FINAL: Piterson Completes a Half-Skeleton

Piterson began to feel the effects of senioritis as winter gave way to spring.  He was visiting his skeleton less frequently, so he saw his sculpting progress begin to slow.  He was cognizant of this change, too, for he spoke of it during one of his many check-ins with the IP faculty.  "OK," the team responded.  "What do you feel like you still need to accomplish while here? How do you want to leave?"

This moment of guided self-reflection proved the necessary component to spur Piterson.  Immediately following this conversation, he renegotiated his IP work schedule in order to grant himself time to visit his skeleton every day.  Soon we saw very little of him at all, for he began to spend several hours of the morning as well as the entire afternoon in "The Makers' Space."

Piterson made tremendous strides with his newfound discipline.  At one point during the spring, he approached the IP team because he was having difficulties with the smoothness of a portion of the pelvis (although he did not know the name of the bone, he was referring to the lilac fossa).  We suggested posterboard material, but Piterson configured an inventive (and more aesthetic) workaround using a variety of materials.  He bent supple twigs gradually in order to form a curved frame; using this piece as an outline, he then mapped and cut plywood to form the lilac fossa.  He glued this to the outline and repeated the process for the second half of the pelvis.

Throughout his process, Piterson launched intensive research with a heightened sense of precision. He evinced exemplary visual acuity and engineering by translating a 2D image into a 3D piece.  Perhaps he best applied these skills while wrestling with the textures of the spine.  Using various computer programs to project and rotate images on a large flatscreen TV, he noticed that the posterior view revealed two different shapes.  Although he did not know the names "cervical vertebrae" and "thoracic vertebrae," he concluded that the top bones (the former) were flatter and more rectangular while the bottom bones (the latter) were shaped almost like "W's" or teeth.  The top bones, too, appeared darker for their close approximity to one another.  Piterson therefore went about creating these two bones, using a dull cardboard for the top bones and a lighter plywood for the bottom.  He produced and connected his spine to the pelvis, creating a piece that startled the IP team for its beauty.


Piterson strove to complete the skeleton before he left.  The year ran out before he could target the skull, however, so he was only able to complete half of the skeleton.  True, he did not finish the project that he set for himself.  However, that fact does not, of course, invalidate the project that he did create or the process in which he engaged.  As the IP faculty and students cleaned up "The Makers' Space" at year-end, we happened to put together the parts of Piterson's skeleton in order to approximate its shape.  The finished piece was even more awe-inspiring than we had anticipated.  In that moment, as this humanoid figure taller than 6 feet was erected before us, faculty and students alike grasped Piterson's true progress.  These products transcended the definition of the "models" as which they were originally conceived; they now constituted true works of art. No less importantly, although Piterson did not know the names of every bone he handled, he nevertheless came to understand them - their shape, their relationship to the bones around them - for having fashioned them himself.

Piterson created a multi-faceted sculpture, but he also laid the groundwork for an anatomical knowledge that he will inevitably call upon as he pursues personal training in the future.  We are proud of his progress and maturation this year, and we invite you to celebrate his work with us by posting in the comments section below.

Description of images:  All photos taken by the IP faculty.

FINAL: Paige Explores Gamification

Paige demonstrated stellar tutoring instincts as she finished her phonics notebook.  She distilled her research into Orton-Gillingham by compiling  appropriate reading lists, and she looked to her own experience as a student to devise learning activities that visually exceeded the traditional emphasis on multi-sensory processing.  No less importantly, she did not lose sight of her intended  audience:  an elementary school student.  Early on she realized that she had to incorporate fun into her lessons:  "I started to think of the best way to make a student understand what I wanted to teach them. I wanted to make it fun because trying to teach a student - just sitting there, going over the rule - wouldn’t have been fun." She set off to bend her lessons towards a mock student's interests in order to build rapport and help solidify the lesson's content.

In order to reach these targets, Paige began to explore gamification.  According to The Engagement Alliance, this term refers to "the process of using game mechanics and game thinking in non-gaming contexts to engage users and to solve problems. Gamification leverages game design, loyalty program design and behavioral economics to create the optimal context for behavior change and successful outcomes."  If we break this definition down, gamification allows individuals to transform non-gaming scenarios using elements of games (e.g., points, tokens, virtual/​simulated reality, etc.).

