Starting a New School in the 21st Century

Ask a person to describe a typical classroom and most people will describe a room full of desks, lined up in rows, and a teacher standing at the front of the room lecturing.

In most cases, that person would be right. Not much as changed since you or I went to school.

Education in the classroom of today, for the most part, still revolves around sitting and listening to all of the important information the teacher has learned, and now must "pass on" or teach to his/her students.

By this very nature, students are asked to be "containers" to be filled with knowledge.

Where is the engagement...the interaction...the creativity... the students' connections in any of this?

Is it any surprise that, when students are asked to actually think for themselves, they can't?

In order to be successful in the 21st century, students will have to have both education and creativity, both of which require a lot of their own thinking.

Sitting at a desk, listening to a lecture just isn't enough anymore.

In order to provide more of what students need to succeed in the 21st century, there has to be an awareness that what is typically happening in most classrooms, must change.

Change requires a team of dedicated people who have a vision for a school that is very different than the one he/she may have attended.

A team that is dedicated, committed and passionate about children and their education to forge ahead despite obstacles.

Opening a new school is nothing to be taken lightly. Rather, it's a HUGE responsibility that takes countless hours of researching best practices, planning every detail for several years at a time, visiting successful school, learning what NOT to do from unsuccessful schools and a strong, dedicated vision of what could be...

In other words, it takes education, creativity and a lot of our own thinking.

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Education Opens Doors, Creativity Opens Windows...

An editorial...

Education opens doors, creativity opens windows. Both are needed to be successful in the 21st century.

Education, however, doesn't necessarily mean you must have an advanced degree. Education means you graduate from high school fully prepared and qualified to attend an institution of higher learning. The doors are open for that choice. Though, moving on to higher education also means there are potentially more doors that open.

In light of the ramification of education, it is of the utmost importance that the knowledge and skills learned in high school prepare students to thrive in the real world by knowing how to write well, speak articulately, solve problems both individually and in groups, and analyze and critically interact with situations encountered daily.

But, that's only part of the equation to success in the 21st century...

Pair that knowledge with creativity. Not necessarily the ability to draw well or play an instrument delightfully, but the ability to think outside of the box. The ability to make connects between things that no one has thought of before. The ability to zig when everyone else is zagging. Creativity creates opportunities and opens windows.

For our most needy students, education these days falls short in both of these areas. One can look at data from colleges and universities and see that many minority students who do manage to graduate, and not drop out like many Latinos tend to do, need to take remedial writing courses in college. Many college students are also not very proficient in giving presentations or using their analytic and critical thinking skills. Why should they be good at these skills when most of their schooling has revolved around the memorization of facts and learning test taking strategies?

In terms of creativity, in most cases, it's pretty much eradicated beginning the first day of kindergarten. Students are taught to conform. Furthermore, students are labeled as difficult or challenging if they don't fit into neat scholar "boxes" and follow expectations right away.

It almost seems as though some teachers are trying to create drones in schools. But in their defense, that's how they were taught in school and if it worked for them, why shouldn't it work for their students?

Well, we could go on and on about that last question, but here's another question to ponder...

What can WE do to help prepare students to be successful in the 21st century?

How can we help them turn their dreams into successful tomorrows?

Here's an idea...how about we start by implementing this 21st century way of thinking ourselves and use both our education and creativity to come up with some solutions...

In other words, Be the change you want to see...

Si se puede...

Orange County Charter Schools are in Great Demand

According to an article in the Orange County Register printed on Oct. 26th, 2012, charter schools in Orange County are in great demand.

A handful of Orange County's other public charter schools have waiting lists dozens or even hundreds of names long, having earned top-notch reputations within their neighborhoods and beyond.

Today, more than 10,000 students attend one of the county's 13 charter schools, accounting for nearly one of every 50 public school students countywide.

Enrollment has more than tripled over the past decade as parents have sought out these alternative public school options.

21st Century Global Academy will help fill the void in an area hit hard with educational challenges. Our goal is to open in the 2014-15 school year as a K-6 school and grow a grade a year until we are a Kindergarten-12th grade school.

How to Establish a Farm to School Program

Two north Atlanta moms hit on a great idea while standing at a neighborhood school bus stop.

