Reflections

I have really enjoyed setting up my Google Reader and adding my feeds; I was surprised at how easy it was! I particularly enjoyed reading the blog entitled Mini-Term: Dropping the Schedule
which is posted on Students 2.0. I am impressed with the author’s ability to put into words what he learned from this “experiment;” from his point of view, being immersed in his teacher’s passion was educational and fun. He and his classmates were given the hands-on opportunity of designing, building and painting an adirondack chair during his mini-term session, “Zen and the Art of Furniture Design.”

In this blog, the author describes how efficiently and effectively he and his classmates worked during this mini-term. Not only were they well rested, but there energies were focused on one subject and project, instead of six. What a powerful and unique experience! The teachers of the “successful” courses deserve kudos; I can only imagine the amount of time and energy that went into planning their immersions, and thinking outside of the box is not always easy for us educators. I do feel for those students who were placed with teachers who were not able to venture away from the norm; my guess is that they walked away from this experience feeling slighted or cut short.

Reading about this mini-term experience reminds me of the Capstone project that our Trinity sixth graders complete during their spring trimester. They choose a subject area of interest to them and spend several weeks learning all that they can about it. At the end of the three week period, the students prepare and deliver a presentation on their particular topic. From hybrid cars to how the stock market works, all of the students are exposed to a variety material. This project takes a great amount of self-motivation and really puts the sixth graders’ time management skills to the test! They thoroughly enjoy this experience and appreciate the ownership they have over their own learning.