STUDENT EXCAHANGES AS A MODEL FOR 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION

It is an exciting time in science class as students prepare to engage with peers from across the planet.  Zoom real-time communication student exchanges, facilitated courtesy of iEARN (International Educational and Resource Network), delivered this experience to students in 8th grade physical science classes.

Science curriculum in our schools provides the means to share ideas, express concerns on issues related to the environment and help develop solutions to vexing problems. Students' middle school years at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Crystal Lake, Illinois has involved research, experimentation and concerted efforts to develop solutions that address the impact of climate change on local communities world-wide.

Conceptual understanding of Green Infrastructure, Regenerative Agriculture and Green Energy is a central focus in the science curriculum which addresses real concerns of the people living in local communities.  21st century technologies, embedded in educational models of learning, provide the catalyst for innovation and creativity that unleash human potential to solve problems. This young generation of learners have resources in school to help solve real problems and ultimately lend to the protection and preservation of local ecosystems world-wide.

At the international exchange meeting, students at St. Thomas the Apostle school discussed different aspects of their lives with peers from Moldova and Spain.  A former student in Pakistan also contributed to this discussion by expressing her feelings on the ability of collective thought to help solve problems.

Chicago sports, Moldova architecture and school environments were topics of interest as these students explored new friendships with people from abroad.   There is no greater attribute expressed by people than the ability to get along and be open-minded with each other, and to share life experiences.  The trust built from these student exchanges open the door to a better chance for developing collaborative and cooperative relationships into the future.

I believe it is education that changes the world.  People of all cultures and living experiences can unify by experiencing educational exchanges leading to greater appreciation for the diversity of human life and life as a gift from God that needs to be celebrated and cherished at all times.  The speed of communication displayed in these exchanges, in 21st century learning communities, reflect the speed of dynamics on issues we now face related to climate change.  The speed of development of solutions needs to match this speed of problem orientation.  The clock is running, and this classroom of young problem solvers must accelerate their learning and address issues that threaten our way of life and the lives of all plants and animals on Earth.  

 

JANUARY 2024

                                                               JANUARY 2024

This new year begins with an urgent need to revitalize education and fuel progressive efforts to safeguard schools, protect the environment and preserve our democracy and way of life.  Education is power, and with this power we can help bring forth a more just and equitable society.  When we revitalize education, we develop more effective means to generate needed changes in our world.

Methodologies employed to educate our youth have always been tightly associated with social, cultural and technological changes in our society.  It is the responsibility and duty of educators to keep pace with these changes and to develop curriculum that lends well to challenging and dynamic learning environments.

Inspirational engagement, motivated participation and challenging real-world problem solving are foundations of education that can deliver 21^st century learning in the classroom.  Student engagement in the learning process includes creative and critical thinking, effective communication of ideas and solutions and an open-mindedness to new ways of thinking and collaborative teamwork. 

Conceptual understanding of core principles in math, sciences and social sciences learned by students help solve real-world problems and inspire new ideas that address real-world concerns and issues.  Students embracing a purpose to learn, while also having intellectual resources to accomplish objectives, are fundamental elements for success at school.

Project-based models of learning provide the means for students to orchestrate and encapsule this learning process which helps them to become more learned individuals. In the 21^st century classroom it is important that students stay engaged and focused on this learning process.  Distractions in the classroom and non-school priorities are challenges faced by teachers and students that can inhibit learning.  Teachers and students committed to delivering project outcomes, dealing with real-world problems, provide the emphasis and direction necessary for students to remain focused and continue to be inspired, motivated and accepting of new challenges. 

Momentum in education and the learning process is an inspirational experience. It provides the means and opportunities for young people to challenge themselves, experience failures, embrace success and solidify a mindset of growth. Education is a unique experience that students truly rely upon as they grow intellectually with problem solving abilities in hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WILDFIRES AND FADING MAJESTIC BLUE SKIES OVER CHICAGO

The sky across Chicago this summer is hazy. This phenomenon is caused by high altitude smoke drifting south out of central Canada.  This smoke causes deep blue skies over the Chicago skyline, on a sunny day, to turn opaque and take on a whiteish hue.   

Geoengineers once proposed dumping tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, at these same high altitudes, to turn the sky white and reflect quantities of solar radiation back to outer space.  Now, by default through nature’s actions, we are experiencing these same outcomes.

The cost of this wildfire event, to the ecosystem, is an increase in the tonnage of carbon dioxide gas spewing into the atmosphere from the burning of trees, the loss of vegetation sequestering carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and the reduced cooling effect these lost trees would have had upon terrestrial surface of our planet.

