Friday, April 8, 2011
The Journey Begins.....
On Tuesday, 8 teachers from North Marion High School, set out on a road trip to explore the New Tech High School Network. This was only the first of many expeditions that will take our teachers to places like Indiana, Illinois, and Texas. This blog will serve as a place for people to share their experiences, thoughts, questions, concerns, ideas, and whatever else comes to mind.
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The idea of New Tech changing the facets of education not just at North Marion, but in West Virginia in whole is an exciting prospect. I am anxious to begin the journey towards making North Marion a New Tech High School. I felt after going to Rochester and Danville that the students lives were positively impacted by the way that New Tech has changed the way in which they learn. I could not believe the positivity and enthusiasm that the students exhibited during our trips. In talking to various students, all had positive comments about New Tech and most admitted that it changed not just their perspective on their education, but the impact that it has had on their life outside of school as well. Students who were mostly shy before new tech now were able to greet guests at the door while the teacher continued to teach the students. These students were eager to show us what projects they were working on and explain the processes that their group used to bring about cohesiveness and trust that enabled them to work together towards a common goal. I felt encouraged that this model could most definitely work here at NMHS and am excited about the prospect of changing the educational culture for student learning. Although there are logistics to be worked out and much planning to be done, the model does work for the benefit of the students and therefore it is imperative that we carry out the operation. I feel honored to work with such great and supportive teachers and staff as we begin this journey. It is my hope that once other teachers can see and experience how New Tech schools operate that they too will be on board with the idea of implementing this model at NMHS. Many of us discussed that the model of the New Tech High School is one that must be seen as we cannot do it proper justice by explaining it to someone else; it just simply must be seen to be believed.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
-Sunda Gerard
Sunda,
ReplyDeleteI agree! They were so eager to show us what they had done! I think that the best part was the student engagement! It was amazing to see a whole class working, no one with their heads down or in space! I also feel honored to be working with such a great group of professionals! Danville and Rochester certainly had wonderful things happening in thier schools, but I'm confident that North Marion's staff is just a step above what we saw. I think that with our staff and student's the possibilities for North Marion in the near future are truely endless! What a wonderful time to be in field of education and a teacher at North Marion!
Kristin DeVaul
I, too, am very excited about not only what a New Tech High would be able to offer our students but also what this type of environment will do for our faculty. How exciting would it be to see all of your students, of varying abilities and backgrounds, working together collaboratively to master the content and create outstanding projects in which they can take ownership and pride?!!? I don't believe this is a pipe dream; we saw it happening with kids just like ours.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne
I am so excited just thinking about how a New Tech high could hook our students and keep them in school until graduation. Rochester and Danville showed evidence of increasing graduation rates. That is one of our major goals. We spend millions to have nice buildings in our county but New Tech is and investment on what goes on inside our building. I am looking foward to learning more in Texas. It was a very productive trip to Indiana and Illinois. I was very impressed with the pleasant atmosphere in the classrooms, with the confidence those students displayed, their communication/social skills, regardless of race or ethnicity. They seem ready for the workplace. We ought to try it here. Huskies New Tech, Farmington New Tech, North Marion New Tech... sounds nice!
ReplyDeleteTeresa Baxter
I have been excited about this adventure for a while now, but after talking throughout the day with those of you who toured the New Techs this week, I'm more ready than ever to dive in and make it work here at North. To use a cliche, your enthusiasm is infectious. I agree with Kristen: It is an awesome and exciting time to be working with students at North Marion High School. Let's do this!!!
ReplyDeleteAmy
There is much exciting work to be done. Thankfully one of the purposes of an innovation zone is to empower teachers to make positive changes in their schools and to do what they think is best for their students. We want to show the entire state what excellence looks like! We've done project based learning on a small scale, but there are so many things that have held us back from providing the environment will make this teaching the norm. Not so anymore! Pull together, Huskies! Joetta
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ReplyDeleteSince the trip to I&I, my mind has been so consumed with PBL, school culture, shared leadership, scheduling, graduation, and interdisciplinary class ideas that I can hardly sleep. To be completely honest I had all intentions of leaving teaching to pursue a career to change educational policies to make public school better for our students. Now that the New Tech model has been brought to my attention I cannot even think about doing anything else. So this concept will not only salvage our students, but it will save our teachers. This has been completely invigorating to me and I want to stress to the faculty that we NEED this at North Marion. As an anecdote I can tell you that when I walked into the American Studies class (American Literature and History) in Danville I started to get emotional. Literally, tears came to my eyes. EVERY SINGLE STUDENT WAS ENGAGED!!! No heads down. No complaining. To "feel" that learning environment working, even just as a spectator, was so overwhelming (in a good way). As I said, my mind has not stopped thinking about how amazing NMNewTech can be. The possibilities are endless and I cannot wait for next school year!
ReplyDeleteTo the next trip...be prepared to be blown away!!!
Any Huskies in the House?!?!
April
This blog needs a "LIKE" button! Love this, April.
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