questions on my mind…

So after the introductory presentation tonight, the question that I’m pondering is how do we customize learning experiences for our students when the focus is on standardizing the curriculum? You have to understand that the premise behind engagement is that we can’t engage students unless we truly understand their interests and motives. This makes sense, so how do we balance that with the focus on standardizing the curriculum? We have to have content standards, but maybe these standards are not directly linked to age or a state-mandated calendar? I spoke with someone today from Florida Virtual Schools, and she said that they have the flexibility to really work with students one-on-one and they can take as much time as they need because they could take as long as they needed for the student to truly understand the content. So what if we did that? What if I’m taking math and science, and my science class is only 3 months because I really get it and my math class is 10 months because I need more time to “get” the content. I think it might come back to the idea that change can’t really happen–true transformational change–unless we’re willing to change the system. We throw the bell schedule out, toss the school calendar, and truly customize. Are we talking anarchy? What’s next–no books?!

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Working on the Work Conference

I’m at the Working on the Work conference in Dallas. This conference is the work of the Schlechty Center for Leadership Reform. If you’ve read our blog or listened to our podcasts, you’ve heard us mention this group. This time, I’m going to attend the Digital Learner strand, hoping to pick up some new ideas and make new connections for 21st century learners. So over the next few days, in the spirit of sharing, I’m going to post my notes (for what they are) and hopefully my thoughts as well. Feel free to email me if you have any questions–I’d love to talk over this learning as I prepare my mind to get messy!

Notes:

• Notes from Sunday’s introductory session by George Thompson.
• Notes from Monday’s keynote by Phil Schlechty.
• Notes from Monday’s work in the Digital Learning strand.

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