indeed, Trey was a veteran in this process after creating an original composition entitled "Sound Art" last year; therefore, he set about crafting his own sounds with gusto.

After months of work - on the very last day of school, no less - Trey approached the IP community ready to present his piece.  He gathered the students and his family in "The Makers' Space" and launched into a guided viewing.

Experience the presentation for yourselves by clicking here. 

(NOTE:  Please increase your volume.)

Ultimately, the Edge /​ IP faculty believe that Trey succeeded in modernizing the clip.  By inserting a heavy metal line underneath and by stressing effects that resembled actual punches, he evoked an atmosphere more honest to an actual boxing match.  In this way, as Ms. Charlap wisely pointed out during the follow-up Q&​A, Trey encouraged the cartoon to avoid shying away from the violence that it conveys visually.  He stripped away the comic score underneath and did away with Disney's reluctance to entertain violence; instead, he highlighted the latter as the central focus of his piece.

Trey produced an insightful, entertaining cartoon that allowed him to share his evolving understanding of ProTools and sound design.  In this way, he fused his two years within IP into a larger tract along which he will continue to travel once he reaches Full Sail University (@FullSail) in September.  We are proud of the progress and maturation that Trey has facilitated for himself over the past two years, and we encourage you to celebrate his work with us by posting in the comments section below.

Descriptions of images:  An album cover of David Bowie's "Changes," top-left (located at www.rockpeaks.com).  Upper-mid sees a shot from "Mickey's Mechanical Man" (located at drgrobsanimationreview.com).  Pictured at lower-mid is a screenshot of ProTools (located at www.lennonbus.org).  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the images preceding or Disney's cartoon.  Bottom left shows Trey beginning his presentation; photo taken by the IP faculty.

FINAL: Marcus Engages Unity's "Roll-a-Ball" Project

After encountering significant technical difficulty with his laptop and the Oculus Rift, Marcus decided to postpone his biometric research and pursue another project.  Frustrated with virtual reality (VR) for the moment, he began to delve - once again - into game design.

This time, he found a new support in the form of Unity (@unity3d).  According to the company website, Unity is "a flexible and powerful development platform for creating multi-platform 3D and 2D games and interactive experiences."  In order to begin to learn the software, Marcus chose to pursue one of the linear "Projects" offered by the site:  Roll-a-Ball.

Per its original imagining, Roll-a-Ball allows a user to control a ball while collecting cube tokens on a flat plane.  Although a simple game, it invites its creator to learn and manipulate fundamentals of game design such as game objects, coding, etc.  The Project essentially teaches itself, for it guides the author through the design process using a sequence of videos.  Even so, the act of construction is not a simple one.  The creator must scan several screens at once, and he must navigate a multitude of textual menus to create the final product.

After having worked with GameSalad, Marcus progressed quickly through the videos until he had created a mark-up of the Project.  He could have ended his work there, congratulating himself for following the program's directions to the letter.  But, admirably, he did not do this.  Instead, he proceeded to take the game well beyond its original dimensions.  He began to experiment with stages and scenes outside of the game's flat landscape, inserting new platforms and thereby activating vertical planes.  He placed ramps too, and he experimented with appropriate shadow distribution by randomizing the arrangement of his cube tokens.

Fortunately, these updates are just the beginning.  Marcus is currently programming a vertical elevator, speed boosts, and character deaths.  He has also begun to research Autodesk (@autodesk), which is a company that provides "3D design, engineering, and entertainment software" (quoted content located on the About section of the company website).  Autodesk's programs will allow Marcus to engage in advanced 3D modeling and layering for his Project.  By the time he has finished his Unity game, it may prove virtually unrecognizable to its original imagining.

We wish Marcus well as he continues this work over the summer.  We invite you to salute his efforts by posting in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  The final product of "Roll-a-Ball," as envisioned by Unity.  Photo located at https://code.msdn.microsoft.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the image above.

