I think a program like this will work for some students. Not all. I work at an alternative high school where some students still struggle to read and even add or subtract. I feel its a good program but the students need to have the skills and knowledge to carry out a project. If they don't understand basic math, how can they perform a science experiment without blowing themselves up? How will they be able to follow the directions of that experiment if they can't read? Just saying.....
For all of you that watched this video and wished you could make this happen or want more information, it tells you at the end of the video how to get help with this. Don't feel frustrated. Don't feel like it could never happen for you. Get in touch with these students. Email them at the address given at the end of the video. That's a place to start. Do some research. Find out who they are. Use the same skills they spoke of in the video to do your own research and find out more.
I love how Patrick so aptly phrased it: "Now I feel more confident in myself. Like, I can gather information on my own, learn on my own. I don't need tests or quizes, because I know it. I know that I know it, and I can express myself through it."
Change starts with the first step, success and financial security is never guarenteed. The statis quo in education is held in place by these two principals.
@MrYummy: Do teachers play any role in this? Do they point you to learning resources or offer lessons on subjects they think are relevant to your big questions?
Nicely done! This could serve as a catalyst for many schools/districts to engage in a monumental shift to REAL student-centered Education. The many descriptions of the project reminded me of the creative climate encouraged at GOOGLE'S headquarters. Thanks for sharing.
If this project exsisted when I attended Monument, I probably would not have dropped out, though there where certian teachers, Hags, Ms. Tobin, who loved to teach a subject so much that I truely loved their classes. There was way too much pot smoking in the boys room when I was there also
Simply amazing. I often am amazed at the incredible power and potential of future generations. This program may or may not be the "one" or the answer to all of the educational issues our country seems to be facing today - though it offers proof that some schools out there such as Monument are really pushing to reform and reinvent education in the 21st century! You students should be very very proud of the work that you have done and are continuing to do. Congratulations!!
Simply amazing. I often am amazed at the incredible power and potential of future generations. This program may or may not be the "one" or the answer to all of the educational issues our country seems to be facing today - though it offers proof that some schools out there such as Monument are really pushing to reform and reinvent education in the 21st century! You students should be very very proud of the work that you have done and are continuing to do. Congratulations!!
It's disturbing to think that Rebecca Black's Friday got over 16 million hits and this piece of brilliance only has a few thousand. I will do my best to spread this video, and everyone else should do the same! I am a youth researcher in Newfoundland Canada, and this video is truly inspiring! I will share in on our web site
This is awesome. Social Norms1 can i ask if you had just one of your subjects run in this way? I think it is the total responsibility for self and each other that has made the differnce here. In Australia, in spite of many, many attempts to improve "the system" we have not progressed in test scores in 10 years. Put simply we have milked this system dry. It cant deliver any better because it is structurally limited. We need a new framework. This might be at least part of the solution. Aussie Prin
Have you fine students thought about registering a web site and chronicling your experience? I'd be interested to hear about the process of getting this approved by the administrators at your school.
I'm baffled as to why you only have 5000 hits right now. This video needs to explore into the educational mainstream.
This program is brilliant because instead of dictating to students exactly what they need to learn in a forced fed fashion, they are allowed to explore various fields of study based on their own curiosity. They are learning how to learn for themselves which is much more valuable than temporarily memorizing a set of facts that are meaningless to the individual. It's a paradigm shift from hoop jumping to mind expansion.
@scottstier "instead of dictating to students exactly what they need to learn in a forced fed fashion" Okay, but at some point, the kids have to be told what to learn---otherwise, we would all say, "You know what, I don't see the point of algebra so let's not study it"---TRUST ME, if I could have got through high school without math, I would have been delighted to get rid of it.
I really like this concept very much. I found myself wanting to hear from educators and students of color. I found a lot of social and emotional intelligence in this presentation, but I also want to see that cultural competence is being fostered in this model. I agree that it has enormous potential, but want to see images of intercultural collaboration and projects.
The girl who starts talking at 3:15 has it DEAD WRONG. The teachers' hands are tied. They are NOT the ones who set the curriculum. It is designed and then handed to them by higher-ups who then say, "Go teach this." This is why the teachers are just as miserable as the students.
That's like saying that Nazi soldiers' hands were tied; that they were blameless victims at the hands of some oppressive leaders. Teachers are adults. Adults are guardians of the development of children. A part of the responsibility of being an adult is to not lay blame at the hands of others for our own choices and actions. Teachers feeling that they are not to blame for their own actions and inactions would certainly be responsible for creating and sustaining a mediocre educational system.
