What inspires creativity in students? What drives them to learn? Will they forever be asking, "Is this on the test?" Well, my colleague Nancy Power and I are embarking on the #mss20Time project with some Grade 9 and 10 academic English students to find out...
Weeks 1 & 2 of the #mss20Time Project was like nothing I had experienced before as a secondary school English teacher. I knew going into this project that I would have to relinquish most of the control over not only the final product, but of the process as well, and that was frightening. I told the Grade 9 and 10 students that when I introduced the ISU assignment (Independent Study Unit), usually the expectations were crystal clear as was the end result; very "book reportish" tasks that could have easily been taken from the Internet. For example, "read two books - tell me about the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflicts, the ending, the themes, etc. and then present all your information in a pretty way". Were any of my past students inspired by this ISU? Were any of them actually interested in the assignment? Did most of the students read the books or did they just regurgitate (copy and paste) info found on the Internet? Hmm..
Weeks 1 & 2 of the #mss20Time Project was like nothing I had experienced before as a secondary school English teacher. I knew going into this project that I would have to relinquish most of the control over not only the final product, but of the process as well, and that was frightening. I told the Grade 9 and 10 students that when I introduced the ISU assignment (Independent Study Unit), usually the expectations were crystal clear as was the end result; very "book reportish" tasks that could have easily been taken from the Internet. For example, "read two books - tell me about the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflicts, the ending, the themes, etc. and then present all your information in a pretty way". Were any of my past students inspired by this ISU? Were any of them actually interested in the assignment? Did most of the students read the books or did they just regurgitate (copy and paste) info found on the Internet? Hmm..
I first heard about 20time on Twitter, and how Google employees were given 20% of their time to work on projects of interest. A result? Gmail. This idea was then transferred to the classroom. Imagine what students could do if given time to pursue topics, hobbies and passions of interest! This led me to 20time.org and Kevin Brookhouser, which led me to A.J. Juliani and Joy Kirr and a passionate wave of educators wanting to make change. I was hooked. The traditional pen and paper ISU was out the window.
Week 1 started off with, "What is 20time?" This is the video that Ms. Power and I showed our students - "20Time Projects in 4 Minutes":
Week 1 saw students hear and see the scope of projects done by students their age. I told them, "The process and end result of this project is so out of the box that there is no box". Truthfully, they bought in immediately.
A fun and intense brainstorming session followed. In groups and using post-it notes, students came up with as many ideas as they could for a 12-week 20time project - what could they research, create, and present a mini-Ted Talk on? Oh, and it should be something they were really interested in. Something they have wanted to learn about, or a physical or mental hurdle they haven't been able to overcome; anything of interest to them - a passion project so to speak!
The discussion was immediate and came in a frenzy. What about this? Can I do that?
Some ideas: teaching dance lessons to elementary students, learning about and eating vegan for one month (and making a feast), learning a new instrument and vlogging about it, researching stand-up comics and doing a routine, creating art work and sending art supplies to remote communities, etc. Amazing!
Next step: completing and submitting, "Brainstorming Guides" and preparing for 60-second pitches. To align with our Blended Learning environment, the 9's and 10's will have to create a video/animation for their "pitch" using the web tool of their choice. I can't wait to see them!