Description of 2nd image:  A draft of Marcus's rendering of "Roll-a-Ball."  Photo taken by IP faculty.

Our New Name

The idea began in the spring of 2012.  Sandy Charlap attended a lecture moderated by Sam Chaltain (@samchaltain) at Vassar College.  Inspired by his proposition that schools should pose "what if" statements rather than mission statements, she began to ponder how institutions might revolutionize practice and theory.  Exploring Chaltain's website during the summer, she stumbled across a video.  Recorded on-site at Monument Mountain High School in Great Barrington, MA, the film followed several students as they joined forces with faculty advisors to form a self-directed education program called "The Independent Project."  Ms. Charlap felt spellbound while watching the video, and the feeling did not leave her afterwards.  She and a colleague had a hunch that this program could give Kildonan's students a unique opportunity, so they began to work toward implementing it almost immediately.

Thus, IP was born.

Over the three years that IP has been in operation, we have found that faculty members and students agree with Ms. Charlap's initial "feeling."  IP has allowed students the opportunity and freedom to shine a light on their passions and to pursue them like locomotives.  Fantastic learning experiences have followed, and this year in particular, our students have been accepted to noteworthy institutions of higher education.  Our students have shown that IP does indeed assist them as they prepare for college.

In the process, however, our community - faculty and students alike - have realized that the name, "Independent Project," no longer reflects our philosophy or our day-to-day reality.  As one student pointed out, the IPians do not work "independently."  Yes, they launch individual pursuits that take them in directions that are, in a sense, theirs and theirs alone.  That said, this student went on, the IPians are always collaborating with one another, always learning from and supporting each other as they move forward.  In this way, the community members are very much "dependent."  Despite its claim to "independence," then, IP is a richly "social" experience.

We have also found that "project" no longer describes our status at Kildonan or our primary educational focus.  First, having grown over the past three years, IP is no longer a “project,” or pilot program, at Kildonan.  Additionally, because we support our students as they conduct multiple outcomes, or "projects," these pieces have grown beyond their inherent importance to become indicators of our learners' educational journeys, or "processes."  One student's "projects" are the result of the research and personal growth that he/​she creates for himself across several months.  One final piece at the end of the year, then, is neither accurate of, or the raison d'etre for, our existence.  With this name change, we hope to shift our concerns.  We wish to position our students in the debate concerning "project"- vs. "process"-based learning, and we assert that our students direct both features as they revolutionize learning away from a teacher-centered model.
 
Therefore, the time has come.  Earlier this month, the IP faculty published a post announcing that the program would witness a name change.  After much consideration, and after securing the approval of our students and administration, we found the perfect option.  This choice that will allow us to (1) remain edgy, (2) give our students a leading edge, and (3) function on the cutting edge of innovation in learning and education.  From here onward, the program will abandon acronyms and adopt the new name:  Edge.

Jonathan Attends One Spark

IP has seen no shortage of students attending conferences.  Indeed, inspired by Trey's travels to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) 2015 Show and Max's visit to the New England Magic Conference (NEMCON), Jonathan recently decided that his turn had come.  Determined to learn about crowdfunding and large-scale artistic projects, he drew up a proposal - entirely on his own initiative - to travel to Jacksonville, FL for One Spark (@BeOneSpark).  He consulted various vendors in search of employment too, securing a volunteer photography position with One Spark itself.

Due to his careful deliberation while securing permissions, Jonathan received the total support of the IP faculty.  For the rest of the story, we invite you to consult Jonathan's own words below:

One Spark is an event for artists, entrepreneurs and innovators in art, education, health &​ science, social good, music, and technology to get their ideas and projects funded by everyday people. It gave me a chance to learn about the projects in each of the categories and what good that each creator had to offer and the difference they are trying to make in the world. I went down to One Spark to photograph the event directly and to get experience in photographing an event. For the time that I was working, I was learning a lot about what the vendors had to go through while working at the event. I also learned that working at an event like this can be a lot of fun and a lot of photography experience.