As journalist and NYU (@nyuniversity) professor Adam Penenberg (@Penenberg) relates in a Forbes article, CEOs and companies have given this approach much attention in recent years so that they might improve employee competence and morale.  Indeed, as Penenberg relates, "Google (@google) engineers have been able to spend an in-house currency called 'Goobles' on server time—often a scarce resource at Google—or use it to bet on certain outcomes."  Microsoft (@Microsoft), too, "released a game, 'Ribbon Hero,' to teach users how to make better use of its Microsoft Office software."  In education, however, gamification is perhaps merely a new name for an old practice.  Teachers have long designed games in order to help students remember their timetables and alphabet, after all.  That said, their tools - and the applications for games - have changed with the advent of iPad classroom initiatves, MinecraftEdu (@MinecraftEdu), and video games more generally.

Paige began to design her Orton-Gillingham/phonics-based games with a healthy dose of design thinking.  She meditated upon their purpose and asked herself, "What should they accomplish?"  After concluding that the games would best serve her students in proving their understanding of a given language concept, she sequenced these recreations to the end of her chapters.  For the rest of the process, we invite you to consult Paige herself:

My first game [focused on] the rule of short and long vowels. At first I had no idea on what I was going to do. Then I thought I could make "Chutes and Ladders." After putting all the words [in], Mr. Bisson and I decided to play, but he wasn’t being himself. He was acting like a elementary tutoring student. He was all over the place. He was really excited and he wanted to get up and act some of the words out. This really showed me what my students might be like in class.

The next game I made focused on soft-c. This one was a little harder to try to come up with. I first thought I was going to do a tic-tac-toe game, but I couldn’t [figure out] how to make it work. Then I came up with just putting the words up and down, moving around the board that way, rolling 1-6, and having to do something based on the number you got (such as if you rolled a 4, you had to name different types [of the word]). I played with Mr. Bisson again, and this time was a lot different. He was a student that just didn’t want to do anything. He was against playing the game or even reading the words. So, I had to be very patient and not force him to play the game. I also just needed to give him time. He started to warm up a little, but he was still hard to work with. This showed me that I don’t need to always stay on the lesson plan I have. I can get off it because some days they might just be having a bad day and just can’t work.

Paige not only designed games but also tested them and grasped the value of remaining flexible as a teacher.  Having facilitated these learning experiences for herself - and as a high school student no less - she has laid the groundwork for an insightful career in education.  We are proud of Paige's progress and maturation this year, and we invite you to celebrate her work with us by posting in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  A graphic rendering of gamification.  Picture found at gravity4.com.  Kildonan and its Edge / IP program claim no ownership over the photo above.

Description of 2nd and 3rd images:  Screenshots of Paige's games, taken by Paige and shared with the Edge / IP staff.

FINAL: Brad - The Antithesis of Senioritis

Leading up to graduation, many members of the Class of 2015 complained of senioritis.  Not Brad.  After rebounding from a period of procrastination in the late winter, he developed an inspiring work ethic.  He pushed towards year's end at full throttle, and at graduation he showed no sign of letting up.

Just what was Brad up to? On one hand, he continued the intensive process of crafting his fishing lures.  As his Edge and art teacher Sandy Charlap writes:

He researched the techniques and materials needed for making bucktail jigs for striper casting. He procured Heat and Drip Powder Paint and was pleased with the high gloss, one coat finish he was able to achieve on his jig heads. He was also working to perfect his technique for adding bucktail flairs to his jigs.

He used his hands and smaller tools in order to craft these pieces, but he also began to dramatically alter his process once he purchased a lathe.  He did not at first know how to use the machine, but he demonstrated initiative by setting up the device and teaching himself how to handle it.  He grew increasingly proficient on the machine, so much so that he began to drill longer vertical holes in order to craft larger lures.  Finally, he learned various techniques of lure construction from a specialist.  Every Friday for the last few weeks of the academic year, he left school early and traveled to a tackleshop on Long Island to apprentice with its owner.  By seeking out various working conditions, technologies, and mentors, Brad constructed an independent experience for himself that has allowed him to become a formidable specialist on the subject of lures.

