The kind of continuous exploration, reinterpretation and flat-out invention pursued by Rembrandt and his students are at the heart of good education. Their search for empathy and for representations of Jesus that bridged the gap between human and devine suggest to history teacher Margaret Haviland ways in which educators can help students today better understand what they value and how that shapes their decisions and actions.
I teach in an inquiry, project-based, technology embedded classroom. What does that mean? I lecture less, and my students explore more. I create a classroom where students encounter concepts, via labs and other methods, before they necessarily understand all the specifics of what is happening. It’s a place where my students spend time piecing together what they have learned, critically evaluating its larger purpose, and reflecting on their own learning. Technology is embedded into the structure of all we do. It’s part of how we research, how we capture information, and how we display our learning. It’s never an accessory tacked on at the end.
Teacher and inquiry learning advocate Peter Skillen shares a student project “that worked” — a remarkable short video celebrating graffiti art in Toronto. “I believe his work is so successful for several reasons,” Skillen says. “This project was his. He owned it. He created the idea. He had the passion. He had the motivation. He wrote the rap. He composed the music. He performed it. He struggled with the contradictions. He overcame the ambiguities. He was in charge and maintained focus and effort until completion.”
This Easy Reference Index highlights posts 66-92 and continues our engaging mix of voices: classroom teachers, school-based leaders, district visionaries and other educators who support the deep learning practices (for students and professional educators) advocated in Powerful Learning Practice communities. Every post here has some relationship to “the Shift” — the necessary transformation of the education enterprise represented by new technologies, the Internet and the capacity for educators and students to become “connected” learners.
Chinquapin Prep was founded in the belief that with hard work and determination, students could reap the benefits of a quality education, attend college, find meaningful work that would allow them to show the world what children from poverty – black, Hispanic, and white — could achieve, and produce citizens who could give back to the communities from which they sprang. Today, Chinquapin’s students are 21st century learners, prepared to thrive in a challenging global community.
Busy classrooms with engaged students don’t automatically equal high achievement scores. It’s our job to connect the two. I’ve been in those revved-up classrooms where some students in one corner of the room might be discussing the merits of a court case while students in another corner are skyping with a storm chaser while he is getting ready for a chase. It’s quite an experience. However, it’s a moot point to the leaders of the school district if test scores aren’t where they want or need them to be.
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