Secondary Interdisciplinary Studies

 

As with any new program it will take time to see the fruits of the labor.  Educators need to go beyond "personalized learning" as a buzz word to truly make it a reality for all students in every classroom.  The 21st Century learner needs to be self-directed and self-managed.  Educators need to make a jump from the more traditional curriculum to one that fosters innovation, collaboration and rigorous thinking.  The evolution to personalized learning is an adaptive change that takes time; it is hard, it is disruptive, and it creates uncertainty.  It will force educators, leaders, and students alike to examine and oftentimes abandon deeply held beliefs in order to reframe the teacher / student role in a classroom.  There is no readily available answer to tell you what to do and how to do it.  You will need to create your own roadmap as you go.  

 

 

Although the idea of interdisciplinary teaching is not a new one- far from it- it will be new at many schools in our district.  In addition, there will be many failures along the way for both students and teachers. This is to be expected and encouraged.  For this program to work everyone should feel comfortable with and ready for failure. We must all fail forward in order to make significant change to the way we go about educating students. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the program is developing there will be indicators of success along the way.  If the program is successful we should expect the following:

• Students are engaged and excited about being a part of and creating their own learning

• Less apathy from the students

• Teachers will collaborate on a much higher level and will plan, scaffold and mentor students through interdisciplinary lessons and projects

• The level of student inquiry will increase and teachers will have to guide them less and less

• The quality and depth of student projects will become more and more evident

 

Visible Learning

• Students will be expected to share their learning with authentic audiences, not just their immediate teachers.

• This will include sharing their learning with other students, teachers, adults, community members, business people, and over time, they will share their work with the world via online porfolios and websites.

• Students will be encouraged to attempt to publish their work

• POLs (Presentations of Learning)

  • Once or twice a year students will invite community members, parents, teachers and other students to a presentation of their learning.  This may take the shape of a learning fair, a presentation or a mini TED conference

 

Increased Resiliency demonstrated by both students and teacher

• By failing (achieving undesirable or unforeseen outcomes) at assignments, projects and prototypes, studens will learn the all important skill of resiliency. 

• This will be cultivated by constantly reflecting on what went right and what went astray in their work and then having opportunities to redo/refine their work to demonstrat their learning.

• As teachers realize the creative energy inherent in the students they too will become more resilient to setbacks. 

 

Content and assignments will become more student centered and student created

• As students become more comfortable with the skills they are expected to demonstrate in each content area they will become more confident in creating learning opportunities which will demonstrate these skills across curriculums.

 

Assessments

• Since we live and work in a world of testing, students will have to demonstrate that they are learning the skills they are supposed to as outlined by state and district standards

  • Test scores will be important, yet the Digital Portfolios and level of project work will also be a means to demonstrate mastery of skills and standards

 

Student satisfaction and retention

• If the program is successful, students will want to be in the program and will want to stay in the program. 

• If numbers drop, then we will have to revisit the program goals and operations to make sure we are impacting students in an effective manner and that we are keeping it meaninful to them.