On the other hand, Brad also fulfilled his vision for the end of the year by planning and executing a five-day fishing trip with a friend.  For more information on this subject, we refer you to Brad himself:

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"A few weekends ago I went fishing with my friend August as part of my IP project. We went fishing based on the moon and tide. Because I wrote a research paper on it, I used my paper as a guide on what days and times to fish.

"The only thing that I had to find out when I got home was where the fish were. One stop at the Rocky Point Fishing Stop put me on the right track. I went in with August and talked to Stan. He told me that there were monster blues at Smith’s Point under the Birge on the bay side. Later that night we geared up and headed out. We got to the beach at dark, and I felt ready to fish right away. I got one on the beach, but I lost 8 others by getting tangled up.

"The next day we went on a party boat out of Port Jeff for the opening day of the fluke season. It was terrible, plain and simple. I caught two small fish and one sea robin. In my opinion, it’s not looking good for the fluke season on the north shore for this year. Later that night we went to the beach and tried throwing plugs for a little while on the incoming tide. I was dead, though, so we gave it up after about an hour or two (the bugs were getting pretty bad, anyway).

"The next day we went back to Smith’s Point. I got there at about 11 or 12, and I fished until 5:30. The weather could not have been better, for there was not too much wind and a lot of cloud coverage. The only bad thing is that we missed the bite. For the rest of the day, it was pretty dead. I caught two other fish, but that was it.

"On Wednesday morning we got out at 5 and were out of the house by 6:15 in order to try and get in on the morning bite. We fished for an hour and a half. It was dead. There was nothing. That is when we saw people move to the other end of the beach. We went to check it out, and the fish were everywhere. On my first cast into the school, I caught a 12-pound blue fish. Shortly after I got him, August hooked his first blue fish from the surf.

"It was one of the best days of fishing I have ever had. I caught about 10 or 15 fish from 5 to 12 pounds. August had about 7 fish from 3 to 12 pounds each. In the end, we had to leave early because I had to catch a train back to school. Otherwise, we would have caught more fish. We left them biting."

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We are proud of Brad's progress and maturation this year! If you have thoughts to share on his work and/​or his description of the trip, please post in the comments section below.

Descriptions of images:  Brad holding his catch, top right.  Brad instructing his peers on how to fashion lures, middle left.  A view from the Great South Bay, bottom right.  Middle photo taken by the Edge /​ IP faculty.  Top and bottom photos taken by Brad during his fishing trip.

FINAL: "Magic Max" Shines at Founders' Day

Max D. is no stranger to performances.  An avid member of the Society of Young Magicians (SYM), a youth offshoot of the Society of American Magicians (SAM) (@sammumnews), he has performed at camps, birthday parties, and other events for a variety of audiences.  Therefore, he seemed undaunted when he announced his intention to offer a performance on Founders' Day for fellow students, faculty, and parents.  But...this routine would be something special, he said.  It would not only satisfy Business Math requirements but also perform a specific function for IP:

I was thinking of a performance on Founders' Day  Some people attending may not understand it [IP] from just hearing about it.  If I show them, parents, students, and faculty can get what IP is all about. When I do my performance, they will understand and be illuminated that, when we research our project, we learn more about it than before we researched.

Max quickly went to work once he secured the necessary permissions.  He began to search through his inventory of tricks in earnest, designing last minute materials and giving the IP faculty more frequent mock performances.  Eventually he settled on three tricks; once he had this routine he selected a minimalistic costume and practiced his transitions.  The most tantalizing factor for the IP team was that Max did this work on his own.  He did not consult his advisors for assistance; he knew what he needed to get done, and he approached this work conscientiously and deliberately.

All of his efforts paid off too.  During his Founders' Day performance, Max introduced himself by jabbing playfully at Mr. Pendergast before moving onto his most powerful illusion ("Professor's Nightmare /​ Fiber Optic") and a well-known card trick ("Three Card Monty").  Ever the close study of humor, he put jokes to good use and evoked more than a frequent chuckle from his guests.  More than one audience member muttered confusedly as he traded rope ends during "Professor's Nightmare /​ Fiber Optic," and we all laughed along at our own ignorance as he tantalized us with his cards during "Three Card Monty."

