Innovation

The Endangered Species Project is a major academic focus of the eighth grade year as well as an outstanding example of project-based learning at KCD. Throughout the six-week project, students approach the study of their endangered species from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, then integrate that work into a final project presentation.

The project is the major focus of eighth grade English, science, history, and computer classes during the spring. According to computer teacher Sarah Shartzer, one of the goals of the project is to spur students to make meaningful connections across the disciplines; throughout the project, students are encouraged to consider the connections between these different areas of study and to connect them to their particular animal.

Ms. Shartzer sees the project as the culmination of the skills that students have been developing during their years in Middle School. Skills such as conducting in-depth research, time management, connecting classroom learning to real world issues, and critical thinking about complex problems are key aspects of the unit. “In many ways, we also see [the project] as preparation for the kind of academic work that’s expected in the Upper School,” Ms. Shartzer explained.

According to the eighth grade teachers, the requirement that students correspond with a wildlife expert about their animal is one of the more unique and rewarding components of the project. Students discuss strategies for making contact in English class, where they also learn about email etiquette. This year, our students were especially fortunate to find an engaged and enthusiastic group of correspondents. Kendall Jackson, for example, found that her initial contact, the Youth Education Coordinator at the Feline Conservation Foundation, was able to put her in touch with other authorities, providing additional resources for Kendall’s study of the Guiña.

Ayah Kutmah found a generous and enthusiastic correspondent in Dr. Robert Schneider, the Director of Boston University’s Center for Ecology and Conservation and an authority on the Sri Lankan Petite Shrub Frog. “Every time I came up with a question,” Ayah recalled, “he was willing to take the time to answer me.” Dr. Schneider was so impressed with this student-directed aspect of the project that he sent the following kudos to Ms. Shartzer: “First, let me say thanks to you for getting your students engaged in a project on endangered species . . . Second, I wanted to let you know that it was wonderful to correspond with Ayah about the Sri Lankan frogs. She showed a lot of initiative in reaching out to me with questions, and it is great that you encourage your students to do so.”

Throughout the project, students are challenged to engage with the complex relationships between governments, local communities, and the local biosphere that inform environmental policy. For many of our students, this broader perspective proves to be a memorable outcome of the project. “The most important thing I learned,” said Lilly Brice, “is the importance of paying attention to the bigger picture going on around us.” Ayah Kutmah agrees that the project has encouraged her to approach problem-solving in a more complex way. “Your plan has to consider not only the animal,” she said, “but the other things that are going on in the country and community.”

In addition to their final presentation, students complete a number of other projects, including a fictional travelogue for English class and an informational pamphlet for science. Click the images above to see some outstanding examples of student work. To learn more about the Endangered Species Project, visit the project website.

Earlier this month, Mr. Lyman and Mr. Ceaser announced an exciting new initiative that will create a one-to-one middle school laptop program using Google Chromebooks. According to Google, this will make KCD the first independent middle school in the nation to implement such a program! (To learn more, see this letter and the Google@KCD website.)

Middle school teachers and students began using Google Apps for Education at the beginning of the year, and teachers across all grade levels and disciplines have been enthusiastic about the way these tools enhance communication and collaboration in the classroom.

In Megan Pollitt’s fifth grade science classes, for example, students have been using Google spreadsheets to share and analyze data collaboratively. Ms. Pollitt is also using document collaboration tools to provide lab groups with real-time feedback as they work.

In Anne Kaiser-Harryman’s sixth grade English classes, students have been using the Chromebook cart and Google Docs’ collaboration tools for their writing workshops. “We have been having some of our best writing workshop days ever because of the Chromebooks in my classroom,” she said. “I may shock my kids by starting to dance down here out of my happiness over this new tool!”

Greg Korchnak’s eighth grade science classes are using Google Apps nearly every day. Using Google Docs, Mr. Korchnak has been posting interactive class notes that include extension activities and videos. His students also use Google Docs to complete and submit their homework, making it easy to track and grade student assignments. “Google Apps is great,” he said, “because if a student is absent, they can make up the majority of the work while they are out of school. They can come back to class ready to work without missing a step.”

Lisa Stringfellow’s fifth grade English classes have been using Google Docs for collaborative projects and to extend the idea of the traditional reader’s notebook. According to Ms. Stringfellow, this method allows her to read and engage with students’ ideas as they are developing.

Mr. Ceaser said that Google Apps has been successful in the Middle School because the tools are both simple and intuitive. “Google Apps lets us use technology without making technology the focus of the classroom,” he said. “The technology gets out of the way and lets students and teachers focus on collaborating together and learning.”

Last fall, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged schools to integrate financial literacy education and training programs into their curriculum. Citing the recent mortgage crisis, low savings rates, and lack of investment in markets and startups, Mr. Duncan stated that “To continue to have a population that is relatively illiterate in these matters . . . has real negative consequences to our democracy.”

KCD has already taken several key steps toward integrating financial literacy into our upper school curriculum. The Introduction to Finance and Investing elective has been offered in the Upper School for several years. This year, thanks to an endowment established by an anonymous donor, KCD is offering a new elective course providing an introduction to economics. Both classes are taught by math teacher Bill Crawford, who has a degree in economics and extensive experience working as an independent trader.

Introduction to Economics is an introduction to markets and microeconomics. According to Mr. Crawford, the class prepares students to think objectively about our economy, government policies, and individual businesses.

Introduction to Finance and Investing focuses on the debt and equity markets while exploring short, intermediate, and long-term investment strategies. Mr. Crawford states that “the goal of this class is for students to acquire the framework needed to build savings that will leave them financially secure as they grow older.”

As we reported previously, the Upper School has also established a partnership with Junior Achievement. In this program, financial leaders from the community have held a series of financial literacy workshops with upper school students throughout the fall and winter. Today’s session, for example, covered identity theft and credit reports.

Pat Grismer, Chief Planning and Control Officer for YUM! Brands as well as a KCD parent and JA session leader, believes that these classes are more important than ever given the turbulent state of the world economy. “There’s never been a more important time for students to learn fiscal responsibility,” he said. “I’ve appreciated the opportunity to share practical knowledge with KCD students to broaden their awareness of financial concepts and help them make wise financial decisions in the years ahead.”

Senior Andrea Wambaugh said that she has appreciated learning more about personal finance. “I think it’s really important,” she said, “especially for the seniors, to learn a little about managing money before we go off to college.” According to junior Brock Burton, “These classes . . . have really put into perspective how important it is to have good money management skills as well as well-rounded knowledge about finance. I think I can speak for the entire high school when I say that these classes were valuable and their lessons will definitely help guide our financial decisions later in life.”

Thanks to a new elective in the middle school, students are now hard at work building and programming their own robots! This robotics class, which is taught by Brian Wagner, is based on a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum developed by Carnegie Mellon University. Students in the class may not be impressed by the credentials of the program, but they do know that Robots + LEGO = Awesome!

Mr. Wagner is offering two sections of the class each trimester: one for fifth/sixth graders and one for seventh/eighth graders. The course uses LEGO Mindstorm NXT robots to teach core STEM concepts. After building their robots, students learn to program basic robot behaviors using motors and rotation, sound, light, touch, and ultrasonic sensors.

More photos on Flickr