As of November 1st, both students and teachers
are well into the 2015-2016 school year, with students now well-versed as to
what is expected of them to be successful this year in the classroom. Teachers more clearly understand students’
aptitude and self-efficacy and these are
great indicators of academic performance.
The learning curve for students can be steep, but it is now giving way
to developing 21st century skills and abilities. Learning has become
an ongoing process requiring deeper and deeper levels of complex thought and
commitment. The genius in the
classroom is reflected in students’ self-motivation helping them to commit to a
sustained effort for the entire school year.
Students want to be challenged as a prerequisite to
learning. They must feel that their
effort is valued and that it has meaning.
The genius of motivation,
commitment, creativity and innovation manifests itself within learning
environments that are encapsulated within projects. Projects bring to the
learner a high level of relevance. Students become
more motivated when embracing these opportunities and they tend to feel more
confident in their own abilities and in the efforts that they create through
cooperation with partners, in groups or as a class.
Projects reach for high goals. Project outcomes are determined in a large
part by the proactiveness of students’ own innovative thinking, curiosity and
rational thought. Students become more
incline to push the boundaries of what is expected of them and they become more
intrinsically motivated to perform.
The Earth Stewardship Project at Streamwood High School
creates this kind of inspiring learning environment that tugs at the curiosity
within students to ask questions and seek greater understanding. It upends basic assumptions and leads
students into a learning experience that is open-ended, full of inquiry and
easily modified through innovative thought.
Growing plants, sustainably, while utilizing recycled waste products
from worm farms and fish aquariums, along with creating hydroponic growing
mediums challenge conventional wisdom opening doors to new ways of thinking and
new ways of living. It is one example of the learning process working outside
the boundaries of traditional science curriculums and at the same time bathed
in real-world outcomes.
