Die, 20th Century Learning!

Chris Binge, principal of Island School, presented a session called, "Birth of a 21st century curriculum," but I think "Death of a 20th century curriculum" would be more accurate.  About 5 years ago they made a huge change to their curriculum by adopting a curriculum program they designed called 'Island Time.'  Imagine taking that club you organized, Fix It Club, SmartGate, Robotics, or the one that you always dreamed of starting but haven't gotten around to yet (think swashbuckling club, knitting circle or cooking club), and turning that into a semester course that meets once a week during the school day for 4.5 hours.  So cool!

Island School allows their teachers to design and lead courses on topics they are passionate about; cooking, scuba diving, dance, programming.  Students participate in 10 of these courses during the course of their secondary career.  Students pursue topics/projects of interest within the course so it is highly differentiated and crosses over grade levels in high school.  There are no grades given, though they are assessed via blog posts.

This program challenges some of our current beliefs about teaching including UBD and assessment, but I would love to take my Fix It Club to the next level!  (The level where they don't chase each other with hammers, saws, and sharp objects.)