@chinchinrevolution That's great, but let me try to make this really simple so you'll understand it, since you didn't get it the first time you read it: The teachers do not create the curriculum. The teacher can teach what is given to them---or they can look for another job. What exactly would you have them do since you know so much?
@moonrice555 Act like an entrepreneur. If you do not agree with the orders of your "boss" and you think that they are not in the best interests of society (or children), then go out on your own and offer tutoring services or start your own independent school. How could you spend an entire lifetime of work doing something you don't believe in and that you think is useless or harmful to a lot of children?
@chinchinrevolution "How could you spend an entire lifetime of work doing something you don't believe in" Because, at the end of the day, we all have to eat. I would love to chuck it all and go be an actor. And some people have that courage--and I applaud them. But not everybody who wants that gets to do it. There are VERY gifted people who haven't made a movie in years. It's just a sad reality. We should buck the system---but it's not the cake-walk you make it out to be.
@moonrice555And: I got it perfectly the first time I read it. In fact, I've been working alongside the teachers' union for over 20 years now and growing. I get the sense that a teacher in today's society, comfortably ensconced in the financial security of this union, finds it difficult to relate to the devastated prospects of a child disenfranchised from the educational system and the lack of security it affords them, since it is not designed for their benefit.
@chinchinrevolution "since it is not designed for their benefit." Right---and it's not designed by the teachers. Oh, wait---I already said that. Twice. I think it's sad---nay, baffling--- that you've been working with the teachers' union for 20 years and still don't have a clue what a teacher endures. Financial security? Do you know how many hours the average teacher puts in?
@moonrice555 shes saying how some teachers are nice and Want to help, while other teachers are not inpirational and very boring and dont even try the least bit to make it fun. she didnt say one thing about curriculum, shes talking about the attitudes of teachers and their willingness to support kids
@ThankYouMister The teachers can only do so much with what they are given. There are teachers who would LOVE to stray from the list, they would love to throw in their own creative ideas. They go in with great attitudes and it gets beaten out of them by the system.
@ThankYouMister Watch the guy at 1:40--he says "Can't watch these kids studying something that means nothing to them" ---the teachers don't choose which sections are relevant. The STATE does that. Simply put, they say: If your kid doesn't know THIS, he doesn't pass. I would like to know how the kids make sure their methods and curriculum is approved by the state. I would love if more schools did this but, I have to be honest, it seems like a lot of work.
@ThankYouMister I find this video frustrating as hell. While it's a sorely needed idea, it's just 15 minutes of people saying over and over "You can break the mold, learning can be fun". They completely gloss over the details. It's like watching some video where people say, "I ate great food and lost 20 pounds". That's great and all but what we want to hear is WHAT YOU ATE. The video needed a lot more details, like how do you set this in motion, who do you talk to, what are the guidelines, etc.
@ThankYouMister I guess you would just go to the school counselor. Hate to be negative but I almost get the idea that the principal would not be helpful because they thinks it's more work for them to have to deal with. I guess if you keep knocking on enough doors you would find someone at the school who would be helpful. Counselor seems like the best bet.
@moonrice555 The American ed. system is a nightmare mostly because of the American arrogance. We believe our way is right no matter how much evidence says otherwise. I'm glad these guys did this and I hope others follow. The sad part is, once they get to college, they are back in the same boat. College isn't about learning---don't kid yourselves. It's about bombarding kids with so much work that they are running and running until they collapse. They don't retain a damn thing that way (cont)
@lloo567 (Cont) and nobody wants to admit that. When the test scores go down, the American answer is "give them more work" No--give them DIFFERENT work. We need to convince people that is it the METHOD that is failing, not the amount of work. But Americans want to walk around with a big stupid smile and tell ourselves everything is great. Getting us to admit anything is wrong is like getting a Texas jury to say "Not guilty". But, I'm glad these guys are doing this.
There was this Hispanic guy who had a lot of progressive ideas about education. He was a teacher for several years and PBS did a special about him. Once he said "Learning isn't supposed to be painful"---and that quote really stuck with me. Does anyone know who I'm talking about?
@moonrice555 She might very well have been talking about the kind of teachers who would say, "It's ridiculous to think that kids can be trusted to learn on their own." There are good teachers and bad teachers. The good ones work around the curriculum, the bad ones rely on it.
@aikimoe "The good ones work around the curriculum, the bad ones rely on it." Yeah--and then the ones who work around it get reemed out by their bosses when they find out.
@krs239 I would say that is semantics, as most people hearing her don't know enough about how public school works and would assume she's saying it IS their fault.
