Examples and Artifacts
Milestone Democratic School - "School Plan Iteration #1.2"
As School Developer, I convened a team of youth school designers to co-create a plan for this new school. Using the C|L|D curriculum (below), we spent two years as a consensus-driven collective, researching, studying, travelling, interviewing, and writing together. This document was the end result, and formed the foundation for Milestone's eventual approval for authorization as an independent charter school by the University of Wisconsin.
Community | Learning | Design curriculum - "Participatory School Design for Participatory Democracy"
I created a curriculum to serve as a guide or my own work as School Developer, and published it with Creative Commons licensing for general use. Starting with a baseline Design Thinking protocol, this curriculum integrates Restorative Practices as the cultural frame and Formal Consensus as the decision-making protocol.
Edgerton Middle School Assessment Protocol
Working collaboratively with a leader in the Science Department, and also with the District Director of Teaching & Learning, I developed and implemented a Standards-based assessment protocol using electronic portfolios.
River Valley Technical Center Project-Based Learning
In my first year at RVTC, I proposed a substantial curricular shift toward Project-Based Learning. In order to begin the dialogue with my co-teachers and administrators, I put together a wikispaces site with research notes and links to relevant sources. Based on the enthusiastic response received to this proposal, my team re-wrote the entire curriculum for the Pre Tech program, using concepts, templates, and documents from the Buck Institute, Edutopia, and other existing models. The implementation of this proposal proved to be a great success.
As a capstone project for the year, I designed a quarter-long independent project for each Pre Tech student to pursue their own individual interests and passions. The project begins with several activities to focus on one interest, then leads students through proposing, developing, and exhibiting their own hands-on, real-world project, tied to a career of their interest. Along the way, students identify and describe financial components of their chosen career, create a personal education plan, and do a full-day job shadow. These independent projects, in their first year, were recognized by students as being the hardest, yet most fun, projects that we did all year -- and the project they learned the most from. (Inspired by, and borrowing documents from Big Picture Learning)Download Project Plan PDF
RVTC Aquaponics Project
In a multidisciplinary hands-on project, Pre Tech students constructed a "Vertical Farm" aquaponics system, with live fish supplying fertilized water via a closed-loop plumbing system to plants in a gravel grow medium. Students selected "roles" to fill, and determined "work groups" with specific actionable tasks to complete. After a few weeks, the team presented their work to an audience of classmates and adminstrators.
RVTC Proficiency-Based Assessment Proposal My second major proposal for improving the Pre Tech program at RVTC was to implement Proficiency-Based Assessment. I prepared this short slideshow for a presentation to administrators and guidance counselors, and this proposal was also met with great support. As a result, my team threw out our old grading system, and have fully transitioned to this "competency" model, which has had a tremendous impact on our teaching practice and student learning
CICS 9th Grade Chorus Unit
When a music teacher was unexpectedly absent for the final weeks of class, the Principal asked me to develop and teach a short unit to a 9th grade Chorus class. With very limited time to design a unit, I built a patterned, structured series of assignments based on the Chorus class learning goals and a powerful documentary film.Download PDF
CAP 12th Grade Lesson
Despite prescribed curriculum from the International Baccalaureate program, I was given the opportunity to plan and deliver an introductory lesson to a senior class about to begin reading Lord of the Flies. I designed an active, participatory "game", led a "debriefing" discussion afterward, and assigned follow-up readings with a required response to a class blog. The following class session was a discussion of the readings facilitated by a "Prezi" presentation (links within Lesson Plan PDF).