Our goal is to increase Arts Based Learning within

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Our goal is to increase Arts Based Learning
within the  Reading Public Schools through
Project Based Learning,  Creative Scheduling and
Alternative Assessments. by Chery l Wing, Kristin
Killian, Aaron Clark and Diane Davis
"The future belongs to young people with the
education and imagination to create"    
  ---Barack Obama
...the aim of education ought to be perceived of
as the preparation of artists...we mean
individuals who have developed the ideas, the
sensibilities, the skills, and the imagination to
create work that is well proportioned,skillfully
executed and imaginative regardless of the domain
in which an individual works.                   
             Elliott Eisner
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What Is Project Based learning?

• Hands-on
• Interdisciplinary
• Real-world applications
• Focus on depth of learning/enduring knowledge
• A shift from teaching to collaboration

We are teaching people who can think
holistically. ----Daniel Pink
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Why use Project-Based Learning?

• The reality is that when many of our children
  come home from school, they are uploading and
  downloading videos they are creating their own
  websites and collaborating with peers.
•                         Alan November 
•  

Our goal is not simply to have students know a
lot of stuff--it's to have them know stuff in
service of being able to to think
effectively.                   Daniel T.
Willingham
 
It is all about making connections among history,
politics and science...But we need to be viligant
in upholding the teaching of art and music and
literature because they too are essential for
innovation.                               
   Thomas Friedman
Arts Based Learning vrs. 21st Century Skills
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Alternative Scheduling Ideas

• The Reading Public Schools need to explore and
  apply creative scheduling idea to accommodate
  project based  learning
• This will also allow for more educational options
  during the school day.
• Flexible Scheduling allows schools to optimize
  time, space, staff and facilities and to add
  variety to their curriculum offerings and
  teaching. (Canady and Rettig, 1995)
•  
• It no longer matters where we are in physical
  space. What matters is that we can find and
  connect in some way and begin conversations about
  thing we really want to learn about.
•                                         -Will
  Richardson

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Option 1  Creative School Structures

• Does school have to run from 8-3?
•  Sutton Centre in Nottingsham England divides the
  day into 3 blocks, morning, afternoon and
  evening.  All teachers and students must work 10
  blocks a week
•  In Washington State students are on for 9 weeks
  and off for three for a total of 4 12-week blocks
  during the school year.  Student blocks are
  staggered by three weeks so not everyone is off
  at the same time.
• The Baxter School in Melbourne Australia
  developed a"seven week plan".  The 7th week of
  each 13 week quarter is devoted to an elective
  activity such as a musical,scuba diving, running
  a business and many others.

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Option 2 introducing a Flex teaching schedule

• The Glynn Academy in Brunswick, GA is introducing
  Flex Scheduling in the HS level.
•  These classes can be taught by high school
  staff, administators or outside community members
•  Potential college credit could be offered by
  pairing up with local colleges
• Upper level middle school children can take HS
  level classes
• These classes would be taught either before
  school, after school on Saturdays
• Staff who would teach these classes would either
  start their day late or leave early
•  
• Glynn Academy Flex Schedule

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Our new "flat world" calls for collaborative,
creative, critical thinkers and problem solvers.
Our assessments and report cards need to reflect
what is happening in our classrooms and the world
around us.
Assessment
 
 
    ASSESSMENT
The primary purpose of assessment is to inform
instruction in order to bring all students to
proficiency.   AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT INCREASES
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT!! Our assessment tools need
to motivate our students to want to do better
give our students useful information for
improvement, and inform our teachers in making
mid-course corrections in their teaching.
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"A standards-based report card allows teachers to
report on the adequacy of students' academic
achievement, as well as their attitudes, efforts,
participation, and work habits. it provides
parents with a more detailed picture of their
child's academic performance in school as well as
their school-related behaviors"                 
                         Guskey and Jung
"A standards- based report card allows teachers
to report on the adequacy of students' academic 
4 meets the standard with distinction 3 meets
the standard 2 progressing toward the
standard 1 does not meet the standard

• Developing a new report card is more a challenge
  in effective communication than simply
  documenting or quantifying student achievement.
• ?What information do we want to communicate?
• Who is the primary audience for that information?
• How would we like that information to be used? 

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Although schools have moved towards
standards-based curriculum and instruction,
grading practices and report cards have remained
largely unchanged. We must strive towards a
report card that is more meaningful for teachers,
parents, and more importantly, our
students. Guskey and Bailey's book (published in
December 2009) guides educators in providing more
detailed reports of children's learning and
achievement, a STANDARDS-BASED REPORT CARD.

• Report cards will need to be informative but time
  efficient for both teachers and parents. it is
  important to "remember that grading and reporting
  aren't essential to instruction." (Guskey, 1994)
•  
• FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR
• Education our parents while involving them during
  this shift towards standards-based report cards.
• Teacher training. Few teachers receive adequate
  training in grading or reporting as part of their
  college education.

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Implementation

• Arts based learning will be available at every
  school, and through alternative scheduling, allow
  each student an opportunity to participate in a
  variety of art forms
• Each student will have their own computer, and
  teams will share additional technology equipment
   
• Additional inservice days will be added for
  technology training, with flex scheduling so that
  all teachers may take advantage of the
  information
•  Alternative assessments will be used to measure
  21st century skills in project learning

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Bibliography
Friedman, T. L. (2007). The World Is Flat A
Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New
York, NY Picador. (Original work published
2005)November, A. C. (2008). Web Literacy for
Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA Corwin
Press.Pink, D. (2006). A Whole New Mind Why
Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Boston
Riverhead Trade.Richardson, W. (2008). Blogs,
Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for
Classrooms. California Corwin Press
Inc.,U.S..Willingham, D. T. (2009). Why Don't
Students Like School A Cognitive Scientist
Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and
What It Means for the Classroom. San Francisco
Jossey-Bass.   YouTube - Project Based Learning
(2008, October 7). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
Retrieved December 3, 2009, from
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vVgA1wZhW5TE Baker,
D. E. (n.d.). Implementing High School Flexible
Scheduling. Glynn County, GA Board of Education.
Retrieved December 5, 2009, from
helpdesk.glynn.k12.ga.us/goals/2009/ga3.6.pdf Bea
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Excellent School (Educational Management).
London Law Book Co Of Australia.   Kohn, Alfie.
From Degrading to De-Grading. High School
Magazine (March 1999). Hu, Winnie. Report Cards
Give Up As and Bs for 4s and 3s. New York
Times (March 2009). Guskey, Thomas R. and Jung,
Lee Ann.  The Challenges of Standards-Based
Grading. Leadership  Compass Vol.4, No.2
(Winter 2006).
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Arandel, D. (2008, January 21). Artist Palette
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