Campus Connect Articles
Awake in Seattle: Imagining, Inventing, Inspiring, Dreaming
Joel Bicknell
Head of the Middle School
This past week, several Holland Hall administrators had the opportunity to attend the National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference in Seattle, WA. There were many highlights to the trip including eating in the Athenian Grill where a famous scene from Sleepless in Seattle was filmed. That being said, the conference’s theme of “Innovation: Imagine, Invent, Inspire, Dream” struck me as pitch perfect to what differentiates independent schools and what we aspire to on a daily basis. To give you a flavor of the conversations, I thought I would share with you a few of the questions posed and reflections offered that speak to my experience in the Middle School.
From NAIS President Pat Bassett
“The question facing schools today is ‘Are we going to develop conformist thinkers or critical, creative, solution-oriented thinkers?’”
We discuss almost on a daily basis our objective to mentor our students to understanding themselves as individual learners. We honor our students’ strengths and teach strategies to help them improve in their areas of growth. Our focus on developing independent learners prepares our students for success, not only in the Upper School, but in life beyond school as well.
How can we empower students to be on fire about learning? Bill Gates would answer “Innovation is the means and equity is the goal.”
What allows independent schools to differentiate themselves is the value we place in teacher innovation. We believe the creativity of the teacher, the ability to stretch students to achieve more than they ever thought possible, improves student outcomes more than any high-stakes test could ever achieve.
From Opening Session Featured Speaker, Bill Gates
“The formal approach to teaching is going to radically change in the next ten years because of technology.”
“Technology is not a substitute for the teacher. No one is predicting face to face learning is going away … ”
“Four areas of innovation that are occurring with existing online tools – textbooks shifting to online is happening, best teachers are putting their lessons online, teachers are finding ways to leverage the positive aspects of social learning networks, teachers are personalizing learning.”
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mr. Gates. But he was tremendously insightful on current trends. Great progress has been made over the past year or two in the Middle School regarding meaningful integration of technology. Meaningful, in my view, means integration that serves the learning objectives of the lesson/unit. We will continue to make strides.
From Yale University Professor of Law and novelist, Stephen Carter
“In parents and educating, we must avoid trying to replicate ourselves. Students must be capable of ethical reflection. The skill of reflection is necessary for good leadership … students and educators must be able to separate the ‘wrongness’ of an idea from the ‘goodness’ of that person.”
Dr. Carter spoke eloquently to the greater purpose of education. As a counterpoint to Mr. Gates, he cautions against oversimplifying the learning process. If we lose the discipline and appreciation of hard work, of ‘brain sweat’ as I like to call it, we are doing our young people a disservice. It is okay to be challenged, it is okay to experience some failure (whatever that means) … in fact, it is critical that middle school students have the experience of struggle. It’s the only way they will develop resiliency.
From John Hunter, inventor of the World Peace Game
“My aim was to overcomplexify the learning activity, not to baby them. No preparation, just throw them in and let them start figuring it out. The activity should be so thrilling that they can’t do without it, but so complicated that they almost can’t do it … are you a brain stretcher?”
Mr. Hunter, the subject of an upcoming documentary World Peace and Other 4th Grade Acievements, brought the house down. As a public school teacher, he created this game in the late 70’s. I invite you to watch the trailer on YouTube. Mr. Hunter reminded me that at the roots of innovative teaching is a belief that there are no limits to what children can accomplish. We must only believe and embrace all that they are.
While I did not get to see much of Seattle in my two days, I left with many memories of ‘aha’ moments. In one general session reminiscent of a TEDTalk, Sarah Kay, a spoken word poet, asked, “how can we hear and honor our students as artists, scholars, and athletes in our schools?” The answer, quite simply, is to listen. In our Middle School, I can assure you with great confidence that our students are being heard.
Archives:
12-7-11 Middle School Curricular Point of Emphasis- Developing Global Awareness and Competencies
11-2-11 End of the Marking Period- Grades, The Process of Learning, and Calvin and Hobbes
10-4-11 Expecting Respect
9-6-11 The Common Cry of Parents … Help!
8-9-11 Summer Stories, Good Play and Success in the Middle School
5-3-11 Healthy Habits- Managing Springtime Stress
4-6-11 News From the Head
3-2-11 Cultivating Innovative Thinking in the Middle School
2-7-11 A Great Time to be a Middle School Student
1-11-11 News from the Middle School Head
12-7-10 ‘Tis the Season to Celebrate
11-2-10 Cultivating Self-Awareness in Middle School Students
10-5-10 Developing the Intellect of a Middle School Child
9-7-10 Educating Towards Moral Responsibility
8-7-10 Creating and Defining Community in the Middle School
5-19-10 Looking Ahead to the 2010-2011 School Year
4-20-10 Fine-tuning Instructional Practices
3-23-10 Gauging a Healthy Middle School
2-23-10 MS Practices-Students with Attention Issues
1-26-10 Video Games
12-15-09 A Season To Be Thankful
11-17-09 Developing Growth Mindsets in the Middle School
10-20-09 Using Technology in Holland Hall’s Middle School Arts Program
9-22-09 Nurturing Students to Reach High Expectations
8-25-09 Parents and Teachers: Partners in Mentoring Middle School Students
5-20-09 How the Middle School Develops the Essential Qualities of a HH Student
4-21-09 Video Game Addiction
3-26-09 News from the Head – March
2-24-09 Community Service
11-20-08 Unique and Purposeful Ways
10-23-08 More than Just the Numbers
9-24-08 Homework
