Learn Lots!

Upon being in this class for a few weeks, I was finally reminded of the idea I'd been searching for since we began.  Paradoxically, it felt at once almost tangibly close and yet out of reach.  (There are always so many swimming around in my head at any given time that they sometimes get rather rude and shove other ones toward the back.)  So, while I believe the other ideas I've mentioned still have merit, this is definitely the one I'm most passionate about. Several years ago during my graduate program in instructional design, I decided I should read something by Maria Montessori.  I was very familiar with her name but only somewhat familiar with her ideas, and I loved her observations and recommendations for teaching children.  It turns out that back when she was researching and writing (over 100 years ago now) she found that children who heard more language did better than those who didn't. Fast forward a few semesters to when I was reading Clayton Ch...

The Big Idea Canvas This was such an eye-opening exercise.  Being the overachiever I am, I was secretly hoping for a great score at the end and of course was totally bummed when I didn't get it.  However, that's probably the best thing that could have happened to me as I feeling quite comfortable with my idea and liking it really well.  After the Big Idea Canvas blew up in my face, I looked back at my idea and felt more like, "Who let YOU in here?  Shoo!  Shoo!" The biggest takeaway from the exercise was that my idea wasn't really innovative at all.  The problem I had identified is that there seems to be a hole in the school system where career exploration should be.  This hole is supposed to be filled by school counselors, most of whom have entirely too much on their plates already.  So, I decided it would be wise to fill the said hole with exactly the same thing: a substitute for a school counselor.  Thus, my solution was exactly the opp...

Having ideas is something I rarely struggle with.  Being able to decide which ones to follow through on is more difficult, and actually following through even more difficult than that.  In deciding which one to pursue during this course there were three finalists: Spelling Patterns.  At present it seems like our attempt to teach spelling (at least in English) is to explain to students that they simply need to memorize all the words they'd ever like to be able to spell.  Which is not daunting at all.  What if instead we taught them how to figure out word spellings? Mapping CMS.  To my knowledge there's not a Content Management System in existence that works as a map (content nodes that connect to other nodes).  And, I'm lucky enough to have access to the code for one.  What if students could teach each other by creating their own content? Career Exploration Services.  Career exploration is one of those things that seems to be increasingly ...

This TED talk ( The Art of Stillness by Pico Lyer) gave me license to continue taking time for and creating more time for stillness in my life.  I take time to be quiet every day as I read my scriptures while Peter is napping.  I've also realized I want to make more time for it by writing in my journal more often.  It also made me want to find even more times and ways to make room for real stillness (pure, unadulterated thinking) in my life on a regular basis. As far as design goes, I like the implications this has for schools.  Learners should be able to take time each day for being quiet (reading, writing, etc.) and for being still which seems to imply just sitting and thinking.  Another implication is that there should be spaces that enable and encourage quietude and stillness.

This post will be particularly good for me as I tend to be an eternal optimist, which means I sometimes fail to consider the downsides of any idea.  Here goes! Is someone else already working on this problem?  If so, how are they doing? School of One is focused on offering each student a personalized education.  However, since their model is based on an algorithm, from what I've seen, students spend most of their day at a computer.  That's an idea I can't get on board with.  On the other hand, the philosophies and practices at High Tech High   seem to match well the ideas I've had, including giving students the chance to explore their own personal interests through projects.  I will definitely be doing some more looking into this option! If others have failed in solving this problem, why did they fail? I believe most charter schools are founded on the idea of doing things differently.  However, from my experience, they end up doing the same...

In my mind, there are two main categories school subjects fall under: art and science.  Art embraces intuition and aesthetics while science depends on logic and reason.  Both increase our understanding of the world and our ability to think and as such, both are invaluable to learning. In any system of education, I believe students should have experiences in both a studio and a lab setting.  The studio setting allows learners to create, receive and give critiques, and incrementally improve their work.  The lab setting allows learners to experience the scientific method firsthand as they hypothesize, test their hypotheses, and record their discoveries.  No education should be considered complete without both kinds of experiences.  Such settings also allow learners to work closely with and observe experts, absorbing the vocabulary and dispositions of both fields. I also believe it will be natural for certain students to prefer one environment over the othe...