What is This Thing Called 20 Time? Guest Blogger: David Baroody

Overview

Passion-based research goes by many different names; 20 Time and Genius Hour are just two different terms that describe projects that center upon personal inquiry and ideas to spark innovation. Based on a framework employed by such innovative companies as Google, GE, Skype, and Apple, employees are encouraged to spend 20 percent of their time to develop, research, design, test, and refine a project or idea of their own. When applied within the classroom, this approach is meant to increase student engagement, independence, and responsibility, while allowing the teacher to model research and design skills, to provide an environment of entrepreneurship, and to give students access to feedback from authentic, real world audiences.

20 Time and the Classroom

Students can be initially skeptical of the pedagogical change embodied by student-centered, abstract learning. To aid buy-in among students so they understand how this new learning will successfully impact them, videos such as Daniel Pink’s Drive, Sir Ken Robinson’s Changing Education Paradigms, The Golden Circle, and Why We Make Bad Decisions highlight the importance of trying and failing in developing a growth mindset as a 21st century skill.

In addition to understanding the “why” of 20 time, it’s important for students to become familiar with basic parameters so they can see how the concrete components for which they are responsible are balanced against the freedom to experiment and personalize their work. The actual process involves students selecting a topic about which they are passionate, conducting initial research to craft a proposal or “pitch” for their idea, then further researching, designing, and implementing a product that showcases their learning and understanding.

For many, this may be the first time they’ve ever experienced a broad level of abstraction, and also given organizational control for such a broad and long-term project. As a result, there are a variety of structured mechanisms for teachers to support students along the way, including a basic brainstorming guide, blog feedback, impact mapping, and librarian assistance to aid research skills and strategies. After cycles of researching, feedback, reflecting, and design iterations, students can then share their work to the community in many ways, including digital platforms or TED-style presentations.

Summer Reading Fun!

Often the pace of the school year does not provide much time to read professional books and journals.  Summer affords us the time to pick up that book or magazine on a timely professional topic and see if it has something to offer that can inform our teaching.

 

Over the last three years I have accumulated a collection of books on a variety of topics that may be of interest to you...

 

Differentiated Instruction

Literacy

Restorative Practices

Resilience

Questioning for Learning

Discussion Techniques

Motivation

Teaching with Mobile Tech

 

… so drop by my office and feel free to borrow a book or magazine for all or part of the summer.

 

The following are some of the possibilities!  

 

MCIU Math Professional Development Opportuntites

2016 – 2017 MCIU Math Professional Development Opportunities

Save the Date!

o   Carnegie Learning Institutes

o   June 27 – July 1, 2016

o   Fraction Sense and Operations for Grades K – 5 (2 spots remaining)

o   Proportional Reasoning and Linear Relationships for Grades 6 – 8 (18 spots remaining)

o   Member District Cost: $400

o   How the Brain Learns Math: 

o   Math and the Pre-K/K Brain (September 20, 2016  8:30 – 3:30)

o   Math and the Preadolescent and Adolescent Brain (September 27, 2016  8:30 – 3:30)

o   Member District Cost: $75 per Session

o   Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices Series

o   How to Implement Tasks that Promote Reasoning and Problem Solving

o   Grades K – 2: November 10, 2016 8:30 – 3:30

o   Grades 3 – 5: December 1, 2016 8:30 – 3:30

o   Grades 6 – 12: October 18, 2016 8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: $75

o   How to Facilitate Meaningful Mathematics Discourse and Pose Purposeful Questions

o   Grades K – 2: February 7 and March 22, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Grades 3 – 5: January 10 and February 16, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Grades 6 – 12: December 7, 2016 and January 17, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: $140 for 2 days of training

o   Math Design Collaborative

o   Elementary

o   Initial 2-day training November 16 and 17, 2016  8:30 – 3:30

o   Third day of follow-up training January 19, 2017  8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: $195 for 3-days of Training

o   Secondary

o   Initial 2-day training November 29 and 30, 2016  8:30 – 3:30

o   Third day of follow-up training January 31, 2017  8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: $195 for 3-days of Training

o   Math Speaker Series

o   Margaret Smith – Teaching Practices that Support Students in Understanding and Learning Mathematics

o   October 26, 2016:  Audience K – 5 and October 27, 2016: Audience 6 - 12

o   Member District Cost: $95 per day or $145 for 2-days

o   Paul Riccomini – Maximize All Students' Algebraic Thinking Through the Use of Powerful Instructional

