On Friday, I took an opportunity to observe at another, albeit very familiar, school. The only real similarity, aside from the basics of both being high schools, between that school & the school in which I currently work is the fact that they both have a new principal. Up until Friday, I had not yet taken an opportunity to get out of my school & observe, but I am glad that I did. The school I observed was implementing Power Hour (if you’re unfamiliar, check out this article from the 2015 Model Schools Conference & to see an overview, watch this quick video from West Port High School in Ocala, FL:
The school in which I was observing has implemented Power Hour once or twice before with success; unlike the West Port example, Power Hour is not a daily occurrence. At the school, Power Hour is a time of academic recovery/remediation/enrichment or of exploration; in addition to the academic sessions taking place, there were student-led sessions on how to make use of the makerspace in the new Learning Commons, teacher-led yoga classes, club meetings, etc. In order to encourage students to take advantage of the academic recover/remediation opportunities, the school ‘caters’ these sessions with outside vendors - Zaxby’s, Chick-fil-a, Marco’s Pizza, etc.; this creates a lunch-&-learn atmosphere for the students.
My recollection of the day’s events may be slightly more romanticized for a variety of reasons - this school is my alma mater (both as a student as well as a faculty member), I was in a school in which innovation and outside-the-box thinking is a little more accepted & encouraged, & I was doing what I want to do - working with a variety of the school’s stakeholders to make the day beneficial for the kids. I could not stop smiling. No, the day did not go completely smooth, nor is everyone on board with Power Hour, but it was still a day well spent; it passed so quickly, and at the end of it I was sad for the dismissal bell to ring. Although we are only six weeks into second semester, I needed Friday to reinvigorate me - I felt like I was fulfilling my purpose by being an actively contributing member to making school work more effectively for our kids.
At the end of the day, I was able to pop my head into the principal’s office to thank her for the opportunity & to essentially say “put me in.”
I love the idea and the fact that it is not "regularly" scheduled. We have ILT which is a 45 minute period where students receive remediation if they have deficiencies in math or reading or are in a milestone course. For those who do not meet those requirements, we offer enrichment activities. Being who we are; however, far more students are in the remedial sections and they deserve opportunities to be enriched as well.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to an AP at an FCS middle school who was sharing that they have a reading class for students whose scores on the CRCT places them below the 60th percentile. After a semester of reading they are at or above grade level, but they are still in reading. He wants to move them to some sort of enrichment activity, but that is not how they do it. They have never been "tested out." Why not?!
Tim, the way they did it at that school - kids who attended tutoring were still able to do an enrichment activity. They tutored either the first or second part of the Power Hour and enriched the other part; they could choose to eat lunch during tutoring (which was 'catered' as an incentive to attend tutoring) or on their own on their way to an enrichment activity.
DeleteHave you heard of 20% time which is inspired by Google? It allows students time to inspire something they are truly passionate about. Mt. Vernon Academy in Atlanta has something similar. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-percent-time-a-j-juliani
ReplyDeleteDr. Sauers, I'd read something about it, but didn't realize it was Google. A former co-worker has mentioned an English teacher at her school conducting Genius hour once a week, in which students work on a project of their own choosing - related to the standards - and then they are presented as a culminating project at the end of the school year. Thanks for the article!
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