 

While waiting for their children to come home from classes one afternoon last year, Elizabeth Davis and Angela Renals discovered they had several mutual interests: environmentalism, healthy eating and growing their own food. That’s when Davis suggested they attend an inaugural county-wide Farm to School meeting.

 

Chesnut Charter Elementary School hasn’t been the same ever since.

 

It’s been less than a year but Chesnut now has a Farm to School program that includes an organic vegetable garden, a start on a small orchard, visits from farmers and a monthly, locally grown fruit or vegetable day. The school also recently won a grant to help fund the program.

 

Part of a trend

Similar programs have been established at 9,807 schools in 2,305 school districts in all 50 states, according to the Farm to School network website. “Because these numbers are self-reported, there are very likely more programs going on than this,” said Chelsey Simpson, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Farm to School membership and communications associate.

 

Farm to School is a nationwide program that connects students in grades K-12 with healthy, locally sourced food through a variety of education and experiential learning initiatives. “We like to think of this as a win-win-win,” said Simpson.

 

“It improves marketing for farmers, improves food nutrition in schools and helps change family and community health habits, thus keeping food dollars local,” she added.

 

But the nation’s Farm to School program is not a big corporation that provides programs and funding to schools. “That’s the biggest misconception,” Simpson said. “It’s very grass roots.”

Click here to read the entire article: How to Establish a Farm to School Program

Research in the Elementary Classroom: It’s Not About Finding Information Anymore

When it comes to teaching research in the younger grades, it is easy to turn an opportunity for building vital academic skills into an exercise in regurgitation. Too often in elementary classrooms students are taught that research means finding information and then putting that same information into a slide show, on a poster, or in a report. There is misconception that young children are not capable of developing questions, finding answers and synthesizing information. As a result, when students reach the older grades, they struggle with complex research problems and produce products that resemble Google searches—lists of facts and links to where the facts came from.

In a world overcome by information overload, finding information is never a problem. Even a 1st grader can type the word ‘gorilla’ into a search box and find information. The question is, what can a 1st grader do with that information? If all we ask is for the child to list 5 facts about gorillas, we have missed out on a huge opportunity.

Why did the child first want to look up information about gorillas? What were they hoping to find? If we don’t teach young people to develop a path for their research, then they will easily become lost in the massive amounts of information available (just try typing ‘gorillas’ into a search engine and see what you find). When students have a goal in mind, they are more likely to be able to find meaning in the information they find and use it in ways that require critical thinking and creative applications.

That said, sometimes questions don’t arise until we have sorted through some information, so a little browsing can’t hurt. But if we browse for too long then we lose a sense of what we were looking for in the first place.

Once students have found some answers to their questions (which may have required them to revise their questions along the way), what will they do with the information that they have found?

Read the entire article by clicking here: Research in the Elementary Classroom

Project Based Learning: Where’s the Sweet Spot for Service Learning?

Not long ago, I visited an outstanding high school where students spend their days engaged in academically rigorous project-based learning. Almost in passing, the principal mentioned that students also fulfill a community-service requirement before graduation. When I asked what kinds of service projects students undertake, I was surprised by his answer: “I don’t really know. We just track hours.”

What a missed opportunity. Well-designed service-learning experiences offer students a range of benefits. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, youth stand to gain from service in three broad areas:academic engagement and achievement, civic attitudes and behavior, and social and personal skills.

We can’t expect the same benefits, however, if students perform menial tasks under the banner of service. And that’s an all-too-common situation. Although 68 percent of U.S. schools say they offer community service, only about 24 percent engage students in authentic service learning, according to the National Youth Leadership Council.

What’s the difference? In a nutshell, high-quality experiences put an equal emphasis on service and learning. The Corporation for National and Community Services defines service learning as a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Jim Kielsmeier, a longtime service-learning leader and founder of NYLC, offers this shorthand definition: “It's learning by doing, with 

a giving dimension.” 

Read entire blog by clicking here: PBL: Where’s the Sweet Spot for Service Learning?

The Brainstorming Process Is B.S. But Can We Rework It?

TWO RECENT ARTICLES ARGUE THAT BRAINSTORMING DOESN’T MAKE PEOPLE MORE CREATIVE. SO HOW MIGHT WE REMAKE THE BRAINSTORMING PROCESS, GIVEN WHAT SCIENCE TELLS US?


Read the entire post by clicking here: Entire Article