Bridging Connections to Empower Learners

The other day I was working from home, which is a rarity for me these days.  I huddled in my home office and focused my attention on email, writing a blog post, tweaking some presentations, and updating the digital handouts that all participants get during one of my keynotes or workshops.  Always joining me on these work from home days is my beloved dog, Roxie.  Like usual she was perched on top of the couch sleeping. Her snoring not only brought a smile to my face but also made me jealous that she doesn’t have a care in the world and enjoys the life of a pampered pet. 

Later in the day I moved from my desk and joined Roxie on the couch. Before I knew it I apparently dozed off. I will be the first one to admit that I love naps and inherited this quality from my father. He is always taking an afternoon nap no matter where he is.  I realized I had fallen asleep when my son, Nick, awakened me as he returned home from school. Now I was enjoying one of those deep sleep naps so I was a tad bit annoyed that he interrupted this moment of pure joy. My annoyance with him was short lived as he had woken me up to share a current project that he completed in school.

My 7th-grade son stood above me and in his hands was a bridge that he had built as part of an engineering project. As he provided details on how he went about constructing it, I could see how proud he was of his creation.  In my opinion, Nick was beaming as his bridge ranked the 5th best out of a class of 28 students.  Typically, it is my daughter who comes home from school and consistently engages my wife and me in conversations about how awesome her day of learning was. This is not the case with my son so I relished the opportunity to dive deep into his learning experiences in this particular class.

My son's bridge

My son is fortunate to have engineering every day as a 7th grader.  Throughout the year he has brought home innovative projects that he has created and each has sparked a conversation about why this type of learning is important and how it will benefit him in the real world.  The result of these discussions illustrates how impactful the daily experiences are for him. He has been empowered to own his own learning by actively applying what he has learned in this class while making connections to math, history, and science.  Conceptual mastery translates into what he has been able to effectively build with his hands.  There are also language arts connections as the students are encouraged to write and speak about the engineering principals behind their designs.  This is learning at its finest. 

My son is an empowered learner in engineering as many elements are bridged together to facilitate REAL (relevant, engaging, authentic, lasting) learning.  Pulling from my son’s experience as well as what we know about sound pedagogy, the following elements work together to empower learners:

• Interdisciplinary connections
• Authentic contexts
• Choice
• Practical application
• Creation of a product that demonstrates conceptual mastery  
• Meaningful feedback

As Tom Murray and I state in Learning Transformed, to prepare students for the world of tomorrow we must transform their learning today.  The shift is not as difficult as one might surmise.  As you think about developing or evaluating lessons, learning activities, projects, and performance task ask yourself if the six elements above are integrated.  If they are then the chances are that your students will not only be empowered but also develop a greater appreciation for learning. Happy learners are empowered learners when the right connections and elements are bridged together. 

Instilling an Early Passion for History

At New Milford High School we are always encouraging collaborations resulting in interdisciplinary projects.  Recently students from Mr. Manzo’s 9th Grade Honors World History classes were assigned to create children’s books about the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in France during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Students were to incorporate all of the associated subject matter, vocabulary, and major concepts whilst creating a narrative that a small child could not only understand but also be entertained by. Mr. Manzo’s students went above and beyond all expectations of the assignment by creating themes that were not only appealing to children but also an accurate reflection on the rise and fall of Napoleon. Some of the titles include “The Fall of the French Freezer”, “The Lessons Learned by Tadpoleon” “Nappy’s Adventures”, “Napolarbear: A Cold Tale”, “Eat or Be Eaten” (Cat and Mouse Theme) and several more. 

Photograph: Archivo Iconografico

A major component of the assignment was for the students to present these stories to the children involved in the Early Childhood Development program at NMHS. Mrs. Beiner, who is in charge of the ECD program agreed to allow the children in her program to be read to by Mr. Manzo’s students. This took place in the high school cafeteria where stations were set up for the students to read the books to the children. The excitement of the children was contagious not only to Mr. Manzo and Mrs. Beiner, but also to me. All in all, the presentations were a success for all those who participated and/or were involved. Moving forward, they may be attempting to put some of these rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte children’s books into a digital format in order to reach more children in New Jersey, the U.S. and maybe even the world. His ultimate goal is to get students excited about history at an early age.

The Complete Package

As an administrator one of the most satisfying parts of the job is seeing teachers collaborate willingly on interdisciplinary lessons. This type of learning is extremely important in terms of providing students with connections between the content areas in order to provide a heightened sense of relevance and understanding. I was excited to learn last week about an activity that was being planned for a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. New Milford High School teachers April Millian (math) and Lisette Morel (art) approached me about creating a scavenger hunt podcast activity for the students to complete while visiting the museum. This idea fascinated me as we all know that certain field trips do not have an adequately embedded learning activity for the students to complete. After receiving my approval, April and Lisette created their podcast using a macbook and then uploaded it to iPod nanos from the school's mobile iPod learning lab. Each student was then issued an iPod upon arrival to the MET and off they went.

In addition to the iPods, my teachers also took a Kodak Zi8 with them to document the learning experience on this field trip.  This activity illustrates how to successfully create an interdisciplinary lesson and integrate technology in order to ensure that students are actively engaged while on a field trip.  It should be noted that this is the first time my two teachers have not only used the iPods, but created a podcast of this nature.  As I have stated in previous posts, taking risks is essential in order to spur innovation and change.  I commend  teachers like April and Lisette who are willing to move beyond their comfort zone in order to make learning engaging, lasting, and most importantly fun!