This was taken on the first day I was at Mountain Ridge Middle school. MRMS is where I worked for the first week of externship. The art teacher at MRMS, Shelly, had students take chairs that were going to be thrown away, and re-purpose them. This was from the night of the symposium. The students were exhibiting their iLab projects. One team of teachers did a STEM project about ecology. Students broke off into groups and designed different environments. At Mountain Vista High School, there are plans to turn this room and an adjacent one into a fabrication lab. It will be used to implement Project Based Learning. This is an engineering class at MVHS. The group of students presenting here built a robotic arm and hand for a fellow student that does not have use of their hand. | This is a school assembly that happened during the first day of externship. The whole school gathered. This is iLab. It's a class that was designed from the HTH model. One day we worked with a sixth grade class, whose teacher decided to try PBL. At Castle View High School a group of four teachers designed a program called MOSAIC. They recruited 100 students to participate in the PBL program. This is a first grade class at Mammoth Heights Elementary School. The class used exercise balls in place of chairs. Second grade teacher Mary Lisa B. at Mammoth Heights Elementary School received a grant to transform her classroom. Here, you can see students doing a "Mystery Skype" call with someone living in Mozambique. This way of learning geography is just one example of how innovative this classroom is. |
0 Comments
How did your view of life beyond high school change or developed during your time as an intern?
It changed more than I originally thought. Like I talked about in previous blog posts, education is not currently something I am officially studying in college, but I can easily see that changing. Ever since last year when I went to England and did an internship not unlike this one, education has been sitting in the back of my head. Then, during our inquiry projects this year in Will's class, I furthered my interest in education by researching it for my project. Before this internship, I knew that I was interested in education, had solutions in my head, and knew good practices, but hadn't realized the legitimacy of them until now. After working with countless of teachers and students, I now realize that the knowledge I have and have shared, is beyond valuable to these teachers. Now, looking ahead, I can easily see myself going into education, and making positive changes in the world. What new questions has your externship inspired you to ask about our world? What has it made you wonder about? What are you motivated to go out and do or learn about on your own time? Today I was having a conversation with a teacher and about eight students. The students were asking me questions about PBL when the teacher brought up freedom in the classroom. I described how at HTH we are given a lot of trust and with that comes respect. Then, one student said something along the lines of, "Well, I think if we give sixth graders that much freedom, that they will just goof off and do nothing." Then I had a sort of epiphany. We, as a country, have created the notion that when students are given trust, that they will abuse it. It was the strangest thing to me. This student, who was responsible, hard-working, and who seemed trustworthy, was just assuming that he and his classmates would not respect the trust their teacher gave them. And I said that to them, and if kind of left everyone thinking. That situation right there has made me exteremly curious about culture in education. Why do we have a preconceived notion that when students are given freedom, that they will abuse it? Why do students believe that notion? How can we change it? I am motivated to go out into the world and help change those notions and school cultures. How did interpersonal relationships and/or collaboration at work influence your understanding of life outside of high school? I think that most people, including myself, think that life outside of high school and even college is going to be more of just "going through the motions." But really, everything is pretty random. Sure, people have schedules, but the people I have been working with are not unhappy. In fact, I have met some of the most passionate and innovative people here in Colorado. A lot of the time, too, people don't necessarily know what they're doing-- and that's okay! People are okay with failing, and that's a good thing, because that is where so much learning happens. After this internship, I can say that I feel more prepared, and more excited, for life outside of high school. How did you make a meaningful contribution to your workplace/world/self?
I made a contribution to the district I am working in, but also the world. However small a district may be, I know that what I am doing here will spread. Douglas County School District is doing a lot with innovation, mainly starting to move towards a more Project Based Learning curriculum. We have worked with numerous teachers, administrators, and students, most of whom are passionate about trying out a new type of learning. I have also reinforced my belief that I am doing meaningful work in the world that will better impact a large group of people. How was your work significant or meaningful to the world beyond school and your specific internship site? My work was meaningful beyond my workplace because education is a part of everyone's lives. I know that some of the teachers I have worked with are going to go on and spread their newfound knowledge. I also have met a lot of people from outside of Douglas County, and even the state of Colorado. Today, I met some teachers from Wisconsin, who will be implementing PBL in their schools. What did you learn about your own work from your externship project? Today was an incredible experience. I met with a think tank called Create Something Great, who will be teaching teachers how to redesign classrooms. I met with some teachers from Wisconsin, who came to DCSD to learn what they were doing, and I met with another group of people who are working on education in other parts of the world. I felt truly amazing today. Today, something clicked in my head: I realized that I was in the real world, and that people didn't think of me as a kid, or student-- but as a peer and co-worker. Today, I learned that my work is truly important, and actually making an impact on people's lives. At this point, I will be a double major in psychology and journalism. I chose those two because I have a lot of interest in them, but am fully open and aware that they will probably change. I have a feeling if I do change them, one of them will change to education. Ever since my internship last year I have been increasingly interested in education. This internship has made that passion of mine blossom even more. We have met so many passionate teachers here, and it only makes me want to go into education even more. There are so many innovative, open-minded teachers here, that I am sure Douglas County School District is heading in an incredible new direction.
I commented on Adriana's and Kevin's blog. We viewed the high school accross the street from the middle school today. It's huge! They have a total of 2100 students, which is as big as all of the schools on the HTH campus. They, too, are trying to move towards project based learning. It is a bit harder, though, because of push back from some teachers. Also, because of the deep roots in the traditional education. But, like the middle school, they are introducing some AMAZING project based classes. As far as advocacy, things are pretty relaxed here. We do have input in what we do, which is very nice. I commented on Amanda and Janie's blog. I was supposed to post photos today, but accidentally did yesterday... But here are some more! It's been great so far here at Mountain Ridge Middle school. We have met so many incredible teachers, and are starting to get a better idea of how things work around here. Like HTH, MRMS does a lot of projects. One thing that we noticed, though, was that some of the teachers go at it with a different approach: instead of building, and then learning through analyzing; they learn, and then build. Additionally, we have been working with iLab students and teachers. iLab is a class that was introduced this year. In this class students find and issue, and then through research, and real-world connections come up with a solution. Tonight, those students will be presenting. I am meeting some people that I really hope I stay in touch with. It's such an induration to see so much change happening! I commented on Michelle's and Killian's blogs. I worked from home today because school was canceled due to the wildfires raging through the North County area of San Diego. I have continued planning and updating my website. I have also been working out last-minute details for our trip. I am really looking forward to being able to connect with all of the students and teachers over in Colorado. I know that I will be able to challenge myself and learn a lot. Only three more days until I leave! Stay safe, everyone.
Commented on Rachel's and Becca's blog. This week is a prep week for me. For the past two days I have been building and designing a website for the teachers and students that I will be visiting next week in Colorado. I am excited to broaden my knowledge of our education system, and hopefully learn some new things that I will be able to bring back here to San Diego. I am also looking forward to being able to share my knowledge with the faculty of the Douglas County School District. All in all, I know that this will be a learning experience for everyone.
|