It’s not that we HAVE failing students;
it’s that we are FAILING students.

We are failing to give them the quality education we promised.
We are failing to prepare them to find their own success.
We are failing to teach them to be people.
We are failing to teach them to relate to people.
We are failing to teach them to think critically.
We are failing to teach them to think creatively.
We are failing to teach them to think.

So then what are we doing?

We are programming them.
We are conforming them.
We are testing them.
We are squandering humanity’s single greatest resource.

What follows is my plight to change all that
in any and every way possible.

I think I’ve let enough time go by that I can objectively reflect on my first stab at a STEM program. It was tough for a lot of reasons, but many of those same reasons are what made it great.

The students were mixed grade level, 6-8th, and mixed ability level. The program was set up that if a student failed any core subject they had to attend all sessions.  So I was teaching math (and engineering, technology, and science) to students who didn’t necessarily fail all or any of those classes.  There might be an on level 8th grader sitting next to a below level 6th grader, neither of which wanted to be sitting in a classroom over the summer.

“Well that’s a great opportunity for…

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So it’s Sunday night and the Summer Academy program starts tomorrow. There’s the usual mix of excitement and trepidation. Mostly it’s from having two hours to work with.  What am I going to do with all that time?

Well it’s not what I’m going to do, it’s what my students are going to do. Student-center lessons is what I’m striving for here. They are going to decide how this program goes, with some guidance of course. But are they up to it?  Are my students going to be able to take the reigns and get us somewhere?  Are they going to want to?

I’ve got my first week planned out. Not down to the minute as some of colleagues do, but there’s a loose framework.…

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Big news, for me at least.  I’m going to be a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) teacher this summer.  It’s going to give me a chance to build a student driven, project based class rather than just fit projects into my current mile wide, inch deep curriculum.

If all goes well, I’m going to approach my district with the idea of offering an elective class of free learning but with STEM based goals.  It is the first step in creating a program that can offer real choice and real change for students unsuccessful in the current school system or those just looking for a different road to a quality education.

I will be chronicling the summer class here and documenting everything I can as I…

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So I’ve been raging against the machine for a long time.

When I moved from teaching high school to middle school, the needs of my students changed.  Their world perspective no longer focused on opting out of dissections or injustice in their part time jobs, rather it became more about social interaction and adolescent drama.  And so (and probably wrongly so) my rage quelled.

Maybe I was becoming the jaded old-timer as my experience clicked from years to over a decade.  I never wanted to be that guy though.  Never-ever.

Sure I do projects in my classes.  Tons of projects and games.  We fly airplanes, build kites, do anything and everything I can think of.  This year we’re trying to create a math midway with carnival…

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