I didn’t have a specific assignment; I took pictures of vendors, people, and the Food Village on certain streets. The event was spread out over a lot of streets, and I had to do Food Village (a center with restaurants and food trucks). I gave many of my photos to One Spark, which is going to use them for future advertising. I hope that mine are going to be used in the social media and promotional advertising. I was taking pictures for One Spark (with them in mind) and for the fun of it. This isn’t a different venue than others I’ve done before, but there were a lot more people there.

What do you think of One Spark and Jonathan's experience? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of images:  Shots of the One Spark convention.  All photos taken by Jonathan on-site.

Marcus Engages Unity: "Roll-a-Ball" Project

After encountering significant technical difficulty with his laptop and the Oculus Rift, Marcus decided to postpone his biometric research and pursue another project.  Frustrated with virtual reality (VR) for the moment, he began to delve - once again - into game design.

This time, he found a new support in the form of Unity (@unity3d).  According to the company website, Unity is "a flexible and powerful development platform for creating multi-platform 3D and 2D games and interactive experiences."  In order to begin to learn the software, Marcus chose to pursue one of the linear "Projects" offered by the site:  Roll-a-Ball.

Per its original imagining, Roll-a-Ball allows a user to control a ball while collecting cube tokens on a flat plane.  Although a simple game, it invites its creator to learn and manipulate fundamentals of game design such as game objects, coding, etc.  The Project essentially teaches itself, for it guides the author through the design process using a sequence of videos.  Even so, the act of construction is not a simple one.  The creator must scan several screens at once, and he must navigate a multitude of textual menus to create the final product.

After having worked with GameSalad, Marcus progressed quickly through the videos until he had created a mark-up of the Project.  He could have ended his work there, congratulating himself for following the program's directions to the letter.  But, admirably, he did not do this.  Instead, he proceeded to take the game well beyond its original dimensions.  He began to experiment with stages and scenes outside of the game's flat landscape, inserting new platforms and thereby activating vertical planes.  He placed ramps too, and he experimented with appropriate shadow distribution by randomizing the arrangement of his cube tokens.

Fortunately, these updates are just the beginning.  Marcus is currently programming a vertical elevator, speed boosts, and character deaths.  He has also begun to research Autodesk (@autodesk), which is a company that provides "3D design, engineering, and entertainment software" (quoted content located on the About section of the company website).  Autodesk's programs will allow Marcus to engage in advanced 3D modeling and layering for his Project.  By the time he has finished his Unity game, it may prove virtually unrecognizable to its original imagining.

What do you think of Marcus's project? Are you a fan of video games or gamification? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  The final product of "Roll-a-Ball," as envisioned by Unity.  Photo located at https://code.msdn.microsoft.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the image above.

Description of 2nd image:  A draft of Marcus's rendering of "Roll-a-Ball."  Photo taken by IP faculty.

Geoff Mulgan: "A short intro to the Studio School"

 
Director of the Young Foundation (@the_young_fdn) and UK government employee, Geoff Mulgan (@geoffmulgan) delivers a TED Talk on a powerful re-imagining of education:  Studio Schools.  Designed to "address the growing gap between the skills and knowledge that young people require to succeed, and those that the current education system provides," Studio Schools prepare young adults for the global economy and encourage them to take inquiry- and project-based learning to the next level (quoted content taken from the Studio Schools website).  Mulgan shares more details on these institutions below:

First of all, we wanted small schools -- about 300, 400 pupils -- 14- to 19-year-olds, and critically, about 80 percent of the curriculum done not through sitting in classrooms, but through real-life, practical projects, working on commission to businesses, NGO's and others. That every pupil would have a coach, as well as teachers, who would have timetables much more like a work environment in a business. And all of this will be done within the public system, funded by public money, but independently run. And all at no extra cost, no selection, and allowing the pupils the route into university, even if many of them would want to become entrepreneurs and have manual jobs as well. Underlying it was some very simple ideas that large numbers of teenagers learn best by doing things, they learn best in teams and they learn best by doing things for real -- all the opposite of what mainstream schooling actually does.