My AP English class recently started a research paper on to make the process of education more effective in our highschool and were promised the option to present our ideas to an administrative board. As luck would have it I read this article published by Susan Engel in the NYTimes yesterday discussing the potential of such a program and that immediately provoked the idea to do this at our school. I'm completely behind this idea and hope to get this or a similarly structured program going here.
I think this project is really cool. I wish I could have done something like that in Highschool. It's like independent study of everything. Real cool project!
I think a program like this will work for some students. Not all. I work at an alternative high school where some students still struggle to read and even add or subtract. I feel its a good program but the students need to have the skills and knowledge to carry out a project. If they don't understand basic math, how can they perform a science experiment without blowing themselves up? How will they be able to follow the directions of that experiment if they can't read? Just saying.....
dukesingreenriver 1 month ago
am i the only one who thinks the background is a bit too loud? im trying hard to hear the interviewees!!
ElizaMogha 1 month ago
very well. :0
lovelplants 1 month ago
Every high school should be engaged in this experiment.
oldsowconsulting 2 months ago 2
The beauty of this project is that you are no longer simply learners, but experts. You're fantastic!
msbrookebunten 4 months ago
Homeschooling is the best.
tortillitas18 6 months ago 2
For all of you that watched this video and wished you could make this happen or want more information, it tells you at the end of the video how to get help with this. Don't feel frustrated. Don't feel like it could never happen for you. Get in touch with these students. Email them at the address given at the end of the video. That's a place to start. Do some research. Find out who they are. Use the same skills they spoke of in the video to do your own research and find out more.
win8dos2 9 months ago 3
This was an amazing video. I really wish I went to a school like this growing up. I truly believe I would have become a better person.
pmessri 9 months ago
I love how Patrick so aptly phrased it: "Now I feel more confident in myself. Like, I can gather information on my own, learn on my own. I don't need tests or quizes, because I know it. I know that I know it, and I can express myself through it."
phoenixfreeschool 10 months ago
Change starts with the first step, success and financial security is never guarenteed. The statis quo in education is held in place by these two principals.
tweedd7474 10 months ago
@MrYummy: Do teachers play any role in this? Do they point you to learning resources or offer lessons on subjects they think are relevant to your big questions?
farkyou7 11 months ago
Nicely done! This could serve as a catalyst for many schools/districts to engage in a monumental shift to REAL student-centered Education. The many descriptions of the project reminded me of the creative climate encouraged at GOOGLE'S headquarters. Thanks for sharing.
berkshirecat 11 months ago
If this project exsisted when I attended Monument, I probably would not have dropped out, though there where certian teachers, Hags, Ms. Tobin, who loved to teach a subject so much that I truely loved their classes. There was way too much pot smoking in the boys room when I was there also
Mrloserdan 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Simply amazing. I often am amazed at the incredible power and potential of future generations. This program may or may not be the "one" or the answer to all of the educational issues our country seems to be facing today - though it offers proof that some schools out there such as Monument are really pushing to reform and reinvent education in the 21st century! You students should be very very proud of the work that you have done and are continuing to do. Congratulations!!
iainb33 11 months ago
Simply amazing. I often am amazed at the incredible power and potential of future generations. This program may or may not be the "one" or the answer to all of the educational issues our country seems to be facing today - though it offers proof that some schools out there such as Monument are really pushing to reform and reinvent education in the 21st century! You students should be very very proud of the work that you have done and are continuing to do. Congratulations!!
iainb33 11 months ago
It's disturbing to think that Rebecca Black's Friday got over 16 million hits and this piece of brilliance only has a few thousand. I will do my best to spread this video, and everyone else should do the same! I am a youth researcher in Newfoundland Canada, and this video is truly inspiring! I will share in on our web site
imbrownbutimnotbrown 11 months ago
look up "North Star" center for teens in Hadley, MA
AprilE27 11 months ago
This is awesome. Social Norms1 can i ask if you had just one of your subjects run in this way? I think it is the total responsibility for self and each other that has made the differnce here. In Australia, in spite of many, many attempts to improve "the system" we have not progressed in test scores in 10 years. Put simply we have milked this system dry. It cant deliver any better because it is structurally limited. We need a new framework. This might be at least part of the solution. Aussie Prin
billsmith80bs 11 months ago
This is just like my high school Principles of Technology class where we ran our own experiments at our own pace. We did jack squat four days a week.
