Your student may be complaining about advising time. It is understandable, after all they went from having 75 minutes of unstructured social time, to a period where there are academic expectations and a need for focus. But don't despair, they still have 1/3 of advising for social time. We begin the class by checking in, getting announcements, having class meetings, and taking care of business. Then, students work on a focused choice while I hold individual conferences about framework and goals. Once students have their individual learning plan, their choices will support their learning goals. The final 20 minutes is a free time…student socialize, continue their work, or play community games.
We WILL be adding more things to advising, once we get into some good focus habits. We are (or okay, I am) currently working on transforming the expectation from "just hanging out" to one where students are meeting learning goals: independence, academic, and social. Basically, I envision an empowered learning community. It is hard to compete with My Space, but I think when student really start to feel how cool it is to take charge of their own learning, it will be worth it.
Once learning plans are created and students are in a good rhythm, then we will be expanding activities. We will be doing some role plays and creative learning games, looking at some social issues through a critical lens, organizing community service, doing art, etc. If we don’t get to this during q4, then we can hit the ground running come fall.
So far things are feeling better. The very chaotic feeling of the afternoons is being replaced with something calmer and more focused. Today I saw students read, draw, work on their ILP, and play games. It isn't perfect, but slowly students are starting to bring work or projects they want to do. It has been cool to see them look at the framework and begin to set goals. For Trillium to live up to its vision—creating a personalized, community based, independent learning environment, students need to develop and practice skills. Advising is where we begin.
“Our school treats students as actively involved learners who are building a personal knowledge of the world around them through action, experience, and reflection. The educational philosophies used are centered on contextual teaching and learning and constructivism. Contextual teaching and learning utilizes problem-based learning, collaborative/cooperative learning, project-based learning, service learning, and work-based learning.”
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3 comments:
tobie, i have heard of the new advising schedule. and emonni wasn't complaining at all! :) yes, it's tough to compete with myspace. is it accessible at school during advising time?
the approach you talk about sounds great. i wonder, when we get down to the practical specifics, what an "empowered learning community" looks like? i'm always asking myself these kinds of questions, as it's very easy to get lost in language of high ideals (which i do and see others do all the time at psu). what are the specific, concrete goals that characterize our students' learning community at trillium?
we know that feeling a real-life connection and a reason for learning something are both primary motivations to learn. and students' affective state has a lot to do with what they are open to doing and learning. so what specifically can we do (or are we doing) to help students feel interested, like what they are learning matters just as much or more than myspace, and to help them get through their different resistances to learning (a positive emotional state at school)?
i certainly don't expect you to have all the answers. these are questions for all of us. and questions to ask ourselves on a regular basis.
Thank you for commenting. I hope the blog allows discussion, and I invite everyone to join in.
I actually thought a lot about this over my personal days away from Trillium. Right now there is the framework (concrete goals), and the high ideals (constructivist personalized, community based learning). Now, I think we are really wrestling with the questions of how this all goes together in a way that engages students into, invites them to shape and even lead, learning. So it isn't happening around them, in some weird disconnected way--but supporting them, including them, and creating space for them. We are not there yet, and as we grow that has become more apparent.
The middle school and high school advisors will be addressing this as we reshape some of the upper school-creating more of a middle and high school identity. I had an idea come to me that I will try to write up to share here on the blog. It will be a draft, a seedling of a vision. That said, I am very interested in family responses to help shape where the idea will lead. Look for it soon under the "Explorers" title. But also feel free to share ideas too--here where all families have access-- or during conferences.
This is a great time to share your thoughts, questions, and ideas.
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