Marc & Azul

Isaiah is proposition, the other team is Opposition

How to move from worksheets to projects would be a huge shift if this was the only thing necessary to meet the demands of the creative void that needs  to be filled in the next several years. Our industrial model of education is churning out students who think that just because they went to college, there will be a job, but the jobs of the future have yet to be invented. You will either be creating in the future or waiting to work for someone that is creating, or worst yet, they will outsource your job and you will not have one at all. Colleges haven’t had to change because people just keep showing up expecting to have jobs when they graduate, but ask any recent graduate if they are having this experience.

Students will need to be creative and able to think through solving creative problems that meets the needs of a changing world. We are done with the industrial revolution and on to the connected revolution.

Teachers are the ones that will lead this charge, we need to change if we want the students to change. Start a revolution stand up and refuse to show up to a job. Be original.

Since High Tech Middle is school where there is very little student turn over, it’s rare that students join the school in 8th grade. We were lucky enough to have a few students join our team and they quickly became part of our family. Since we looped up with our students that we taught in 7th grade, I thought that perhaps the students on our team would take more time to accept the three new students that join our already tight family of 53 students and two teachers. The day that each new student arrived the class cheered and welcomed them, as if returning home after a long trip abroad. It was magical!. I wanted to share one of those student’s graduation speech, because it was so telling about the reason culture in classrooms is so important.

“When I first came to this school It was in 8th grade. It was at a pretty hard time in my life, new school, new house, new city, new everything. But there was also new people! I had never met a group of people more welcoming and kind. It was astonishing how much they made me feel like I was one of them. Laughing when they laugh, clapping when they clap and even, the occasional inside joke. Sure, there were times when I felt secluded and alone, but the happy atmosphere quickly took care of that. Some people in particular made it difficult to feel out of place, and touched me personally, even if unintentional. Before I knew it I was experiencing new things that I never would have dreamed of if I hadn’t met all of you.The students. The teachers. Heck, even the projects! From the Elemental Superheroes, to the Hovercrafts, and even the Debate P.O.L., I enjoyed it all so much that a year has just gone flying by. It feels like just last week that i stepped inside and met all of you for the first time. And I know I’m not he most normal person on earth, but, even if i don’t show it, I do appreciate each and every one of you. So thank you.Thank you all.”

–Carroll Ishee 8th grade, HTM

Though it’s not clear what will become of our now empty classroom, it’s been great to see that I don’t have to sit and lecture to make work meaningful to kids. We will be using the design thinking model that I learned at the D-school at Stanford to frame out thinking about our space. We will begin our empathy work around the problem this week. After we do a few design challenges to get our mind thinking, exciting work.