Doing Work that Matters

Direct Link to This Page:  http://bit.ly/surreyschoolsjan162013

In his 2012 Kindle Single Why School, technology expert and educational change agent Will Richardson argues that classrooms as they are currently structured are failing our students.  "We focus on the easiest parts of the learning interaction -- information acquisition, basic skills, a bit of critical thinking, analysis -- accomplishments that can be easily identified and scored," he writes.  "Learning is relegated to the quantifiable" (Kindle location 227).  To create highly engaged learning spaces, Will believes, classrooms must instead be reimagined as places where students do work that matters with others -- a process introduced by sixth grade classroom teacher Bill Ferriter in this January 2013 presentation to teachers in the Surrey School District outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Today's Slides

Today's Handout

Handout_DoingWorkthatMatters

The document above is the primary handout for today's session.  It contains a series of reflection questions that participants will be asked to think about with partners.  It also contains additional contact information for session presenter Bill Ferriter.

Activity 1 - Who ARE Today's Learners?

In an attempt to have a better understanding of just who today's learners are, work with a partner to explore the video titled Joe’s Non-Netbook.  Use the handout titled The People Formerly Known as the Audience to guide your reflections.

 Questions to Consider

How do today’s students differ from students in previous generations? What words best describe today’s students? How are those words different from the words that would have best described students from previous generations? Do today’s students have strengths that previous generations didn’t have? How about weakness?

Just what skills DO our students need to master in order to be effective and efficient learners? Are the skills that students need to master today significantly different than the skills that students needed to master in the past?

Finally, what impact has the changing nature of our students and our world had on what you do as a teacher?  Has your work changed significantly in the past few years?  Is your classroom significantly different from the classrooms that you spent time in as a student?  How?

Kids CAN Do Work that Matters

Doing work that matters in session presenter Bill Ferriter's sixth grade classroom has centered around using Kiva -- one of the world's largest and most successful microlending websites -- to fight back against poverty in the developing world by making loans to people who want to start businesses to improve the lives of their families.  Together with classmates, Bill's students raise money and then make regular decisions about who to make loans to.  To date, they've loaned out over $13,000 to over 400 people in 28 different countries.

Learn more about this project by exploring the links below:

One Tweet CAN Change the World - In this post from his blog, session presenter Bill Ferriter explains the origins of his classroom Kiva project.  More importantly, he details the direct connections between Kiva lending and his curriculum and provides a series of links to handouts and materials that other teachers interested in Kiva lending can use in their own work with students. 

We Kiva Because Video - In this video created by session presenter Bill Ferriter's Kiva Club, student members explain the reasons behind their choices to become Kiva lenders.  What resonates throughout the video is the sense that every student sees Kiva as an opportunity to do work that matters. 

Poverty's Real Video - This video was created by two of session presenter Bill Ferriter's Kiva Club students in order to market the work of the club to potential sponsors.  It is a sample of the kinds of meaningful curricular lessons -- lessons on persuasion, content creation, and visual influence -- that are possible when students are engaged in Kiva lending. 

Salem Middle School Kiva Tripline - This Tripline -- or interactive timeline -- is another tool that session presenter Bill Ferriter's Kiva Club uses to track their influence and to raise attention to what's possible when people embrace Kiva as a way to make a difference and to do work that matters. 

Additional Microlending Resources - Because session presenter Bill Ferriter is so passionate about using microlending as a way to give students opportunities to do work that matters, he writes about it often.  You can find additional microlending resources on his professional development wiki here, in the materials that his Kiva Club used for a Simple K12 webinar here,  on his blog here, and in the handout section for his book on teaching with technology here. 

Additional Examples of Doing Work that Matters

The Story of Malala Yousafzai - Growing up in the Taliban controlled regions of Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai -- a teen girl -- faced almost unimaginable challenges and a strictly regimented life that treated girls as objects instead of individuals.  At the age of 11, she decided to take action -- starting a blog on a BBC News website about just what life was like in her part of the world.  Her bravery quickly earned her the admiration of thousands of locals -- and the scorn of the Taliban.  Yousafzai -- now 14 -- was shot by Islamic militants in the Fall of 2012. 

Westwood Middle School Makes a Difference - Sixth grade at Westwood Middle School in Coon Rapids, Minnesota is a year-long lesson in community activism, where social studies teachers Bob Schneider, Chris Clark and Dominic Martini assign their students a civics participation project every fall.  Students learn more about the role that local government plays in their lives and get involved in advocating for change that they believe in.  Whether they're sitting in on school board meetings, writing letters to the mayor or volunteering at groups dedicated to fighting hunger, WMS students care about their community -- and are taking action on their concerns.

Our New Value - Making Stuff with Kids - In this blog entry, Will Richardson details the steps being taken to give students the opportunity to "do work that matters" at the Marymount School -- an independent Catholic school in Manhattan where real projects that have real implications for changing the world in a positive way are being used to drive the curriculum.  "If we see this as better learning than the lockstep curriculum that we’re currently delivering in a variety of ways in schools," Will writes, "then why aren’t we fighting harder for it? Why aren’t we demanding it? Why aren’t we at least starting conversations around it?"

High Tech High San Diego Bay Project - For juniors in Jay Vavra and Tom Fehrenbacher's science and Humanities classes at High Tech High School in San Diego, the issue that matters most is how to better protect the environment in and around the San Diego Bay.  The entire year is spent studying the habitats of the Bay area and the impact that humans are having on the environment.  Together, Vavra and Fehrenbacher's classes publish a field guide that is used by everyone from environmental scientists to local politicians interested in looking for solutions to improve the overall health of the Bay.

Questions to Consider

Can you see evidence of students doing work that matters in session presenter Bill Ferriter's microlending project?  Would YOUR students be motivated by this kind of classroom tasks? 

Can you see evidence of students mastering the kinds of core academic skills and content knowledge that are required by provincial and/or district curricula guides in session presenter Bill Ferriter's microlending project?  List all of the different content objectives and skills that his students are mastering while doing work that matters.

What kinds of changes would need to be made in order for projects like this to become common in the classrooms of your school and/or district?  What tangible steps can you take from your position in the system in order to make these changes a reality?