The deluge of smoke produced from the burning of the Boreal forests is a direct consequence of climate change and it is fueled by continued heating of Earth’s atmosphere. The proposed sulfur dioxide global experiment was intended to reduce the impact of climate change on the planet.  Nature’s actions like this burning of trees add to this crisis even as humans continually plan to resolve this problem by extraordinary means.  

If this is a race for the survival of the human species on Earth, with human effort trying to exceed nature’s consequences, then humans at this juncture are losing.

This afternoon I sat near a public pool and viewed another summer ritual, people swimming together in celebration of summer vacation. The sky is not as majestic blue as it once was, but people continue to live their lives.  The science tells us that we can expect that the number of wildfires, world-wide, to increase by factors of 4 times to 16 times as the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere pushes past a 2-degree Celsius increase heading to a 3-degree Celsius increase by the end of the century.

Today is now a historic inflection point, which is laid bare against an intensely red colored setting sun. It is a turning point where we live now on a planet that will no longer tolerate species that are excessively extractive of resources without showing regenerative efforts and that over consume well beyond any reasonable level of sustainability.

Maybe the consistent smoke clouded skies, this summer, will be a reminder to people, like when they write on posted notes, to make an engagement that is critical. You are telling yourself not to forget and do not just blow this off.  The consequences of not responding to this problem, with urgency, will only magnify the Earthly consequences we face from here on.

 

 

 

 

 

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION AT SCHOOL

It was Kindergarteners’ that voiced the most emotion as we rallied-up after the Earth Day parade.  Chanting “Save the Planet” repeatedly as the voice of optimism amongst this future generation that will be most impacted by the rath of climate change.

It was the crescendo of a most exciting day at St. Thomas the Apostle School with students participating in multitude of activities and experiences that send the message loud and clear to save the planet!  Kindergarteners, caught up in the moment, sent the message to older generations to act now and help preserve and protect our life-giving ecosystem.

A play, presented to address the melting of artic habitat, Bingo games emphasizing environmental stewardship and the making of wind energy products and science experiment displays became the trappings of an extraordinary Earth Day celebration and advocation.

Students in Earth Science, Life Science and Physical Science worked the entire year on Earth Stewardship Projects that encompass regenerative agriculture, Green Infrastructure, experimental growth of organic crops and green energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

The foundation of the middle school science curriculum is grounded in environmental stewardship and personal value of being committed to and being held account for the well-being of others. The urgency of the environmental and social issues that will face this generation is taxing.  Taxing on educators working to prepare students for the reality of environmental change and taxing on learners wanting to be successful and prosperous in their lives.

The cry of Kindergarteners, from the rear of this generation, is a cry for unity and collaboration needed for success during trying times.  Emotions are first to be expressed and then not far behind comes intellectual understanding.  The marriage of these human traits will be the salvation of this generation as they forge a world that will support equity among everyone.

Students must be given opportunities to express themselves in ways that can be heard dealing with important real-world issues that impact their lives.  Abilities and skills can only be extended by implementing investigation and actions.  "Saving the Planet" is one of those urgent actions needed to help hone their talents.

 

                23^rd Year into the 21^st Century

 

Inspiration can be found in big and small measures throughout educational processes in schools.  These measures evolve from dynamic curriculum, motivating leadership and innovative thinking by teachers and school administrators.  This is aspirational thinking determined to create a safe environment, prosperous future and a fulfilling livelihood for everyone in our society.

Modeling resilience and fortitude by teachers to help students achieve goals and objectives, is a measure of inspiration that is part of the education process.  Educators bring forth learning opportunities, in the classroom, that lead to accomplishments in the real-world. It develops personal attributes like confidence, empathy and a sense of worth, while sustaining long-term educational gains.

Collaborative and cooperative learning opportunities provide another measure of inspiration as students access advanced world-wide digital platforms to communicate with peers and utilize interactive online software resources. The goal is to gather data, analyze experimental results and present conclusions or discoveries.

 It is the hallmark of 21^st century education to push the envelope of achievement by integrating a wealth of knowledge, online, and utilize this sophisticated scientific analysis to manage projects, develop experimentation, quantify outcomes and communicate results to international audiences.

Large measures of inspiration are based upon working toward achieving large goals. These goals are reached by experiencing learning opportunities in schools that provide challenges to solve real-world problems like climate change, desertification, availability of fresh water and food security into the future. Efforts by students to address these critical issues, while learning critical life experiences, is the foundation of 21^st century education.

Teachers and administrators that address inspirational measures in school classrooms acknowledge the need for developing critical thinking skills in all students.  These are developed skills and abilities that dictate success into the future for everyone. Analyzing data, questioning outcomes, recognizing problems and formulating solutions are the learned critical thinking skills that students must cognitively develop.  Group collaborative effort is the essential pedagogy needed in the classroom, and it is curriculum that delivers the means for students to become involved in this dynamic 21st century learning process.