SocialNorms1 11 months ago
@SocialNorms1 Are you saying it worked well or didn't work?
moonrice555 11 months ago
Extraordinary. I'm sharing this with all my colleagues. Congratulations on making a difference for yourselves and, I think, the world.
bbrahier 11 months ago
Have you fine students thought about registering a web site and chronicling your experience? I'd be interested to hear about the process of getting this approved by the administrators at your school.
I'm baffled as to why you only have 5000 hits right now. This video needs to explore into the educational mainstream.
JennyFreezeify 1 year ago
I am a teacher and I think that this program is very inspirational!
I would recommend reading more about the Summerhill and Sudbury models if this topic interests anyone.
dtl5017 1 year ago
This program is brilliant because instead of dictating to students exactly what they need to learn in a forced fed fashion, they are allowed to explore various fields of study based on their own curiosity. They are learning how to learn for themselves which is much more valuable than temporarily memorizing a set of facts that are meaningless to the individual. It's a paradigm shift from hoop jumping to mind expansion.
scottstier 1 year ago 17
@scottstier "instead of dictating to students exactly what they need to learn in a forced fed fashion" Okay, but at some point, the kids have to be told what to learn---otherwise, we would all say, "You know what, I don't see the point of algebra so let's not study it"---TRUST ME, if I could have got through high school without math, I would have been delighted to get rid of it.
moonrice555 10 months ago
@scottstier Right---now if we just get the rest of the country on board.
lloo567 9 months ago
bravo guys
51295monk 1 year ago
I really like this concept very much. I found myself wanting to hear from educators and students of color. I found a lot of social and emotional intelligence in this presentation, but I also want to see that cultural competence is being fostered in this model. I agree that it has enormous potential, but want to see images of intercultural collaboration and projects.
elwot1961 1 year ago
beautiful!
youthimpulsed 1 year ago
The girl who starts talking at 3:15 has it DEAD WRONG. The teachers' hands are tied. They are NOT the ones who set the curriculum. It is designed and then handed to them by higher-ups who then say, "Go teach this." This is why the teachers are just as miserable as the students.
moonrice555 1 year ago 13
That's like saying that Nazi soldiers' hands were tied; that they were blameless victims at the hands of some oppressive leaders. Teachers are adults. Adults are guardians of the development of children. A part of the responsibility of being an adult is to not lay blame at the hands of others for our own choices and actions. Teachers feeling that they are not to blame for their own actions and inactions would certainly be responsible for creating and sustaining a mediocre educational system.
chinchinrevolution 11 months ago 2
@chinchinrevolution
This comment was in reponse to moonrice555's complaint that teachers in the system are helpless victims, miserable and unable to change.
chinchinrevolution 11 months ago
@chinchinrevolution That's great, but let me try to make this really simple so you'll understand it, since you didn't get it the first time you read it: The teachers do not create the curriculum. The teacher can teach what is given to them---or they can look for another job. What exactly would you have them do since you know so much?
moonrice555 11 months ago
@moonrice555 Act like an entrepreneur. If you do not agree with the orders of your "boss" and you think that they are not in the best interests of society (or children), then go out on your own and offer tutoring services or start your own independent school. How could you spend an entire lifetime of work doing something you don't believe in and that you think is useless or harmful to a lot of children?
chinchinrevolution 11 months ago
@chinchinrevolution "How could you spend an entire lifetime of work doing something you don't believe in" Because, at the end of the day, we all have to eat. I would love to chuck it all and go be an actor. And some people have that courage--and I applaud them. But not everybody who wants that gets to do it. There are VERY gifted people who haven't made a movie in years. It's just a sad reality. We should buck the system---but it's not the cake-walk you make it out to be.
moonrice555 11 months ago
@moonrice555And: I got it perfectly the first time I read it. In fact, I've been working alongside the teachers' union for over 20 years now and growing. I get the sense that a teacher in today's society, comfortably ensconced in the financial security of this union, finds it difficult to relate to the devastated prospects of a child disenfranchised from the educational system and the lack of security it affords them, since it is not designed for their benefit.
chinchinrevolution 11 months ago
@chinchinrevolution "since it is not designed for their benefit." Right---and it's not designed by the teachers. Oh, wait---I already said that. Twice. I think it's sad---nay, baffling--- that you've been working with the teachers' union for 20 years and still don't have a clue what a teacher endures. Financial security? Do you know how many hours the average teacher puts in?
