Sex Linked Traits

63 & 17 - FREEDOM, CHOICE & TIME

Time is one of the most valuable commodities that most of us tend to take for granted.

What happens when a group of High School Seniors are given time?
Add to that Freedom and Choice to the mix.  Two very valuable aspects of our lives.

For some that time and freedom becomes a pathway to an amazing journey of self discovery and production.  For others those jewels become a frustration highway for reflection and recognition of weaknesses.  While still others become handcuffed by the lack of regiment created in most aspects of their lives.

The time of our Innovations Journey is quickly passing and we are up against the deadline of 63 days until final presentations which translates to only 17 class days in our block schedule.

For Seniors in the Innovations class the reality of first quarter grades, SAT/ACT testing, college apps, homecoming, winter formal etc, etc... has begun to takes its toll on the enthusiasm that drove the beginning.

Motivation now must be at it's peak as these innovators begin to produce the pieces of their creative endeavors.  Energy is at a premium as these students are weighed down by the burden of six other periods that demand that they follow directions, meet deadlines, take tests and read the book.  A class based upon the FREEDOM of CHOICE and TIME is easily the sacrificial lamb for the relief of stress.

The most critical aspects of this course thereby become the possible weapons of destruction as students try to balance the expectations of a college prep world based upon chasing GPA.  However, it is these very aspects that will be the deciding factors for these very students when they are asked to be productive members of the community at large.

FREEDOM, CHOICE & TIME, tools for success or creative destruction.


  

LSHS Innov8tions Pitch Days

Peers Can Be Amazing Resources

Our first Innov8tions Pitch Day was a day of anxiety and excitement as students unveiled their project plans to their fellow innov8tors.

The students did not disappoint in my expectations for their presentations. There were those that were of course over-prepared and captured the attention of their peers, there were also those who came  in and underwhelmed their classmates.  This of course is not a surprise and I could have predicted each case as It was very apparent that those who had used their first month of brainstorming and work had truly embraced their concept and were either ready to take off on their project or were already well involved.

The true value of the Pitch Day did not actually come from the presenting of the project itself but in the questions and critiques provided by classmates as they focused on generating ideas to take each project further.  It was amazing to see the willingness to share information, websites, contact, possible mentors and growth ideas.  The genuine focus on encouraging students to take their projects further and possible methods to grow them was an incredible by-product of the process. Quite often presenters downplayed the value and importance of the project not wanting to set expectations for themselves too high.  But with the energy generated from their peers it seems that these artificial barriers and reluctance can be reduced if not altogether eliminated. 

I hope the outward encouragement of others manifests itself in self promotion of their own Innovations projects as we continue through these pitch days for the next couple classes. 

Student VLOGS: Sharing with the World

Enhancing the Possibilities for Collaboration

As part of the Innovative process, students in the @LSinnov8tions class will share their projects, processes, failures and successes with the world through a variety of mediums including, Social Media, Twitter (#LSHSInnov8), Blogging (http://bit.ly/1OwKV0x) and Vlogging on You Tube (http://bit.ly/1d2QSoV).

Today, students created their initial Vlogs to introduce their Innovations Projects.

Innovation students are always looking for opportunities to partner with experts, who can mentor them in their Innovative Endeavors.   By sharing their Genius Hour/Passion Projects with the world it is their hope that the LEARNING pathway may be enhanced.

Scratching the Surface

La Salle High 5 Club 

@alvisolance0228 and @bettinal10024 get the first @LSinnov8tions project up and running as the inaugural meeting of the students in the High 5 Club and the 29 Day Challenge held their first meeting.

This is Genius - Freedom with Expectations

I share the YouTube video This is Genius with my classes as an invitation for my students to demand more from their education.  To expect the opportunity to stretch their minds and think beyond the basics set by the standardization of the alphabet world of acronyms set byDepartments of Education and the Educational Testing Service, CCS, NGSS, HSPT, ISEE, SAT, ACT, LSAT, GMAT, etc....

"It seems that high school is about putting you in a box so someone can tell you what to think and how to think it."  A quote from one of my @LSinnov8tions students as he worked through brainstorming his project to 3D print and build a drone.

The problem, meeting the expectations of a system built on controlled compliance built on an industrial model efficiency comes from standardization. The model of efficiency often mimicking a militaristic model of lines, rows and columns to keep order. Leader in the front and response compliance as the expected outcome.  Don't think react based on what you have been told to think.

What happens though when the course provides for thought?  What are the expectations that come with freedom?  This is the struggle that most students have the most difficulty with.  It is so much easier to simply follow directions, do what your told and repeat what you have been told.  The responsibility is with the teacher or leader and the possibility for success and failure are directly related to their control.

The FREEDOM that is provided in the @LSinnov8tions course comes with expectations that are so much more demanding than the standard academic course. To quote Ben Parker from the Spiderman franchise, "With great Power comes great Responsibility." Likewise with great Freedom comes great Responsibility. Responsibility to use time wisely, to meet deadlines, to utilize your talents, to share outcomes, to create in order to share and to make a difference. 

This innovations course and the ability to work on a Passion Project comes with the expectation that this is a endeavor that you would doing if you had the time outside to get it done.  The focus is not about accumulating scores or checking off the steps of a rubric, but in the actual LEARNING that takes place when you do something you enjoy.  Seek your Motivation, Discover you Drive and Unveil your Passion and allow the ingenuity, and creativity that have been boxed in by courses of compliance.  

The choice is yours, value the freedom and the demands of greater expectations, because the LEARNING is yours. 

A Challenge from the Past.

In 1962 President John F. Kennedy challenged the country with the immortal words, "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." (Speech Text)

This current push to include genius hour, maker-spaces and innovation courses in the curriculum of today's educational landscape serves a similar purpose of challenge to todays' youth to tap into their ingenuity and produce ideas that will invigorate their present while changing their future.

The gauntlet throne down that October Day in 1962 at Rice University in Texas served as a spark that lit a firestorm of technological development of which we are still reaping rewards. Computers, Cell Phones, Satellite/Cable Television, Clothing, Safety Equipment, Velcro, the list is endless. (Products List)

We have an incredible opportunity to challenge our students with that same freedom of innovation. To tap their youthful ingenuity and creativity in an attempt to open a floodgate of concepts and ideas that only youth can serve before they become anesthetized by an educational system that rewards compliance and test scores rather than creation and imagination.

The innovative process lends itself naturally to process and problem solving. Valuing questions over answers and encouraging students to embrace failure as an acceptable part of any truly educational endeavor. Teaching students to measure their success not by a set of organized rubrics and standards but by the idea that one can grow each day and the better today than yesterday is an acceptable measure of achievement.

Challenge students to venture outside the box or remove the box altogether. To not wait for the knowledge to be passed down to them but to seek the knowledge for themselves. To make choices that  encourage ownership and value increasing their engagement and thereby increasing their opportunity for LEARNING.