2014 Rowland Fellow
Jeanie Phillips
Green Mountain Union High School

Innovation & Intentional Learning Communities

Tony Wagner outlines 3 things adults need to reinforce in young people in order to prepare them for work, college and citizenship readiness: play (exploration), passion (interest), and purpose (make a difference). He urges schools to start with some essentials: critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creative problem solving. I will design two elective courses with these skills, mindsets, and student choice at the center. Research as a Creative Act will slow down the research process, allowing students to explore an interest of their choosing while developing tacit skills that are rigorous and relevant to the future. Innovation Lab will build on this work but also embed elements from design thinking. Students will identify an interest or problem and follow a process that leads to a student-created solution. This course will extend research into a field study, internship, or work experience.

In tandem with the development of these classes I will engage school and district staff in dialogue about what creativity and innovation look like across grade levels K-12. I envision this as part book study group, part CFG: a collaborative group of educators who want to explore personalized learning. This study group will be charged with thinking deeply about creativity and innovation, but also acting on their findings by implementing strategies and practices into their teaching.

I will use the sabbatical time to visit schools and libraries, attend conferences, read, research, collaborate and reflect to deepen my understanding of creativity and innovation in schools. I will mine visionary practices, techniques and strategies and seek opportunities to extend collaboration around creativity and innovation in my school and district. I hope to create new leverage points for engaging students in personalized learning.

UPDATE

The work begun during my Rowland Fellowship continues to grow and bear fruit!

Research into Action
Research into Action is in its third year as a course available to any GM high school student. Students do a deep dive on a topic they are passionate about. They start by pre-searching before drafting research questions. Students create a Twitter personal learning network and curate and share a collection of materials on their topic. They evaluate sources for credibility, relevance, and purpose. Students demonstrate their authority on their topic by publishing an annotated bibliography. All of this leads to an action-oriented project. Students plan and develop a project informed by their research and share it with the GM community and beyond.

Exhibition
Green Mountain will host the fourth annual Exhibition Night in May, 2017. This event springs from the work of a group of teachers who visited High Tech High. It provides an opportunity for students to show off their work and demonstrate their learning. Teachers and students explain the work and answer questions while families and community members explore a variety of projects. Battle physics is one example of the kinds of projects we showcase at Exhibition Night.

Intentional Learning Communities
Educators around the district continue to work collaboratively to explore and refine project-based and personalized learning. By de-privatizing their practice and giving each other feedback they are growing a culture of rigor and excellence at Green Mountain and in the Two Rivers Supervisory Union.

Skip to content