moonrice555 11 months ago
@moonrice555 shes saying how some teachers are nice and Want to help, while other teachers are not inpirational and very boring and dont even try the least bit to make it fun. she didnt say one thing about curriculum, shes talking about the attitudes of teachers and their willingness to support kids
ThankYouMister 10 months ago
@ThankYouMister The teachers can only do so much with what they are given. There are teachers who would LOVE to stray from the list, they would love to throw in their own creative ideas. They go in with great attitudes and it gets beaten out of them by the system.
moonrice555 10 months ago
@ThankYouMister Watch the guy at 1:40--he says "Can't watch these kids studying something that means nothing to them" ---the teachers don't choose which sections are relevant. The STATE does that. Simply put, they say: If your kid doesn't know THIS, he doesn't pass. I would like to know how the kids make sure their methods and curriculum is approved by the state. I would love if more schools did this but, I have to be honest, it seems like a lot of work.
moonrice555 10 months ago
@ThankYouMister I find this video frustrating as hell. While it's a sorely needed idea, it's just 15 minutes of people saying over and over "You can break the mold, learning can be fun". They completely gloss over the details. It's like watching some video where people say, "I ate great food and lost 20 pounds". That's great and all but what we want to hear is WHAT YOU ATE. The video needed a lot more details, like how do you set this in motion, who do you talk to, what are the guidelines, etc.
pinklipsarepretty 10 months ago
@pinklipsarepretty yeah its a great idea but it would be nice if there were more details. i want this in my school
ThankYouMister 10 months ago
@ThankYouMister I guess you would just go to the school counselor. Hate to be negative but I almost get the idea that the principal would not be helpful because they thinks it's more work for them to have to deal with. I guess if you keep knocking on enough doors you would find someone at the school who would be helpful. Counselor seems like the best bet.
pinklipsarepretty 10 months ago
@pinklipsarepretty yeah i'm gonna run it by all the people in high places that i know. thanks for the help
ThankYouMister 10 months ago
@moonrice555 The American ed. system is a nightmare mostly because of the American arrogance. We believe our way is right no matter how much evidence says otherwise. I'm glad these guys did this and I hope others follow. The sad part is, once they get to college, they are back in the same boat. College isn't about learning---don't kid yourselves. It's about bombarding kids with so much work that they are running and running until they collapse. They don't retain a damn thing that way (cont)
lloo567 9 months ago
@lloo567 (Cont) and nobody wants to admit that. When the test scores go down, the American answer is "give them more work" No--give them DIFFERENT work. We need to convince people that is it the METHOD that is failing, not the amount of work. But Americans want to walk around with a big stupid smile and tell ourselves everything is great. Getting us to admit anything is wrong is like getting a Texas jury to say "Not guilty". But, I'm glad these guys are doing this.
lloo567 9 months ago
There was this Hispanic guy who had a lot of progressive ideas about education. He was a teacher for several years and PBS did a special about him. Once he said "Learning isn't supposed to be painful"---and that quote really stuck with me. Does anyone know who I'm talking about?
lloo567 9 months ago
@moonrice555 She might very well have been talking about the kind of teachers who would say, "It's ridiculous to think that kids can be trusted to learn on their own." There are good teachers and bad teachers. The good ones work around the curriculum, the bad ones rely on it.
aikimoe 7 months ago
@aikimoe "The good ones work around the curriculum, the bad ones rely on it." Yeah--and then the ones who work around it get reemed out by their bosses when they find out.
moonrice555 7 months ago
@moonrice555 She was saying that the teachers are not inspiring or driving students to ask questions. It's true.
She also didn't claim it to be their fault, right?
krs239 7 months ago
@krs239 I would say that is semantics, as most people hearing her don't know enough about how public school works and would assume she's saying it IS their fault.
moonrice555 7 months ago
My AP English class recently started a research paper on to make the process of education more effective in our highschool and were promised the option to present our ideas to an administrative board. As luck would have it I read this article published by Susan Engel in the NYTimes yesterday discussing the potential of such a program and that immediately provoked the idea to do this at our school. I'm completely behind this idea and hope to get this or a similarly structured program going here.
JediChainsaws 1 year ago
This is too genius to be true.
Ali0fTheQ 1 year ago
this is awesome! me and my friend really want to do something like this at our school.
annah126 1 year ago
This is SO cool! Huge congratulations to all involved-I hope it keeps going!
juliet310 1 year ago
humans dont need guided education, if given time, eventually it is our nature to explore and discover new things.
333erty 1 year ago 3
yeee
this is awesome!
Justy863 1 year ago
Awesome.
jamarmbox 1 year ago
I think this project is really cool. I wish I could have done something like that in Highschool. It's like independent study of everything. Real cool project!
TyrannosaurusRach 1 year ago