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.

Time is of the Essence

Process is everything in learning.  After all, anyone can find the answer to a given question with the click of mouse.  However, creating the answer to a problem, issue, or inquiry takes much more than searching.  It takes initiative, curiosity, persistence, and most importantly, time.  There will be varying degrees of success among our students this week, but the ones who will truly come out on top are those that used the time given to them to wring out every last drop of information they could find on their topic.

Yesterday, as the day was coming to a close, several students came to me asking to expand the Independent Project beyond the one week allotted for it.  I couldn’t offer them much, but I suggested they make their voices heard in the reflective activities planned for the end of the week.  Fortunately today, spring has come to Amenia.  The ski slopes are closed, and our students are being gifted with an extra day to make their projects that much better.

Some students are making the most of the extra time and already have ideas for improving their projects; others are stuck in an “I’m done” slump.  Regardless of those attitudes, the faculty is working hard to make sure students are pushing themselves to dig deeper and uncover more.  However, the real lesson to be learned today is that a question is never quite done being answered, regardless of how much time you think you have.

One Thing

So much learning is happening today.  I learned A LOT from our students.  Take a look at some of the answers I got when I asked my students to tell me one thing they learned today (and it was only 10:15!).

“There’s water in butter.  When you melt the butter, it exposes the water, which makes more gluten when you mix it with flour.  That’s what makes a cookie chewy.”  -Jack

“The V8 engine that Koenigsegg makes is the lightest in the world.”  -Ted

“You can’t juice broccoli!  It has a really bad onion smell.”  -Emily

“It’s not easy to make an App! I mean, it’s fun...but it’s tedious!”  -Trey

“Striped bass and blue fish both prefer to feed in deep water.”  -Brad

“In the Unites States, 30% of raw materials are used on the construction of buildings.” -Ari

“Overhead lights on your car are an illegal modification in many states.”  -Joe

“Converse remained the most popular basketball sneaker long after Nike and Puma were introduced to the public.”  -Nate

“There are more than two dog sled formations!  I found a third!”  -Sophie

“The cravings you get for fatty foods come out of the temporal lobe of your brain.”  -Paige

Check back tomorrow for my next blog!  The students will all be starting to build their exhibits.  Hopefully, I’ll have fun pictures to post!

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.

Getting Started

Last summer, Sandy Charlap sent me an email with a link to a YouTube video about a small group of students who had successfully built a “school within a school.”  They called it “The Independent Project.”  The idea was simple:  break down the system of isolated classes and allow high school students to focus on one question at a time, for one week at time; simultaneously work on an individual endeavor so large in scope it would take you the entire year to complete.  For me, it was love at first sight.  I couldn’t let the idea go.  So I sent her an email back... “Let’s do it!”

What started as a couple of teachers exchanging ideas on education grew into a mammoth proposal for a curricular overhaul.  I spent the summer with my laptop (literally!) on the beach with me.  I was emailing folks back in Amenia multiple times a day, contacting the school who had piloted the program featured in the video, and tweaking the ideas to fit our student population.  There were issues of standards, staffing, funding, space, and logistics that I didn’t know existed.  But I was in love with the idea, so I kept pushing.  When the school year started, I was presenting to administration, faculty, parents, and students in a dizzying cycle of auditoriums, offices, and classrooms.  The excitement was growing, but a few big questions remained.  Could Kildonan pull this off?  Were our high school students and faculty ready to take on such a dramatic shift in mindset?  Were we equipped for the challenge?

I’m a strong believer that learning happens through experience, and I’m lucky to work for a school that shares that belief.  So we’re giving it a go!  As I write this, we are one day away from a week-long trial of the program.  The entire high school is dropping everything and asking one question.  Math teachers are serving as advisors on history questions, literature teachers are getting involved in financial planning, and language tutors are weighing in on nutritional regiments.  Our roles are shifting, our expectations are expanding, and the school is giving it a try.  Some of us will experience success in ways we haven’t before.  Some of us will experience failure in our attempt to try new things.  However, all of us will learn.  Of that, I am sure.