They are usually taken by surprise when we answer, "Maybe."
So what if they do miss out?
What amazes me is that most people assume the purpose of high school is to learn everything you will need to know for a successful life...as if learning stopped at high school. Like nothing much else will happen in the next sixty years? How much do your actually remember from your high school classes. I actually forgot that I ever took chemistry until I saw my report card in an old scrapbook. Ironic that I had an A. Personally, most of the skills I use now were learned after high school--even after my college degree. Funny how a person can keep on learning after the diploma.
What needs the new perspective for most people, is the idea that we create lifetime learners here. True learning happens with things and ideas you use and or care about. If that is not quadratic equations for now, that doesn't mean that some time down the road you might choose to learn advanced algebra. Pressure of an outdated set of standards is not a good motivator for true learning.
What happens around here is enough to make a teacher smile--often. Teachers live for those "a ha" moments when a students gets it, the times when they choose to learn more than we expect. Rare in the traditional school setting, it is common in our educational environment. Today for example.
Last week when we finished up a course,Optimizing Brain Power, I asked around for suggestions for a replacement class. One of the options was an online astronomy class. One brought free of charge by real astronomers. (Have you noticed that those who are really passionate about a subject make the best teachers?) At first the younger students seemed a little cautious. Astronomy sounded hard. Then they heard a couple of our young mentors talking about black holes, the string theory and other assorted facts they had learned from independent research. (After formal courses in biology, chemistry and physics, who had time to learn astronomy in high school?) Hmm. Maybe it was a little more interesting if these older guys seemed enthusiastic. I went ahead and put it on the schedule, even though our staff members were the only ones to formally commit to the class.
Today, when I announced it was time for the Astronomy class to begin, I asked who was interested. Immediately both mentors, themselves not quite two years out of high school, jumped up with enthusiasm. Then, two previously uninterested students joined them.
What am I proud of in this scenario? Not that our students responded to the leading of their mentors, though that is a critical part of our plan. No, I smile when I see these young men, once my students, still eager to engage in active learning. They don't see their diploma as the end of learning, just as a hoop to jump through to fulfill what society said they needed.
So what if a student who chooses game development over French lessons or 20th century history over Government? What if a teen never actually masters algebra? The good news is that learning never ends. Technology has placed the ability to learn almost anything immediately at our fingers. We live in an amazing time. No longer do we need worry about getting it all in or fret that our scope and sequence has too many gaping holes. Knowledge is there for the taking. At eLemenT, we are teaching a better lesson. We help students realize that they can learn anything at anytime in a myriad of ways. That is the key to becoming the innovative thinkers, the problem solvers that future employers are really looking for.
By the way, the astronomy class was excellent. We can't wait for next week.
