Listen to the sound.f poetry reading. [girl] This is a sound that I collected from the exhibitions that took place in the last week of the first semester at High Tech High Mesa (HTHM), where I am doing a residency. It is the sound of celebration celebrating the learning that was created by students and shared among the community. This is a sound that I collected from the exhibitions that took place in the last week of the first semester, audience applauding at the end of the 10th graders student-led production of Twelfth Night. It is the sound of celebrationーcelebrating the learning that was created by students and shared among the community. Students spent a semester creating this art. They read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, came up with an idea to adapt it into 1920s N.Y., co-created the script, co-created a rubric of what a good theater is and worked together to put on a play. On the nights of the exhibition, if you were there, you had seen and heard actors playing their characters on a beautiful stage set that they created. But I want to share with you this kind of sound as well. Listen to this sound. This is the kind of sound you often hear before and after the play: Sounds that are "hands-on." Sounds that were generated as students made the stage from scratch. Most of the things that were on the stage were created by students. They were divided into production teams such as set, props, and costumes, working closely with directors, an assistant director, and stage managers. The 2 nights performance would have not been successful if it were not for the presence of lights and sound team and the work of the marketing team. I saw and heard how learning was not only hands on but also "minds on." In order to create things, students came up with ideas, turned ideas into designs, and designs into actual products. Throughout this process, students were also learning about the play and characters in depth as well as historical context of the 1920s in NY and Italy: about mafia, immigration, the jazz age, political movements, and so on. Since this project is not only a joint project of Humanities and Theaters, but also Math as well that students used quadratic formulas to draw portraits of historical figures that they compared to the characters in the play. Hands-on and minds-on. It was my privilege to be immersed in an environment where teachers and students creating this hands on and minds on learning that was happening in Team Lemonaide, and to take part in it.
This "hands on" and "minds on" learning was also seen in other grades' exhibitions as well. While many students were working on their exhibitions this week, seniors were also exhibiting and presenting their work, specifically to teachers. In Team Zanana, 12th graders were working on a topic of equity and inclusion so that we could make our community a better place for the current students and incoming students and their families. Seniors formed teams, chose topics of their interests, conducted research with the support of their community partner they reached out, and presented their learning to teachers. Yes! To teachers! To educate teachers and to receive authentic feedback from them. I had an opportunity to interview a team of students who conducted their research on a topic of adaptive athletics. Why adaptive athletics? What did they do? I will be sharing in the next article:)
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AuthorKana will share with you her learning experiences and her journey at High Tech High Graduate School of Education (M.Ed. in Education Leadership) and High Tech High Mesa. Archives
December 2021
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