What You See Is What You Get

Throughout my day at Turning Point, I have been struck with things that are different here than at a traditional school.

What You Won’t See at Turning Point:
• time spent doing busy work
• formal bathroom breaks
• students walking in lines
• teachers grading papers
• papers on the floor, filling up the trash can,
• teachers going to the copier
• misbehavior among students (I am not kidding) because they are so busy doing meaningful work
• unnecessary assemblies that take students away from learning
• students sitting, waiting for others to finish their work
• students wasting time sharpening pencils, finding textbooks, papers, folders, walking around the room
• long pauses of time between activities where students don’t have anything to do


What You Will See at Turning Point:
• all activities have a purpose
• the highest expectation for student learning that I have ever seen – we learn because it makes us smarter, not because it helps us on a test, gets us a better grade, moves us ahead of someone else
• an enthusiasm for learning from both students and teachers
• students running the stairs and hallway to get their energy out
• a general expectation that students will try to figure something out themselves (usually using the information box [computer]), then ask a couple of classmates, then ask an adult
• students working in different places within the classroom, hallways, and other classrooms (and they are really working!)
• students using cellphones for a short period for a specific purpose
• students listening to ipods when working independently
• equipment being operated by students (microwave, projector, speakers, computers)
• teachers and students communicating with each other through chats
• students learning to play musical instruments of their choice and learning a foreign language
• teachers constantly modeling problem solving with technology
This list doesn’t even begin to capture the amazing value of learning that is embedded throughout the day and even continues after school with clubs and at home with individual and group homework.

It will be very difficult for me to go back to traditional schools.