I am looking forward to this inspirational and dynamic new year in our school!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

REFLECTION ON NATIONAL KIDWIND CHALLENGE 2022 IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

As I head home to Chicago, I wanted to share a reflection to the staff at KidWind, about the National KidWind Challenge and the experiences we had being involved with this event.

It was amazing to view such imaginative ingenuity of students and their products from elementary school through college.  Just witnessing the results of so many students’ mindsets to solve problems related to energy generation makes me more hopeful for our future.  The future of the human species on this pale blue planet.

The absolute wealth of imagination, ideas, and problem-solving, that I witnessed at this KidWind event, is a true testament to the powerful influence that KidWind, as an organization, has upon education in the 21^st century.  Your efforts to pull together such a dynamic and inspiring engineering-based project will resonate for years to come with these students, teachers, and their schools!

Even after months of research, testing and problem-solving at our school, we had to faced-down several obstacles and challenges in the performance of our machine in the testing tunnels on Tuesday and Wednesday.  My students, experienced in manipulating their machine, were quick to diagnosis and brainstorm solutions.  Students and coaches faced down these problems, but it does generate a stressful situation that can only be successfully addressed with a calm and thoughtful response.

This was our first venture to the National KidWind Event, and I must admit I was really stressed out for a good portion of the time.  Even after 3 years of involvement in KidWind, I feel like I still stumble and bumble along sometimes and just guess as to what to do next.  With time, I know that this process becomes less hectic and more manageable, but it really tries my patience at times, to the breaking point.  I have been teaching for 27 years with education at the doctoral level, but this process, from the regional competition and through the national competition, taxes my ingenuity to its limit! 

Last year, students at St. Thomas participated in the virtual national event with two teams of 6^th grade students (11 students), but this year I had high hope for my top-flight 8^th grade team of two students to do well at this in-person event.  This year, I felt was the real test to see how we measure up with teams from across the nation after participating for three years with KidWind.

I have time now to reflect and analyze what we could have done better and what worked well.  It is a sobering effort, but it needs to be done to get better for next year.  I saw teams with a lot of technology employed in their design and then I saw team with the similar technology that our team had, but they surpass these high-tech studs.  It gets down to finding the sweet spot in design that delivers maximum performance (energy), while integrating blade design and gear ratios.  At the event this week, I saw superior blade design exceed benefits of the size of gear ratios.  Once a team consistently reaches the maximum output possible for the small KidWind turbine, then they can focus on delivering a superior judge presentation and doubling down on knowledge and experience of the challenges.

Thanks again for all your efforts and the time commitment to the KidWind organization.  I look forward to participating next year with a new group of students that will stretch their imaginations to the limit.  These are the essential 21^st century skills and abilities that our students need to master to successfully solve problems we face in energy production and in dealing with the social issues of our time.

Educating the Mind in the 21^st Century

Across America the pandemic has amplified the deficits we face as a society.  From health care to the food we consume to income inequality and education the pandemic attacked with a level of stress and strain that our current capitalistic system of commerce and political democracy struggle to defend against.

 Just as the biology of the coronavirus exploits the immunological weaknesses of its victims, so too do these disruptions of our society, caused by social and economic turmoil, render segments of our communities damaged, unusable and unable to cope left to waste away.

Changes in our society can cause upheavals that will tax our ability to render judgement upon solutions or to clearly define acceptable pathways forward.  Education is in the cross-hairs of these demanding and challenging changes taking place, especially under the tyrannical rule of a killer virus.  Education is a foundational pillar helping to carry our nation forward with understanding and with the developed ability to think critically under extreme and chaotic situations like we face today.

Peoples abilities to solve problems come from their experience and opportunities to fail at trying. It is not enough to say that it OK to know but not OK to try.  What you have learned can only be valued by your increased ability to now use it creating judgement to solve problems.  The spread of knowledge is the first essential premise for any educated society, but without taking on and surmounting challenges that tax this understanding, then the effort becomes an exercise in distraction.

Projects in education critically matter.  It is a learning strategy for long-lasting methods of teaching with students being able to diagnosis and solve problems that are critical to the wellbeing of the community.  Students are given an opportunity to develop relationships and trust of other students, then implement inquiry-driven methods to explore and develop deep understand of science, social science and artistic and cultural expression.

Educational platforms like the International Educational and Resource Network (iEARN) provide educators with scaffolding that is necessary to bring forth 21^st century collaborative project-based educational initiatives the hallmark of modern education.  Projects help to ensure that students develop needed skills and abilities to be rational thinkers, develop logical and organized strategies for implementation of projects and to use their critical thinking skills to assess crucial experimental evidence.