Workspace+7+Skills-+US

= 7 Survival Skills = This is the workspace to begin to look internally at how these skills are currently being met or missed across divisions. This could serve as a reference point for our school visits. Basically, we are "taking stock" of ourselves in terms of the 7 survival skills purposed by Tony Wagoner in Rigor Defined

Below is a short compilation of some of the problem based projects ewmplyed in the upper school that are designed to engage 21st-century students with real-world issues or dilemmas that have interest and value. These projects meet some, most, or all of the essential skills for 21st century learners. They are projects where students are taken off campus for some or all of their work. Upper-school department chairs, as a part of the research done by the 2009 Upper School Committee, were queried about their use of such projects. In some cases, they responded themselves; in others, they asked individual faculty members to share projects they had used in specific courses. This compilation does not include the AP course offerings, co-curricular programming, or special programming. It does detail some extra-curricular and co curricular-opportunities for students, although I think our group needs to take a systematic look at the way these programs help us to meet our mission as a school and emerging new criteria for education. In addition, the notes below aim to give a representative sample of the kind of projects that have been used (or could be used) in each discipline to meet the current thinking and research on 21st century education. P rojects/units noted below begin with a driving question (e.g. Is maintaining ecosystems important to humans?) and involve research, dialogue, debate, and an off-campus experience in order to arrive, cooperatively, at a meaningful conclusion.

=Critical Thinking and Problem Solving=

Upper School
Mathematics: The Math Trail: A Math Trail is a guided walk that takes students to various places such as Philadelphia, a museum or a mall. At various points along the trail there will be a building, a piece of art, a sign or a pattern that yields a math problem that is either related to topics recently studied in the classroom or other mathematical topics outside the curriculum. A Math Trail is really about curiosity and being observant. Good questions get students to look at and think about what they might otherwise miss thus demonstrating that mathematics can be found anywhere and everywhere. Students write solutions to each problem that are not just calculations but a full and clear written explanation of the process used to solve the problem.

Mathematics: After a presentation of a typical sinusodial modeling problem, Precalculus students are divided into small groups charged with the following task: 1) Prepare a lesson plan that your group will present that explains to the class how a particular type of sinusodial modeling problem is solved and 2) create one problem to be used as practice for the class that would allow each student to demonstate mastery of the particular sinusodial modeling problem that your group presented. This activity could also be listed under the Mission headings: Collaboration and Leadership and Effective Oral and Written Communication.

History: Battlefield Analysis: For the Military History elective, after reading accounts of the Battles of Germantown and Whitemarsh and their aftermaths, students led a battlefield walk. At various sites significant to the battle, students gave presentations about the events that took place there, using maps and primary source accounts to illustrate their talks. They finished the day at Valley Forge, where they studied the ordeal experienced by the soldiers there and analyzed the way in which terrain shaped Washington’s tactical and strategic decisions.

Upper School
English: Into the Woods for A Midsummer Night's Dream: First, freshmen students read and act out sections of the play in the classroom. Then they venture outside to read/act out the text. Because the setting of this play—the woods—is so crucial to its themes of social disobedience, fear, and fantasy, the students can begin to more keenly identify these notions if they can experience the play within actual woods. Hopefully, this phenomenological experience will help them to understand the power and intention of this piece not only intellectually but also emotionally—an essential aspect of all dramatic pieces that can sometimes be difficult to relate to when reading the text within cinderblock walls!

Visual Art: Partner with CSO to offer arts workshops on buddy days as well as with the Community Partnership School. Theya slo work with city wide arts organizations to make and exhibit art. Last year students participated in Philagraphika - a celebration of print arts in the city - by making a printed mural banner with lower school students at GA that was exhibited in City Hall. They also exhibited their art works with area high school students at the Philadelphia public library.

Visual Arts: Senior Mural Project is a three month long project wher every senior honors students work together to conceive of and complete a 10 foot by 40 foot mural.

Performing Arts: Improvisation classes, musical theater classes, instrumental groups, singing groups, develop performance works with faculty and students and mount a number of formal and informal performances during the course of the year.

Digital Media: Digital song writing and recording class works all year to develop original music performed by group members and recorded in our sound studio. Students perform their music at a CD release party at the end of each year.

Extra-curriculuar: Fall and Winter Belfry give students an opportunity to collaborate on performance pieces. One and one musical production are mounted each year. BATS gives senior Belfry studnets an opportunity to write, direct, and produce their ouwn show in the spring. Student directors draw from the talent at GA in acting, writing, musical performance.

Kids Teaching Kids

The Writing Center

Peer Tutoring Program =Agility and Adaptability=

Upper School
English: Poetry in the Community (proposed): Taking advantage of Philadelphia’s poetry community, and possibly of events scheduled during National Poetry Month (April), students could attend a reading, an open mike event, or a poetry slam in the city. They could do so in conjunction with the classroom study of a featured poet and could follow their attendance at such an event by holding a comparable event back at school, focusing on their own poems. Driving questions for such a project could be, “What is the value of poetry in the contemporary world?” or “How are poets shaped by, and respond to, the physical, social, and cultural environments in which they live?”

Visual Arts: Upper level courses employ the regular use of online educational programs for students to work independently of teachers on certain aspects of the course (mastering Photoshop, Color Theory, Final Cut etc). This opens the format for studio practice to include group instruction, and self paced individual instruction and it allows the teachers to have several unrelated projects going on at the same time while students are fully engaged in the learning process.

