What They're Doing

To give folks an idea of what the students are working on, a list!

GarbanzoQueen: Woodworking! The goal is to build a bookcase; materials might be an issue. Right now, she's reading a book about techniques and apprenticing at work.

TuTu: MakeUp! Not totally sure what's going on, but it's involving a lot of construction paper and research.

BlackChrysanthemum: She's really into photography. She's conducting an interview with an art teacher, and working on a portfolio of photographs.

Afrodydii: This girl wants to be a special education teacher, and she's interested in autism. She's reading the book What Makes Me Jump.

Monae: She's exploring religion and how people make choices about their religion. She made a survey using Google Forms, and is analyzing the results.

Jun19r: Fashion! She's conducted an interview and is figuring out where to go next.

myfriendasha: Documentary film! She interviewed an expert and is figuring out where to take it from here.

Exploration Packet!

After some scrambling to get my students going on their packets, I opted for a very teacherly path, and I made a packet in order to provide direction. It seems to be going okay,  and I just witnessed a student freak out joyously because she received a response to a survey that she wrote using Google Forms. Sometimes I feel like progress isn't go as fast as I'd like it to, but then I remember how valuable these seemingly small skills can be. 

Exploratory Learning at UHS lets students meet learning targets through investigations of their own interests. In order to demonstrate growth and show their learning, Exploratory Learning students choose from a variety of Exploration Options. A few of these options are chosen and developed by the student, and a few are requirements for the course.

Required Explorations

1) Exploratory Learning Blog

On their blog, students will write weekly about their progress. Sometimes blog entries will be required by the teacher, particularly at the beginning of the class. At other times, blog entries will be used to document steps taken toward completion of their Exploratory Projects.

2) Exhibition

At the end of the course, all students will present their explorations to an audience consisting of their classmates, teacher, principal, and mentors. During this exhibition, students will reflect and evaluate their own learning process. How well did you set and meet goals and make responsible decisions? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What did you accomplish during the course? What went well, and what would you have done differently? What was your final project, and who does it benefit?

3) Civic and Social Responsibility

At least one component of each student’s exploration must in some way give back to the school or larger community. This aspect of the projects will be documented on the blogs and during exhibition.

Exploration Options

See attached pages for more guidelines for each option. Each student must complete at least five options during the semester.

1) Interview an Expert

2) Write a Research Paper

3) Apprentice With an Expert

4) Read a Book

5) Conduct an Experiment

6) Analyze an Artifact

7) Make a Resource Map

8) Make Art

9) Propose Something Else!

Exploration Project

Each student will also complete a larger project on a topic of their choice. Ideally, Exploration Options will fuel the fire for the Exploration Project, and the Required Explorations will further illuminate the direction the project takes. Examples of a project might be making a documentary/short film and hosting a screening, planning an event, developing a communication tool to help special education students, etc.