An approach to building a program

 

2/5/08

 

The process I am undertaking in Building my Engineering program is built upon several ideas and actions:

1. Bringing attention to the positive.
   
   1. I have made a practice of going through my grade book with students each Friday and publicly addressing their success, the specifics of how they have achieved, and then asking if they would like me to call home and describe to a parent or guardian of how proud I am of their achievement.
      
      1. Showing that I value students through learning about their interests and engaging with them in fun and conversation.
         
      2. Honoring their interests and learning about what they know and can teach.
         
      3. Using "how am I doing" surveys.
         
   2. Giving opportunities for student leadership and acknowledging when it is instantiated through extending choice, autonomy, and rewards in the grade book.
      
      1. Especially when this leadership is focused on helping classmates.
         
   3. Display of student work and the creation of public venues for advancing their work and showcasing their talent.
      

      
       

   4. In grading I have built performance assessments through criteria referenced assessments so that students may have choice and description of how they grade out in my class—in essence, allowing them to choose their grades through effort and informed requests for assistance.
      
      1. This process allows students the power of scheduling and foresight.
         
         1. This process also allows for students to look ahead for aspects of assignments that build to their strengths.
            
         2. This process allows for clear and cohesive learning outcomes that can be used as a roadmap.
            

            
             

   5. Using the discourse of play and learning though doing and creating an open door for those who would like to participate in a continuous improvement system, allowing them to show mastery through additional attempts at an assignment.
      
      1. This process of resilience and academic tenacity is rewarded through public praise when appropriate.
         
      2. Removing the stress of achievement anxiety and test fatigue.
         

         
          

2. Offering high interest, criteria referenced, and standards based curriculum that embodies the content of Project Lead the Way and experiential learning.
   
   1. Studying and practicing the curriculum so that traditional formal approaches to teaching can be modified to fit active learning where the content can be discovered and the process is built upon small steps that build early and instant success.
      
   2. Make the learning fun through offering educational experiences where the students can:
      
      1. Explore, discover, manipulate, share, reflect, build, display, and perform.
         
   3. Using cutting edge technology and tools that connects the learner with Millennial tools for the new labor market and information and innovation economy.
      

      
       

3. Interacting in a community of practice with educators who are interested in continually improving their craft through both the art and science of teaching in continuing coursework, professional journals, and professional development.
   
   1. Connecting with educators in my content area
      
      1. In school
         
      2. In district
         
      3. At different grade levels
         
      4. Nationally and internationally
         
      5. Connecting to the practice in the professional spaces of public and private industry.
         
4. Bringing resources to my students to enrich their educational experience.
   
   1. Working to help them make connections with their aspirations as they develop and refine them.
      
   2. Suggesting pathways to develop and extend their talents
      
   3. Asking them about their lives, who they are, and who they are in the process of becoming.
      
   4. Looking for scholarship, internship, and personal development opportunities in extra –curricular activities, community service, professional and student organizations, and affinity groups.
      

      
       

5. Engaging in action research to question my assumptions about student learning and look for empirically sound methods for showing the growth and achievement of my students and refining my teaching practice.
   
   1. Looking at how I create learning contexts, of the students interact, and the outcomes of this process.
      
   2. Using validated models of data collection
      
   3. Engaging in the process of reflective practice.