         Strategies and Techniques

o   February 21, 2017: Audience 6 – 12

o   Member District Cost: $95

o   Math Speaker Series Continued

o   Paul Riccomini – Maximize All Elementary Students' Mathematical Learning Through the Use of Powerful Instructional Strategies and Techniques

o   February 22, 2017: Audience K - 5

o   Member District Cost: $95

CRA (Concrete, Representational, Abstract) Trainings:

o   Early Numeracy

o   September 15, 2016  8:30 – 3:30 or January 25, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: None

o   Addition and Subtraction

o   October 13, 2016  8:30 – 3:30 or February 23, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: None

o   Multiplication and Division

o   November 22, 2016  8:30 – 3:30 or March 28, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: None

o   Fractions

o   December 14, 2016  8:30 – 3:30 or May 10, 2017 8:30 – 3:30

o   Member District Cost: None

For more information contact Stephanie Schwab at 610-755-9369 or sschwab@mciu.org

ADVIS: Global Gatherings

ExCamp a Big Hit!

GA’s first EXCamp was a rousing success.  On the afternoon of May 2, 2016, approximately one hundred teachers attended fourteen different workshops designed and facilitated by colleagues across a wide range of topics.   Inspired by the favorable response to this kind of peer to peer professional development, the Professional Development Task Force will recommend to the Heads of Schools that we plan another series of these workshops on an In-Service Day next year.

Because many teachers were coaching and, therefore, unable to attend the event, we are making available the materials used in some of the workshops.  Many thanks to the presenters for so generously sharing their work with their colleagues.  Click here for access to the handouts and powerpoint presentations.

Please take a moment to provide some feedback on the event.

The Professional Development Task Force

Flipping My Classroom: Guest Blogger Rebecca Burnett

Sometimes, my kids get sick.  Sometimes, it snows.  Sometimes, half my class is missing for an away game last period.  In each of these situations, I have found it’s hugely helpful to have some digital content in my back pocket so that students can still have a useful class experience, even when we’re not in the same room together.  Because the curriculum keeps advancing and students can work through this part of it independently, I am able to spend the quality time we do have together discussing at the Harkness table.  The VLE affords me a great opportunity to do something productive with the students while we are apart, enabling our time together to be as effective as possible.  

My favorite way to flip the classroom is to use SMART recorder to record an opening lecture for a unit or some other form of video lesson.  This year, when it snowed just as we were about to start A Midsummer Night’s Dream in English 9, I was able to buy back valuable instruction time by recording my introduction to Shakespeare using SMART recorder, uploading it to youtube, and embedding that lecture on the VLE.  For homework, the students watched the lecture, which meant we could read Shakespeare together in class.  Rather than asking students to muddle through the first scene of the play on their own, I was able to provide hands on assistance as they worked through the text in the classroom.  Delivering the lecture through the VLE bought me that time.  It also allowed students to go back and check parts of the lecture when they had questions.  While this method was a happy accident this year, I plan to always deliver the lecture virtually in the future.  

I also once used the online discussion tool on the VLE to allow AP students to lead class discussions in which I could participate when I was away at a conference.  I set aside our regular class time for students to read the novel, and then asked students to check into a digital discussion within a 6 hour window that evening.  Students needed to post a minimum of one comment, but they wound up really engaging each other in dialogue, checking back several times over the course of the evening to see what others had said and respond.  I was able to be online from my hotel in Boston and participate with the students in real time.  While I definitely prefer to have these conversations in person and during the school day, as I prefer face-to-face interaction and am mindful of my students’ time in the evenings, in this instance, the VLE enabled me to remain connected to my students from another state.   

EXCamp at GA: Sharing Expertise in Teaching

Monday, May 2, 2016 ~ Big Day at GA!

Germantown Academy faculty will attend the first all-school faculty EXCamp.  During two 35-minute sessions in the afternoon, a total of  twenty-five   teachers will present 35-minute sessions on topics of interest to them and their colleagues.  Topics include

·      Assessment-Based Curriculum Development,

·      Metacognition: How Thinking about Thinking Influences How We Teach and Learn,

·      Ways to use the VLE for more than just posting assignments,

·      Get Collaborating: Big Think Walls, Project Based Learning, and Student Centered Inquiry in the BCI

…and many more.

This event is a wonderful opportunity for peer-to-peer professional development.  The expertise of the GA faculty is a rich resource for all teachers, and on Monday, May 2, instead of going out, we are staying right here at GA and learning from one another.

Additionally, on the evening of Monday, May 2, Germantown Academy proudly welcomes award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson to our campus for a presentation for children and adults.  Ms. Woodson is the author of Brown Girl Dreaming and many other young adult books.  Please click here for more information.