Seth's Blog: What's high school for?

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What's high school for?

Perhaps we could endeavor to teach our future the following:

• How to focus intently on a problem until it's solved.
• The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success.
• How to read critically.
• The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority.
• An understanding of the extraordinary power of the scientific method, in just about any situation or endeavor.
• How to persuasively present ideas in multiple forms, especially in writing and before a group.
• Project management. Self-management and the management of ideas, projects and people.
• Personal finance. Understanding the truth about money and debt and leverage.
• An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever.
• Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving.

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Posted by Seth Godin on May 06, 2011 | Permalink

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Seth hits the nail on the head here.

It is not about Standardized tests, it more about being able to function with others. Students do not need to memorize a set of how to's or details.

Learn more - Forever. We are in a continual learning cycle now in our modern day world. Students to know and embrace this fact.

Posted via email from Reflexions

Two weeks down

The second week of school is now over. It seems like it has been more than two weeks since we started. This was only a 4 day because of Labor day. Several kids commented about how the 4 day week seemed so long.

This next week will be very busy: Back to School night for Morgan and me, Micah's first football scrimmage, Robotics Team Kickoff meeting, Engineering meeting with University of Texas, First Lego League conference call, Micah's Back to School night, Morgan's first basketball game and we are hosting the Kickoff for Capital BEST Robotics next Saturday. It will be busy but fun.

My Robotics team seems very excited about the contest and the year. At least this year, they knew what they were getting into when they signed up for the class. For an assignment this week, they worked in small groups on last years BEST contest. Each group had to propose a design and a scoring strategy for the contest. Each group presented to the class. It was interesting for Hamzah and I to listen to their proposals since we were part of the contest last year. Many of the designs were very complicated but not completely thought out. Each team had difficulty answering questions about how they would actually accomplish their proposal. But we have N.O.R.M.A.N. from last years robot contest. They will be able to look at the speed, manuverability and reaction of the robot. They were very receptive to feedback and questions from me about thier design. It will be ineresting to see how they approach the season and contest.

The Robotics I students began building their Lego robots on Friday. We are using the Robotics Engineering curriculum from Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy. They were so excited to start building and working with the Legos. Several of the students had worked with NXT kits before but all students were very focused and intent in the class.

This year will present some new challenges for me a teacher as well as a learner. In addition to my job, I am beginning my research for my graduate school project. I have to email Dr. Summers a paragraph describing my research topic. I visited with her on Wednesday about my topic and research. Topics I am considering are high school to university transition, gender in robotics, diversity of age in my robotics classes and ???? This is the most pressing issue for the weekend for me.

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First Week of School

One week is almost over. It seems as if it has been longer than that though. The year seems so different this year. I am in a new classroom in a new part of the building, new faces on campus, some old faces are gone, others seem distracted and distant but the all of my students seem excited about the classes.

I have been doing some research and reading about some more student focused learning.

I was turned on to Consultant Learning by Bill Harris from Mt. Carmel High School outside of San Diego. He gave me a packet produced by Dr. Scott W. Kunkel from University of San Diego. Dr. Kunkel states

... if you are searching for a better way to engage students, motivate students, and structure a classroom so that you don't have to spend the majority of your time enforcing rules, disciplining, and grading, then read on. If you are looking for a better way that frees you to really teach and coach students to do their best work -- then this information is for you.

The students are empowered and in control of their own learning process. Students determine their own grade based on how many hours of work they choose to do. The idea is very interesting to me. It requires the teacher to produce a book of projects and the fee the student will get in return for turning in a professional quality work. I do not know if I know enough about our Robotics curriculum at this point to design a book of projects and the associated fee I think I will experiment with the method with my Robotics II students. The consultant method allows students to structure their learning but the teacher can require a certain number of projects from certain topics or areas.

The second method is one I heard about from Ian Jukes. Ian referenced Ted McCain's book Teaching for Tomorrow, Teaching Content and Problem Solving Skills. McCain lays out a method of teaching that prepares students for their world by using independent study and role playing scenarios.
I began my Robotics I class this year with a role playing scenario. The students had to sort, inventory and organize LEGO Mindstorms kits. Each class had to design how they would go about the process. The plan had to be presented before they could begin. It has been very interesting to see how each class has approached the scenario. It has been a been a very good team building activity as well since I was not the one in charge for each class.

Both of these processes provide a way for students to actively engage and invest in their own learning. I am looking forward to the continued experimentation with these techniques. I will be searching for some answers to my questions: How will these methods effect discipline, off task behavior and grades? Can I sustain the work and not revert back to former methods of teaching and instruction? Will the students learn more? Will they learn skills they need to be successful in today's world that they would not otherwise learn.