What do you think of the idea of Studio Schools? Do you think that they are needed? (Research exists to justify them.) Please post in the comments section below.

Description of image:  A mock-up of a Studio School.  Photo located at www.studioschooltrust.org.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the image above.

IP Luncheon & Moving Forward

On Friday, April 10th, the IP community shifted part of its focus to the future.  Early in the afternoon, current IPians organized a luncheon for prospective students.  Over pizza and soda, they considered expert questions concerning a number of issues (e.g., the program's structure and requirements, collaboration between IPians, "product"- vs. "process"-based learning).  Current IP students also shared stories of their own experiences within IP, explaining the tribulations early on as well as the conventions, internships, concerts, and other opportunities that they celebrate in the present.  The meal disbanded with a sense of hope, with the promise that other students might soon enter the fold of the IP community.

Indeed, this feeling has borne fruit.  Since the initial luncheon three weeks ago, the IP faculty have been speaking with prospective students every few days.  Current sophomores and juniors alike have requested meetings, and they bring a host of possible topics to buoy the program for the 2015-2016 academic year:  fashion, environmental science, physical therapy, outdoor adventure education, etc.  Despite some differences, they share fundamental attributes with one another.  They approach these meetings seriously; faces earnest, they are concerned how they can best prepare themselves for a college - and life - after Kildonan.

No matter the changes the program undergoes - including projected increases in its enrollment - we look forward to the challenges and joys of meeting the needs of another IP community in the future.

Description of images:  Current IPians facilitating the discussion with prospective students, top right and bottom left.  All photos taken by IP faculty.

Important Update: Name Change

The IP community would like to announce that we will be instituting a name change.  Details on the "why" and "what" are soon to follow.

Micki's Growing Installation

Since securing her installation space, Michaela has spent little time in the IP building.  Instead, she has frequented her studio.  She has repurposed existing pieces, explored artists such as Henri Matisse, Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, and Judy Pfaff, and experimented with motifs and styles.

Michaela has produced truly thoughtful work, and it is to protect her process and build suspense that we refrain from saying more.  Kildonan community members - and otherwise interesed readers - may view her exhibition during its May unveiling.  In the meantime, please enjoy the indistinct snapshots and the "cryptic" updates that follow this post.  We hope that we have whet your appetite.

Description of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd images:  ?.  Photos taken by Michaela.

P.S. For more on Henri Matisse, check out his Artsy page here!

Paige Builds a Phonics Notebook

Having conducted extensive research into the history of the Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach, programs that are off-shoots of OG (e.g., Lindamood-Bell, Wilson Reading), sample OG lessons, and myths concerning dyslexia, Paige has reached a stage at which she feels ready to apply her extensive understanding.  She has debated between options for a few months now.  This careful consideration, however, has allowed her to settle upon a project:  a phonics notebook not unlike one that a tutor would craft with an elementary student at Kildonan.  Paige hopes to compile a chapter concerning open and closed syllables; this section would contain games, lesson plans, cards, and manipulatives.

To craft this piece, Paige is currently conducting a three-fold process.  First, she is communicating with both elementary school teachers on-staff, Mrs. Elliott and Ms. Hollander.  She hopes to observe both of their classes in order to determine how younger students respond to challenges in language acquisition, and she also plans to interview both teachers about their approaches to coaching students through these tasks.  Second, she continues to add content to a process portfolio that she maintains through iBook Author.  She manages this document in order to compile her notes, track resources, and hypothesize situations that she will face as a future elementary school teacher.  To date she has produced sixty-five pages.  Third and finally, she took time out during her break to draft sound-symbol cards.  Soon she will engage in a critique with Ms. Charlap during which the two can evaluate the layout and design of her slip.  They will also explore alternative designs for such manipulatives.

