Demographics:2235 studentsOver 200 coursesExcellent rated for the past 9 years25% Free and Reduced, 90%tile in terms of wealth in OhioDiversity is celebratedJostens Renaissance School focused on positive relationships to create a positive climate/culureLarge staff with a wealth of experience4 buildings on campus: Main Campus and Clark Hall
Why focus on the physical learning environment?MillennialsWe have a better understanding of how we learn through brain researchNeed to different model to meet the needs of today’s students and teachersCommunity and parents demand more from schools
Millennials-born 1979-1994They want choicesExperiential LearnersFlexibilityPersonalization and CustomizationImpatientResults OrientedGamersNomadic Communication StyleDigital NativesMultitaskersCollaborativeRead Less
21st Century Skill Development!The Graduate Profile
As a team (Clark Hall Team) we came up for key areas of concern that became key concepts to focus on during the first year:Content Delivery-Who, How, WhenUse of time-Flex Time/Time ManagementCollaboration-How, Who, When, WhyTechnology Integration-not just hardware, but software, web 2.0 tools for learning and content creationIn the end, we spent the first year learning how to use the space. It was definitely a learning curve!
Concern- how to delivery the content over a 96 period block of time and integration technology; provide student choice and opportunity for student voice. Questions: who will deliver content and in what format on a regular basis?
Professional Learning-Accessed TwitterFlipped Classroom pilotCollaborated and shared ideas with one anotherTalked to the students Solution- break up the time to focus on the other three concepts of flexible time, collaboration, and technology integration
Concern-A/B Schedule and time management
Solution- teach students how to use the time and space in Clark Hall; how to break up the block of time to engage students in the learning process
Freedom and Flex Time is something that has be taught and then earned by students. Compare first semester to second semester.
Teach students the first week of school how to use Google Calendar and sync it!
Collaboration is more than for social and group projects
Establish very clear expectations
When we asked the students what we should expect from them, they came up with this!
Use of variety of toolsExperimented with Flipped ClassroomePalsOther web 2.0 toolsDaily access
Teach students how to use Google Apps at the beginning of the year!Model use of Google Apps
Familiar with their own devicesTeaches them how to use it for learningAccess
At our final Clark Hall Team meeting, we realized we made several assumptions about our students that will help us prepare for this upcoming school year.