Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

In fifteen minutes, our student TED Talks begin in the auditorium. One group, Go-Kart Sound, needed access to the auditorium early in order to set up their presentation. By looking at the picture, you can see why. This presentation will be a wonderful beginning to a day filled with learning conversations and exhibits!

And Now Presenting...

Today we received notice that a proposal we submitted, "Harmonized Learning: A 20% Time Classroom", was accepted for presentation at the MOREnet Annual Conference in Columbia, MO in October. We see this as further validation that there is an audience out there that wants to learn more about how to undertake a 20% Time program and see some of the results of those efforts.

Those who follow the blog and podcast know that we are creating as we go forward. We can usually sense when we need to formally check in with groups, see a product along the way or give a longer leash to some groups to explore or change topics. So much of the learning that takes place in a 20% Time environment is alien to the typical school regimen and often we depend on reading our students to see where we should take the project next. That is not to say that we don't prepare. We probably over-prepare. We realize, though, that we have to make changes, often on the fly, for the experience to be as rewarding and relevant as possible to the kiddos. We have a lot of discussions about what the next move should be, why it should be that way, and how we are going to make that next move.

Our 20% Time experience has been an incredible learning experience for us and our kids. We are looking forward to sharing that experience with anyone who wants to listen and having another rewarding experience next year with our new group of kids. We are convinced that this is the way schools should be moving and will champion that cause wherever we can! - Don

Drumroll Please...

With TED Talks only two days away, kids are making last minute preparations. Some are very excited, some are very anxious and some are both. This is an exciting time for Harmony Team students. The culmination of their semester of 20% Time work occurs this week. For all of the hours they have spent researching, writing, building, testing, revamping, rethinking, revising, and publishing, they will finally get a chance to showcase their learning to an authentic audience.

Our TED Talks are open to school classes, district teachers and administrators, parents and community members. The talks will take place in our auditorium, on stage, with a projected visual (if the students choose to have one) and a microphone. Our talks should be very much like the TED Talks we have all seen online. We plan to videotape and publish all of the TED Talks right here on our blog. All of the groups will publish their own TED Talk videos on their student blogs as well.

As the teachers, our part of the TED Talk preparation was to make sure that all groups had their project ready to go, secure the auditorium, develop a schedule, link visuals to the schedule, and publicize it to the community and district. WE ARE READY! This is one of the real-life applications of the students' work and they are realizing that their learning does apply to their  immediate domain and the larger world around them. The audience could range anywhere from 50 (the number of students on our team) to 450 (the number of people the auditorium holds). We don't know what to expect as far as audience size, but it doesn't matter; the students will be discussing their learning with a REAL audience. This is not a project for school, this is a project for the world. 

All year we have tried to tie all of the kids' learning to the world around them. We have made connections with things in their lives, their community and their world. We believe that the best education is one that prepares them for the world in which they will live. The 20% Time projects are the most organized attempt at this real-world connection that we have made this year, but we have made these connections in their regular classes as well. These kiddos will remember these TED Talks for the rest of their lives. How many other classroom activities can we say that about? Not many. Not only did these projects teach them about the content they explored, it also taught them about how they learn, how they work with others, how to prioritize, how to persevere, and how to work in the world. While the kids may not think so right now, we think this will be life-changing learning for them.  - Don

Video: Hovercrafting 101

The Hovercrafting 101 group has been playing with designs, propulsion and materials. They are trying to get the lift band and skirt to work in concert in order to keep the vehicle off the ground for a long period of time. Here is a video that shows some of that effort.

Podcast: Ted Talk Prep and Looking Ahead

In this episode, we talk about Ted Talk preparations, scheduling and student performance. We also reflect on how things have gone overall and some tweaks for next year. Listeners can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Search iTunes for Harmonized Learning in the podcast section and click "subscribe". You can also follow us on Twitter @melissahellwig4 and @dayankee

Student Blog Spotlight: Operation Beautiful Hixson

Allyson has been spreading good cheer at Hixson all semester as part of her 20% Time project, Operation Beautiful Hixson. She has piggy-backed on the school-wide program, Rachael's Challenge, and included many other students in her project. This is a wonderful, student-directed learning project. - Don

Go-Kart Test Drive!