What do you think of Paige's work? Do you have a question or recommendation? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  A page from an interactive, kindergarten phonics notebook.  Picture located at www.pinterest.com.  Kildonan and its IP program do not claim ownership over the above photo.

Bull's "Cacophony"

Inspired by his tentacle piece, Bull decided not too long ago that he was ready for another project.  It would need to extend his whimsical streak, certainly, but it would also have to prove more rigorous in prompt.

Ms. Charlap hit upon a suitable option in no time.  Having advised Kildonan alumnus August Hunt through a successful application to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (@cooperunion), she proposed a simulation of the Cooper Union home test.  This evaluation is an integral part of the application to Cooper Union's School of Art.  As described on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of Cooper Union's website, the home test "consists of a number of visual projects to be completed in approximately 3-4 weeks and returned to The Cooper Union for review."  Interested students choose from a number of prompts, respond to one directive through a multimedia project, and submit their work for consideration.

Ms. Charlap offered this undertaking to Bull, who - after examining several prompts - chose to represent the word "cacophony."  To flesh out his project, he worked with a limited number of resources under a strict deadline.  At week's end, he submitted a quirky yet heady project.  Sound waves, graphed and visually represented, played across the various surfaces of a box.  Random resources - cardboard feet and plastic tubing, for instance - were re-appropriated for anthropomorphic effect.  Overall, the piece was an eclectic, humorous, and interdisciplinary hodgepodge of math and art.

To share your thoughts on Bull's piece, please post in the comments section below.

Descriptions of four images:  A front view of "cacophony," pictured top right.  Top left shows the project's top view (note the sound wave graphed with pins).  Bottom right reveals the Newton-Laplace Equation, a calculation used by Bull to graph the speed of sound.  Finally, bottom left pictures a rear view (note the tubed tail).

Micki: An Installation Space Emerges

Micki is increasingly exploring the universe and cosmological entities (such as supernovae and black holes) according to her strengths:  visual art and poetry.  Her inquiries have provided her - and the IP community - with profound artistic representations of the unimaginable. Now she wishes to capture the same experience for Kildonan students, faculty, and community members.

Micki quickly realized that she needed a small room, a studio with which she could realize her vision of three-dimensional experiences.  After some initial inquiries, the IP faculty are happy to report that a space has been located!

Kildonan's administration has proven gracious by granting Micki exclusive access to a room that the IP community has affectionately termed "Room 9 3/​4" (a sly reference to Harry Potter).  This area is located next to Ms. Gross's Spanish class (Room 10) on the second floor of the Schoolhouse.  The pictures accompanying this post were taken during a recent exploration of the room by Micki, Ms. Charlap, and Mr. Bisson.

Do you have thoughts on Micki's space or research? Please post in the comments section below.

Marcus: GameSalad

As he continues to study computer programming, Marcus has begun to diversify his instruction by consulting sources other than Khan Academy.  His searches have taken him to GameSalad (@gamesalad), a site that he, another IP student, and Mr. Stark are working through together.

GameSalad is an Internet portal that allows for streamlined game design.  Whereas users traditionally need to acquire rudimentary programming skills before developing games, GameSalad allows novice and expert programmers to jump into the fray and promptly begin to design.  Consumers can immediately commence product tests, enjoy easy integration of images and videos, and publish to the App Store on Macs and iPads.

What fascinating and entertaining game(s) will Marcus design this year? Might we see a prototype in the near future? We encourage you to sample GameSalad products in anticipation.  For a video detailing the creation of a game of pong, please look below:

(GameSalad logo, pictured above.  Image located at gamestorming.com.br.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the graphic above.)

