IHC Journey

  Another Wednesday, more time for Genius Hour. My project was supposed to go until Spring Break but it's continuing a little longer. Mr. Funk added Minecraft to the mix and students built their sustainability projects there. While we would love for the projects to actually become a reality, the reality is this might be as real as it gets.  Students created their aquaponics, living wall, environmental field trips, and cafeteria waste projects in the school setting and today presented what they created.  We were a little worried that Minecraft may have been for younger students and eighth graders perhaps aged out but turns out, they could not close their laptop screens to stop working on their world. This project really got the kids to work together to create a more sustainable school and I'm super proud of their efforts. They explored so many issues surrounding their project and tried to come up with solutions.  In the end (even though this really isn't the end), sus...

Last week the 8th graders were assigned to interview someone who could help them solve more issues they were facing. While many of them wanted to interview the head of school, they quickly realized how busy he was and proximity wise, I was a convenient second choice (I wasn't offended). I was impressed with the questions they were asking/issues they were tackling. Serious adult issues, not 14 year old issues. They were very kosher and asked if they could record me while they conducted the interview. You can see the girl holding her phone in the first picture. I gave them some advice to put it near the people who were talking.  Each group has hit a wall in terms of how to fund their projects. WOAH. That is some adult issues. I gave them some ideas such as finding the person who may have done aquaponics or vericomposting at the school before to see if they had supplies left over to defray the costs, researching if any parent at the school specializes in whatever their project is to s...

 Our students met with Dr. Fletcher this morning. No, not Dr. Ruth Fletcher, Dr. Chip Fletcher (her husband). Interim dean of UHM SOEST, he's clearly a busy guy but Dr. Ruth volunteered him to spend some time with our students and let us pick his brain.  What amazes me about some people (I'm referring to the Fletchers here) is you can throw out almost anything about almost any topic and they will have some insightful widsom to bestow.  Students in each group got to ask him questions that were plaguing their project and also environmental questions/questions about him as a scientist and a learner. Each time he had unparalleled advice to give. Our students brought their A game with their questions and wonderings and he was so encouraging and helpful. It really was a treat to have our students spend an hour with an expert in the field.  Mahalo Drs. Fletcher! 

 We've jumped into the deep end and there's no going back now. We are completely submerged in the pool water and we're swimming. Just keep swimming. I've truly enjoyed my time in the classroom each Wednesday hanging out with the 8th graders and getting to know them during this process. It's one thing to see them on campus and another to hear them discuss things in groups and get passionate about topics.  Trevor (the teacher implementing Genius Hour) exposed students to enviornmental issues and had them research problems before engaging in a socratic seminar and it was very eye opening to see leaders emerge and students speak. It's been my favorite session so far.  Technology is a hindrance and a help. Some days the scale is 10/90 and other days it's 50/50 and on some interesting days its 90/10. Well, pair that with the pandemic and us trying to keep kids separated with acrylic barriers does not assist in the 'group work' portion. Today I noticed the ...

 "Comment on other people's blogs" they asked.  And what do I do?  I write installment #2.  I swear I'm not normally a rule breaker and I also promise to comment after this. Because I appreciate the comments on my first installment.  Tangent time: I used to write Yelp reviews. I used to LOVE writing Yelp reviews. I love to try new restaurants and write witty (but helpful) reviews. I wrote 300 reviews in one year once. And then they kicked me out of the Yelp Elite club and I retaliated by stopping cold turkey (writing reviews that is, not eating good food). Apparently I miss writing reviews because here we are, installment #2.  ------------ I am a little bit freaking out. (read: little bit, think: mondo ). The time FLIES by. At super warp speed. Captain Kirk needs to to chill because warp speed would have tragic consequences. The week passes and I haven't made any progress in my project. Then the next week flies by and pretty soon we are in another month. Lu...

 Here we go! I think the hardest part is putting the first couple of sentences down because that means you've committed, and you can't vacilliate or overthink any longer. So there's my first two sentences, no going back or procrastinating any longer.  Change is not just hard, it's also scary. Creating change can be so difficult but turning that change into a 'lifestyle' can be even harder because you can't just let it go, you have to monitor it and make sure it's going the way you want it to...but eventually knowing that those who have taken on your change must make it a part of life, and not just do it for now to appease you. The scary part is not knowing how things will go and the push back you'll get. The hardest thing about life is knowing when to try harder and when to give up.  My mentor, Dr. Ruth we will call her always has an insightful and thought provoking way of looking at things. I find myself writing copious notes when she speaks, she...