Extracurricular International Travel: The Modern Language Department organizes a trip each June to either a French- or a Spanish-speaking country, where the students can experience the culture as well as the use of language in context. The History dept offers student exchanges to China and Poland. The Visual Arts Dept offers regional weekend long art trips, Boston, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, New York and the Hudson Valley Performing Art Dept offers international travel opportunities for Singing Patriots to Poland and other European locals.

Upper School
Classics: Student-generated curriculum at the Metropolitan Museum: Last year the Classics Department went to the new Classics arts wing at the Metropolitan Museum and charted out a program for Upper School-age students, cataloging pertinent questions about culture, civilization, and humanities studies as they toured each room. When they came back, they researched the copious online materials the Met presents to schools that wish to enrich their students in not only Classical art and culture but also in artistic expression in general and its role in present day culture.

The Academy Scholars program: The Academy Scholars program is not a program in the sense of a course of learning defined by the school; it is an opportunity for students with a passion for scholarship, creative writing, visual art, performing art, or research (in the sciences, social sciences, or humanities) to pursue that passion by means of developing and working on a significant, independent project. Students become Academy Scholars candidates generally during their freshman or sophomore years by gaining the approval of the Director of the program. Besides having demonstrated pronounced intellectual and creative vitality, those permitted to join will also have exhibited the ability to do exceptional work in the relevant discipline with a high degree of independence and perseverance.

Gallery Tours (student led): For the Art History elective, the class spent the day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Before they went, each student was assigned a gallery in the museum. Then, using the interactive map on the museum's website, students prepared a guided tour for their classmates through the gallery, with detailed analyses of several pieces in addition to providing an overview about the themes and styles which united the pieces in their chosen room.

Extra-curricular: The Internship Program: Students work with a mentor during the summer at the mentors’ place of work. They must work there for a minimum of 40 hours. The idea is to enable the student to try out a career, to gain experience, and to build a resume. Most students spend much more time than 40 hours. Some are paid but most are not. Some are asked to return in subsequent years or during their senior projects. (More information is available online.)

Academy Scholars

Senior Project Program

=Effective Oral and Written Communication=

Upper School
Espionage Encounters: For the "Spies" elective, the students have visited the International Spy Museum in DC. Each student was assigned a different historical espionage case (e.g., the Rosenbergs, Robert Hanssen, Oleg Penkovsky, etc.). They were to explore the museum in general, but they also collected information about their assigned cases. Upon returning to GA, they spent a few days in the library collecting more information, which they then assembled into a "dossier" and presented to the class. Future classes may visit the National Cryptologic Museum at Fort Meade, MD (headquarters of the National Security Agency), with the students completing a similar assignment involving historic espionage and/or signals intelligence operations.

Extracurricular: Model UN: This club attends a variety of conferences and speaker events throughout the year. Foremost among these are the major Model UN conferences in DC (North American Invitational Model United Nations) and New York (National High School Model United Nations). These are several days long, during which time the students (usually about 15) represent an assigned country in negotiations with students from other school (and representing other countries).

Accessing and Analyzing Information
Science: Ecosystem Analysis: Students visit a nearby ecosystem, collect data, analyze it upon return to school, compare it to the data gained from previous years’ classes, and answer the driving question stated above. This process will expose them to how science actually works.

Tides Analysis (a virtual off-campus trip): Students use an on-line “tide predictor” program where they virtually “leave” the area and produce tide charts and maps for particular dates of harbors and locations all over the world, from Alaska to Antarctica. Next they compare the patterns (height, period, etc.). This is their introduction to tides.

(Historical footnote: before on-line resources were available, students were limited to using newspapers as the data source. The project took a month and was limited to the Philadelpia area. Now, with the tide predictor, Mapquest, and GIS, they can get any data they want from almost any coast on the planet.)

The Science Research Program: Students do real research at a variety of industries, universities and research institutes in the Delaware Valley. The research is often on the post-grad level. Many of the students are published. They must work during the summer full time and many are also in programs where they must go twice a week after school for a minimum of 4 hours per week in addition to the summer work. Some students continue to work there into their college years.

Upper School
English: Exploring Place in the Literature of Pennsylvania: Students in this class utilize the GA world outside of the classroom. For instance, they read poems written by our very own Dwight Peterson concerning GA's campus. They then go to the same places—or ones of their own selection—to compose poems/reflections on that space. This allows them to connect with the literature by bringing their own meanings to it. It also helps to develop their understanding of the notion that that "place" is defined by the perspective and experience of the speaker, which is a crucial idea in a course about regional writing. (This lesson could also be adapted to assist in exploring other texts that deal with place/memory/nostalgia, etc.)

Modern Language: Cultural Enhancements: Classes visit galleries and/or exhibits relevant to the language and curriculum (e.g. the Picasso exhibit this year, in conjunction with studying other artists and the Spanish Civil War; e.g. the Barnes collection), with both pre- and post-trip work being assigned.

Visual Arts: Student write, produce, and direct short films that are submitted to local film Festivals; The Greenfield Film Festival and the Main Line Film Festival. Included iin this process are casting sessions for the non-GA public as well as location scouting in the community and Phildelphia area.