Brad: Beginning a Business

A passionate fisherman with an interest in the Montauk area, Brad is not unaware of the startling decline in the striped bass population.  After much research into the history of the charter fishing industry, he has determined that overfishing and various illegal fishing procedures have contributed to this trend.  He believes that the public needs to awake to the danger posed to this fish.  He sees himself as a future charter fisherman, as a guide who can startle the layperson into demanding reform.

But such a vision, Brad wisely reasons, is bound to the future and, perhaps, does not utilize all of his talents.  To this end, he has decided to combine his interests in economics and art to begin an advocacy business for the striped bass.  His plan is represented by the graphic above.  Currently, he is producing paintings and drawings of the fish in the hopes of selling these and using the money both as donations and in order to finance his burgeoning ventures.  He is also constructing a public awareness flyer that he will send to tackle shops and conservation agencies.  From there, he will begin to prototype logos for various merchandise (e.g., stickers, T-shirts) and promote his work through a website and Kickstarter profile.

Any advice for - or resources to share with - Brad? Please post in the comments section below.

Descriptions of images:  Brad's business plan, top middle.  A striped bass, pictured middle right.  Second photo found on commons.wikimedia.org.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over this image.)

Piterson: Wooden Sculptures and Andres San Millan

Athletic and fit, Piterson is studying personal training.  He aspires to enroll in a college with such a program and to earn his certification at the end of this school year.  He has wisely commenced this process by examining the skeletal make-up of the leg.  From here, he plans to "flesh it out," or to understand its layers of muscle and tissue, before branching out to other body parts.  He retains information, in part, by using three-dimensional and manipulative representations of ideas,  so might there be a way for him to concretize his ongoing explorations?

The answer, of course, is yes.  Piterson has begun to collect sticks in the hopes of constructing a wooden sculpture of the human body.  As he commences this work, he is examining the pieces created by Andres San Millan.  A resident and artist of Rhinebeck, NY, San Millan is perhaps best known for his work with Cocoon Theatre - a youth theater organization based out of Rhinebeck until only this past fall - and for his provocative MAN sculpture (formerly installed at Taste Budds in Red Hook, NY).

Lynn Woods of the Hudson Valley Almanac Weekly interviewed San Millan in January, 2013 and had this to say of MAN:

Based loosely on a small clay sculpture, MAN reflects San Millan’s classical training with the figure as much as his feeling for nature. Unlike most colossi, which tend to be monumental, MAN is sprightly, inherently active. Knit out of driftwood sticks that resemble lines, loose strokes that describe forceful movements through space, he is energy anthropomorphized. The body is carefully articulated, the tension of the muscles palpable. Balanced on the toes of his flexed right foot and his left forefinger, he seems to spring from the earth, even as his left foot is planted firmly on the ground. The left arm thrusts downward, muscles tensed and the hand spread, with forceful, pointing fingers, expressive as a Broadway dancer’s. The aquiline nose and full lips, formed from carved pieces of driftwood, resemble the features of an ancient Greek warrior, jutting from an armature of sticks that suggests an Attic helmet.

From seemingly mundane objects "springs" life.  What will Piterson create with his own sticks? How will he choose to render the human body?

For Andres San Millan's figureartscape, please click on the following link:  http://www.figureartscape.com.  For Lynn Wood's article concerning MAN, please follow this next URL:  http:/​/​www.hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com/​2013/​01/​04/​andressan-millans-man-on-the-move/​.

(MAN, pictured above, with San Millan leading the procession at bottom right.  This photo was located at San Millan's figureartscape.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the above image.)

Ned: Gasoline Combustion

Balancing a interview-based documentary of fervent car owners, truck repair, and repurposing a car into a launching pad for drones, Ned is one busy student! He is continuing to negotiate this work, in part, by conducting research into automotive topics such as gasoline combustion.  Combustion, simply put, is the process of burning.  During combustion, a hydrocarbon (or a molecule containing carbon and hydrogen) and oxygen gas combine in a chemical reaction to produce carbon dioxide and water.

