Summer Reflections

In July I virtually attended Beaconhouse's conference, A world of tomorrow: Negotiating a better future, and was introduced to Portfolio School in New York.

They have a fantastic mission (see right) that is then articulated in the following learning principles.Based on research from Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Columbia, Portfolio School is reinventing education.

• Students’ birth dates don’t define the learner’s journey…
  Students are grouped based on level of independence and academic ability.
• Learning doesn’t revolve around content requirements… 
  Student learning revolves around conceptual and practical understandings, which contextualize cognitive skills, character strengths, and subject-area content.
• The school day isn’t divided into subjects…
  Subjects are incorporated and contextualized into the projects. The school day is divided into deep learning time for long-range projects, as well as time for self-paced mastering of core skills (literacy, math), self-initiated challenges, and small group seminars.
• Students don’t just have a GPA and transcript of letter grades as evidence of learning…
  Students have a curated portfolio and a mastery transcript as evidence of learning.  Our college advisors will be communicating with colleges and universities about the high level of rigor in the program and the value of the mastery transcript. 

The summer vacation is an opportunity to support teachers as they adjust to steep learning curves and become more familiar with hybrid learning models. Professional development can help teachers improve their online instructional design

HERE is a list of options for teachers. Summer Learning - Get ready for September