Today's Lesson: Times Tables

6x6=36

8x7=56

9x3=27

Once upon a time, there was a very old fashioned teacher named Chloe.  She had been teaching for 150 years and was very good at making sure students knew what they needed to know.  They learned their times-tables, the names of the presidents, the Constitutional Amendments, and other  important information and committed it all to memory. 

Today's Lesson: Rote Memorization

- The Dictionary 

- Wikipedia 

- Phone Book

She recognized that the internet was a growing part of modern life, and this scared her.  Computers knew so much information!  In order for her students to keep up and succeed in the modern world, they would have to know more than these awesome and terrible machines.

She encouraged them to push themselves harder, found role models for their success, and shared their stories.  

John Henry did, indeed, drill faster than the machine, but the effort of the work took a toll on his health.  After he broke out the far side of the mountain, his heart gave out from stress...

The students had concerns.  

What do you mean, his heart gave out from stress? Why would we compete with technology when we could just use it?

This surprised Chloe, but she quickly recovered. She listened to their concerns and took them seriously. She asked the students what they wanted to learn and made sure to include their interests in the lessons.  She even encouraged students to take on leadership roles in the classroom by educating their peers on their independent research topics.

Well, what do you want to learn about?

Communication

n. The imparting or exchanging of information or news

Critical Thinking

n. Observation and analysis in order to form a judgement

What can we learn from the tale of John Henry?

Rather than lecturing her students, Chloe led discussions with her students.  Instead of telling them what to think, she had them come to their own conclusions.  Once they had a solid basis of understanding, she had them apply what they'd learned to the real world.

Well, I've been thinking about this a lot, and...

Creativity

n. The use and production of original ideas

Today's Lesson: Helping the Community

- Identify a need in the community

- Come up with a creative solution 

- Conduct independent research

Eventually, Chloe prompted the kids to think about what they could do and create with their knowledge.  The students decided that they wanted to create a resource for educating the community, so that everyone could benefit from their education.  They made a plan and  took a field trip to Big Bend Tunnel to made a documentary about John Henry based on what they'd learned.  Chloe empowered them to do so by making travel arrangements and making sure they had the technology resources they needed.  

Collaboration 

n. The act of working with someone to produce or create something

Under Chloe's supervision, students took on roles that appealed to them, conducted research, interviewed local historians, wrote their script, shot footage, and edited the documentary.