Ned recently co-facilitated a miniature combustion in an experiment designed by Matthew Philipose, and now he will pursue the more theoretical side of this process by consulting the video below:

"A Retrospective," by Matthew Philipose

Early birds get the worms….

The loons were not the only ones making preparations for the winter. The IP (independent project) room was buzzing with preparations of a different sort.   Perhaps it was my ignorance that prompted me to assume that everything would go awry. There was a sense of the gravitas, of taking on too much to chew at once. However, none of my anxieties came true. ‘IPians’ were on the ball from the get go. In an event such as the IP program first steps are the most arduous. Finding that topic becomes an obsession, and only an obsession would suffice. A conglomeration of ‘out of the box’ thinkers collected in one place. Young minds assuming such a responsibility from the very beginning, bent double, stumbling along the path to success in an Independent Project. So there they were, all engaged, in that first firm step.

By the first two weeks an amalgamation of sorts had taken place. Nearly all of the students had discovered their project title and proceeded to open the Pandora’s Box of their commitment.  Even the student that arrived three weeks late to school had apparently reached a subject for study. This was of immense relief and interest to me, as it showed what positive processes were in play at the very onset.  There is nothing like that success to keep us teachers going.

I imagined the topic for IP to be the head of octopus with its tentacles reaching out towards the history, science, math and literature of it. The chosen subjects for study varied as much as the students themselves.  Amongst them were titles such as Drones, physical fitness, Fantasy, illusions, Dyslexia, Automobiles and combustion engines, Real Estate, Charter Boat Fishing along the eastern seaboard for Tuna and Striped Bass, Music/​Sound engineering, Photojournalism, Generation and music, and (God help us) the abyss of knowledge!

Located amongst this buzz of activity, were my first days at the school this year.  As in any school, it was fraught with confusion, anticipation, excitement, trepidation, exhilaration, and many other emotions all mixed up in a quagmire of unreality merging into reality. Almost like the prayer in the Upanishads that goes like this: From the unreal lead me to the real, from darkness lead me to light, from death lead me to immortality…..and so on.

I was overcome with pride when I knew that the students in IP - despite their own confusion - had amalgamated their opening gambits in fine time. I felt like I needed to step up to the plate myself and handle the confusion with Confucius like equanimity.  My motto for those first few weeks was and still is: ‘go with the flow.'  My inspiration was the students in IP class.

The Power of Student Voice

At the end of IP Week, the students each presented their findings in two distinct ways: a Keynote in front of their home group and a visual exhibit for the entire school.  Overall, they experienced a lot of success; walking among the various projects, I was impressed by the multitude of topics and displays.  Most of the students seemed genuinely excited to show me what they had researched.

Perhaps the most important step of the entire process came when we asked the students to reflect on the experience of working independently.  After all, the goal of IP week was not a digression from traditional classes, but rather an opportunity for students and faculty to investigate how we, as a community, learn best.  The questions we posed forced the students to analyze, critique, and reflect upon the week in its entirety.  I truly believe that no piece of this process has been more enlightening than reading what the students had to say.

Delphine wrote:

The one thing that surprised me the most was the excitement I had for school... and the commitment I had.  I never once got bored and I got more work done then I have ever had before. Some people might say I seemed like a crazy person by the way I was running around. But that constant movement that I had made me the happiest I ever had been at school. My mind was racing with ideas and questions that I had to answer on my own and that's what surprised me the most.  

Other students talked about their increased levels of engagement and their excitement over their topics, like Dillon who said, “I didn’t know I could love school this much. Everyday I woke up I didn’t think I was going to school. I didn’t know I could love one certain thing this much.”

