Skip to main content

Curriculum 2020 at Work

            Coming back from Thanksgiving, it has been amazing to see some of the new
curricular initiatives coming to life. In the Middle School alone, we are seeing
incredible new innovations. Our Middle School faculty have worked to restructure
time within the existing schedule in our 6th and 7th grades to offer more interdisciplinary and student-driven work. Our 6th grade unit, Footprints, focuses on sustainability as well as the theme of leaving one’s legacy.  Students have been engaged in designing a range of independent pursuits including work on designing and planning a garden, exploring the impact of theater on social interaction, analyzing data related to junk mail, spearheading a clothing drive for an orphanage in Guatemala, and many others.  Meanwhile, our 7th graders have been engaged in Disease Detectives, an interdisciplinary unit focused on infectious diseases, their impact on cultures, and scientific and political efforts to eradicate disease.  In addition to reading a common novel, playing the collaborative game Pandemic, and hearing from various speakers, every 7th grader has chosen a student-driven exploration area of focus during the Disease Detective unit in one of the following areas: science, history, art, mathematics, and literature.  The student-driven explorations will culminate in the creation of an area-focused website featuring student research, creative writing, and artwork.  And finally, a new effort to take silo projects and have them cross disciplinary boundaries can be seen in the Global Ex projects, where students will be doing meaningful work researching nations around the world, and tackling hard global challenges in a blending of their social studies and science classes. It is the first time we have tried these initiatives, so it is certainly messy and, at times, unpredictable. But teachers and students alike are energized to try something new, learn from it, and make it even better in the future.  


           Global Ex Food Festival

Additionally, I had one of my more exciting meetings in recent memory as we brought together our curriculum council, the librarians, and our new Maker in Residence to contemplate how we might create a new learning space on campus that might continue to catalyze creativity, building, and showcasing new knowledge. The conversation traversed the topics of Makerspaces, Fab Labs, digital media, set design, and expanded opportunities for adults and students to work collaboratively on real world problems. Certainly there are many obstacles out there: space, money, and our schedule top the list. But as Head of School, I was so excited to see consensus emerge that we needed to push ahead and think about how a more social, interactive, and collaborative learning hub could vault our program forward. We all agreed that the physical space is merely one small part of the larger conversation of implementing the philosophical goals of Curriculum 2020.


Different weeks in the life of a Head of School end up having very different feelings associated with them – ranging from exhilaration to frustration to exhaustion. This week leaves me with such a feeling of optimism about the work our teachers are doing to make the Berwick education livelier, more current, and more engaging for your children. I can’t wait to see what next week brings.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sugar Shack

Late April always brings the excitement of the BPC benefit, and I want to encourage the community to attend on April 28 at the Sheraton in Portsmouth. Certainly it is a fun way to gather and celebrate what makes BA so special, but it is also true that the funds raised through BPC help move our school forward in such compelling ways. Just this week I was reminded of this reality after I was invited to offer feedback to Krysta Ibsen’s eighth grade science project. As many of you know, Krysta has become famous for her Sugar Shack projects, which teach our kids aspects of science and entrepreneurship through the practice of making maple syrup. Clearly this is an example of student directed learning, where kids get to pursue individual interests within the broader educational construct. What I have always loved about the event is that it changes every year, and this year Krysta charged the kids to propose a real model for a permanent Sugar Shack we might build on campus someday. Kids
Post a Comment
Read more

E.T.

I don’t think everyone is aware that for this period between Thanksgiving and Winter break, grade levels within the Middle School temporarily re-organize themselves to offer interdisciplinary learning experiences to break up the regular routine of class. This year, I was asked to participate in the “Machine Pilot” aspect of the seventh grade effort to explore the concept of extra-terrestrial life (E.T.). Seventh graders are asked to consider who, out of anyone on the planet, they would choose to send into outer space to interact with alien life forms and why. Our students are told they can literally choose any person on the planet, and the focus need not necessarily be someone with experience in space travel. In fact, they are asked to envision a pre-programmed ship with one seat, leaving them to consider not just technical skills but who would we want to represent human kind in this first interaction. They research, create resumes, write persuasive cover letters and are ultimately as
Post a Comment
Read more

The Campus as Mission

Yesterday, I was fortunate to spend an entire day with our board in retreat to discuss the future of Berwick Academy. The day included strategic conversations about the future of financial aid, innovation, and our amazing campus. In considering the strengths of the Berwick campus, almost everyone spoke to the remarkable quality of our main quad, the blend of old and new buildings, and the incredible open space we have to support our programs. There is an aura of learning and support on this campus that is clearly bolstered by the physical space and buildings. This sense will only be strengthened by the addition of the new Wellness Center next year. Looking ahead, there are still improvements to be made. Certainly parking is a concern, and we continue to dream about new facilities that might make the Berwick experience even more special for our students. One of the key insights that emerged from these conversations was the way in which the physical campus needs to reflect the
Post a Comment
Read more