Teacher's Approach:                                                                                                      

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Educational approaches:

 Engage thinking skills in all the students activities so they become part of their everyday lives.
Heavy use of questions... The answer is in the question.
Intelligence can be increased ... "Brain Plasticity"
Every problem is an opportunity; The bigger the problem the bigger the opportunity.

"V. Kosla"

Use the FLIP learning process
Interdisciplinary learning approach.
Classroom atmosphere that balances trust, risk-taking, originality and respect.
Learning should be "Fun, Engaging"
Use a system approach to learning: "What do I know", "What do I need to know", "What have I learned" and be-able to use it in my life (KWL)
Establish an innovation-friendly environment that embraces fast-cycle sharing, supports risk taking, and celebrates learning from failure... Establishing a protective environment.
Break the class room learning into 10 minute segments to hold student's attention.
  • Break problems into small chunks and study them well.
  • Begin with the things that are simplest to understand and move to the

more complex.

  • Never to accept anything as true that you do not clearly know.
  • Be complete in both your work and reviews that nothing is omitted.

 

Descartes, Discourse on Methods
   
 

Objective: 
 Offer a set of after-school courses that demonstrates the fundamentals of the various soft-skills and a follow up method for success. These skills will support the content knowledge in solving solving problems and dilemmas that face the student in there daily lives.

 

We hope to answer the following student’s questions:

 

How do I fit in with my peers and teachers?
How can I achieve what I want in life?
What life tools are available to help me and How do I use them?
How do I handle problems, questions or some perplexity, confusion or doubt?
What benefits can I bring back to my community from doing this project?
Going forward, how will I maintain the life skills I learned?

 

 

 

 

 

Approach to the Course design:

 

Each class will have an introduction to thinking skills and life skill elements.

Class learning will center around proposing a solution to one of the "World Issues".

The students will work as a team.

Delivery of the content will be a combination on in-class as well as on-line.  The process will include the Flip learning technology for delivery of the material.

 

Students will focus on one of the  world projects and develop a plan to create a solution.  It will contain the following sections:

  • What learning strategy did we use to solve the problem?
  • What obstacle's were faced in developing the solution?
  • What learning extensions can we create from this project?
  • What "Life Skills" did I need?
  • What is the problem we are solving?
  • What were my references? 
  • If people on the team completed the "business class", add a business plan
  • If people on the team completed the "design class", add a design plan

 

 

Projects used as vehicles for learning: "World Issues"
 

 

 

 

  • Feed the World

  • Heal the World

  • Clean the World

  • Power the World

  • Respect the World

  • Connect the World

 

from WPI/Nobel Skills

Elements used in the projects

Example of this process(PDF)
 

 
 
Teaching approach
Modeling
Scaffolding
Coaching
Reflecting ( Meta-cognition )
Fading

 

 

    

 

Syllabus content example :

 Course description
Basis approaches
Connection to other standards
Learning Outcomes/Objectives
Course requirements
Course expectations
Student's responsibility
Course rubric
Course feedback to students
Course outline and details
Reference sites / readings