Not all the students had an easy time, however.  Some really struggled with the freedom and independence IP week offered.  Nevertheless, their reflections demonstrated an ability to recognize their learning needs.  Patrick wrote, “It was way overwhelming to me. I like the structure of a classroom and the guidance of a teacher's direction.”  In a school where teaching self-advocacy is a legitimate concern, our students’ ability to know their preferences and limitations when it comes to learning is of the highest importance.  In that way, experiencing failure is as beneficial as experiencing success.  For instance, Nicole reflected on how crucial her physical workspace was to her finished product, saying, “My favorite part of IP week was being able to stay in the art barn, an environment in which I work well.”  Tess wrote:

Two things I learned about myself during the duration of IP week are, one, that I can surprise myself. I like getting directions and following them; I wasn't sure how I was going to do when I had the opportunity to go about this as I please. I learned that I did okay. I also learned something about other people. I did not know that some people were interested in the same things that I was until I saw their project. This made me see them in a new light which I enjoyed.

But hearing what students got out of the week was not the only benefit of reading their reflections.  They all had worthwhile and inventive suggestions for improving a number of aspects of the project, from the schedule to the presentation requirements.  Filipa suggested changing “what we need to hand in at the end to a paper.   The student would have to write out their question and answer it and it would be optional to do a power point.”  August suggested having the week twice in a semester, “Instead of just having one week for the semester, you would have two separate IP weeks to become engulfed in a question.”  Nate suggested restructuring the schedule to allow for better focus, “My least favorite part about the IP week was how we had to split up the classes, like when I had IP the first period then right after I had math study hall... pretty much when you’re in the middle of your work and it gets cut off by another class.”

The feedback offered by our students will be pivotal in structuring another IP week in the spring and the full program next year.  After writing so much about what and how the students were learning, it feels great to be part of such a rigorous learning process myself.

Is it happening yet?

At 8:15 this morning, The Kildonan School officially started The Independent Project Week.  Faculty advisors were given copies of the student action plans and a master schedule of everyone’s whereabouts throughout the day was posted outside Mr. Zolet’s office.  The student groups were broken up without concern for question topic; the only deliberate action that was taken was to make sure the grade levels were evenly dispersed.  In my home group, I had two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, and two freshmen.  The topics being researched in my room ranged from juice cleanses to astrophysics.  I was pretty excited when I sat down to get started.

At 8:25 this morning, my excitement was tested.  The student sitting next to me, who was researching the process of creating and publishing an App, turned to me and said, “I gotta be honest.  I’m not too excited about this.  I don’t think I can do this.”  I gave him a pep talk and sent him back to his question.  Five minutes later, a fellow faculty member walked in, looking distressed.  “Are they supposed to be this quiet?” he asked.

Thus began a long morning of reassuring students, faculty, (and myself) that it was okay to be nervous, that our students were capable of independent learning, and that it was to be expected that in the early stages of research the room wouldn’t be loud and calamitous.  As I walked from group to group, students were quietly reading on their iPads, watching documentaries and how-to videos, taking notes on their findings, and searching for more information.  Some students took the time to interview experts on their topics (many of which were Kildonan faculty members) and it looked like the information was starting to pile up.

At 10:15, the same student who had told me he “couldn’t do it” started to explain to me why identifying your user audience was so important before developing an app.  Within the next two hours, he had learned about copyright law from Mr. Pendergast and was starting to play around with a game Mr. Stark suggested that developed an App for you.  Another student in my group was discussing the possible outcomes of using alternative ingredients, such as molasses or agave nectar, in place of white sugar in his chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

As the day reached its end, I was back to feeling good.  The students were certainly in varying degrees of comfort, but I’m a strong believer in the idea that real learning happens at moments of relative discomfort.  It’s certainly true for me as a teacher.  I’m a big fan of large projects, all of which are characterized by a chaotic “middle period” where I curse myself for ever planning something so big and vow to never try it again.  But then, tada!  My students pull ahead and the project is a hit.

So as day one of IP week comes to a close, I’m forced to reflect on the fact that learning is uncomfortable, unpredictable, inconsistent, and at times, down right scary.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and judging by the amount of work that was done in a day, I’m excited to see what our students have in store for us.