Overall, Max's performance was a big success.  Over the course of the year, he has made huge gains in the deft handling of his tricks.  No less importantly, he has become more comfortable engaging others.  He has shifted his focus to "close-ups" (which call upon audience participation), and he has developed a performance personality that is quite magnetic.  He should feel proud of his good work, and the IP faculty invites you to celebrate with us by posting in the comments section below.

Description of images:  "Magic Max" with Mr. Pendergast, top right.  Max performing "Three Card Monty," middle left.  Max beginning his routine, bottom right.  All photos taken by 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.

FINAL: Misha Tours 56 Leonard St.

It all started with an image.  One day, knowing Misha's interest in land development and real estate, Micki brought him a brochure.  It depicted 56 Leonard Street, a 60 story skyscraper under construction in Tribeca, NY.  As Misha intuited, 56 Leonard is not just any building.  Designed by Pritzker Prize (@PritzkerPrize)-winning Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meruon (@HerzogdeMeuron), the structure boasts 145 "spatially innovative" homes ranging from 3,000 to 17,000 square feet stacked one upon the other in jutting, irregular arrangements (as described by the firm, the building consists of "houses stacked in the sky.").  When finished, 56 Leonard will also house a specially-commissioned work by Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor (for more info on Kapoor's work, please click here to view his Artsy page).  Soaking in all of these details, Misha felt spellbound.  He was captivated by that one image.

Since this initial hypnosis, Misha infused 56 Leonard into his work, even crafting a paper model of the building in his art class.  A break arrived, too, in the winter.  Returning from Killington, Misha was traveling with a Kildonan parent who happens to be wedded to one of the building's developers.  Misha detailed his interest in the building, and not soon after, an agreement was met:  he would tour the building with the developer.

If Misha felt inspired looking at the pictures of 56 Leonard, he felt even more so while touring the space.  The materials are hand-picked; only the finest elements (such as Turkish marble) compose the living spaces.  The view from the 40th floor too, he stated, was amazing; notably, it sells for $17 million.  The clientele do not find this price a stumbling block either, for at least 92% of the living spaces have already been purchased.

Misha's experience does not quite end there either.  After submitting a resume to the developer in search of an internship, Misha has secured an internship with Alexico Group (@AlexicoGroup)'s The Mark Hotel (@TheMarkHotelNY), is speaking to a NYC real estate agent, and will perhaps explore the Silo Ridge development in Amenia, NY.

These opportunities evince, first, the power of IP:  the real, meaningful work that can come from independent time, compassionate contacts, and passion-based learning.  More specifically, of course, they speak to Misha's talents and to his budding professional skills.  We are proud of him, and we invite you to celebrate with us by posting in the comments section below on Misha, 56 Leonard, Anish Kapoor, The Mark Hotel, etc.

Description of 1st image:  Concept art of 56 Leonard Street, top right.  Photo located at therealdeal.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the picture above.

Description of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th images:  Misha pictured in 56 Leonard, left.  A shot of the building from the street, at right.  The view from the 40th floor of 56 Leonard, bottom right.  All photos taken by Misha.

Graduation!

 
Congratulations to the Class of 2015! On Saturday, June 6th, The Kildonan School saw ten students (Khaled, Paige, Jonathan, Piterson, Brad, Patrick, Bull, Trey, Sarah, and Misha) walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.  Family, friends, faculty, Kildonan alumnus Ahmed al-Rahim, and Kildonan founder Diana Hanbury King all attended to celebrate this special day.  We will miss these students, but we wish them well in their future educational journeys at Goucher College (@gouchercollege), Curry College (@CurryEdu), Columbia College Chicago (@ColumbiaChi), Oxford Academy, LIU Post (@LIUPost), Full Sail University (@FullSail), and Marist College (@Marist)! For more coverage, consult an article released by local newspaper The Poughkeepsie Journal (@PokJournal).

Even though we have finished the 2014-2015 academic year, please expect further blog posts! The Edge /​ IP team plans to release updates concerning students' finished pieces as well as our unfolding professional development (PD) pursuits.  Check back soon!

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.