澳门六合彩开奖直播

Teaching and Learning: A Team Effort

George Hawkins, who is a 2019 graduate of TAH鈥檚 Master of Arts with a Specialization in 澳门六合彩开奖直播 and Government (MASTAHG) program, was named South Dakota Teacher of the Year in October. Administered by the Council of Chief State School officers, this prestigious award program honors one teacher from every state and territory of the US. Hawkins was selected as 鈥渢he best of the best鈥� from a pool of nominees working in every subject area and grade level in South Dakota. Yet Hawkins himself attributes his effectiveness to the alternative school program in which he works. The program requires creative collaboration among colleagues who are specialists in different subject areas. Hawkins sees teaching as a team effort to that helps young people work and learn cooperatively.

Hawkins has worked for 12 years in the of schools and academies. Established in 1996, this national nonprofit helps schools and school districts implement project-based learning, in which students acquire academic knowledge while completing projects that put that knowledge to work. In addition to making learning more 鈥渆xperiential,鈥� the New Tech model inculcates the 鈥渟oft skills鈥� young people need to succeed in the increasingly innovative and team-based work environment created by the digital revolution. 

Hawkins鈥� Discovery of the New Tech Approach

When Hawkins first set out to teach, he was unaware of this teaching approach. He did his student teaching in a traditional classroom. Trying to meet the curricular standards for history and government while teaching students who showed little interest in those subjects frustrated him. 鈥淚 concluded teaching was not for me,鈥� he recalled. Instead, he went to law school, graduating as the 2008 housing crisis threw the economy into recession. 鈥淚 hung out a shingle and took whatever cases I could get. I got a lot of court-appointed public defender cases, many of them filed for abuse and neglect.鈥� Such cases were even more 鈥渟oul-sapping鈥� than the rigidities of the traditional education system. Learning of a Social Studies opening in an intriguing, 鈥渁lternative鈥� public high school, Hawkins considered giving teaching another go.

As he sat in the principal鈥檚 office of Sioux Falls鈥� two-year-old New Tech High School, waiting to be interviewed, a student walked up to him and introduced herself. 鈥淪he shook my hand,  looked me in the eye and said, 鈥楬ow are you doing? My name is Susan. What鈥檚 your name? May I help you with anything?鈥� The student was a sophomore. I thought, 鈥榃here am I? At what other high school in America do sophomores introduce themselves to randomly visiting adults, offering to help them?鈥�

Hawkins came to understand that 鈥渁t New Tech schools, students interact with each other constantly, engaging in tough conversations as they work together on projects. They also meet frequently with adults鈥攃ommunity partners who are invited to class to share their knowledge and advice. They quickly learn the 鈥榮oft skills鈥� involved in interpersonal communication.鈥� Joining the New Tech teaching staff as it began its third year of operation, Hawkins helped the school build out its junior-level program. He stayed there nine years, until the program was renamed the Project Based Learning (PBL) Academy and absorbed as a curricular track at the new Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls. This solved a problem many New Tech schools face: students who attend them often leave behind extra-curricular options such as band, choir, and sports offered at larger, traditional schools. At Jefferson High, students in the PBL Academy can participate in extracurriculars without leaving campus.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Hawkins works closely with a teaching partner who specializes in English Language Arts. Project-based learning lends itself to an interdisciplinary approach. Hawkins shares most of his instruction responsibilities with his teaching partner, working in a large space created by merging two collapsible-walled rooms. He and his partner instruct two classes of juniors, each class lasting for two periods. 鈥淪ome days my partner takes the lead, other days I take the lead; some days we lead as a team.鈥�

Hawkins says the interdisciplinary, project-based learning approach allows him to 鈥渢ap into students鈥� interests and aptitudes while at the same time teaching my particular content area. I鈥檓 super passionate about social studies, but many of my students are not. They may be more interested in art, science, or math. We just finished an activity that tapped into the math focus of some students. While studying the Gilded Age, we had them take on roles as oil barons.鈥� Students bought and sold oil, using a fictional currency that Hawkins himself invented for use in various classroom projects.

In the New Tech model, 鈥渃ontent doesn鈥檛 exist in silos,鈥� Hawkins says. 鈥淓arly on, the teaching staff at New Tech decided that every course in the program should incorporate literacy tasks. Working with a teaching partner who specializes in English, that鈥檚 easy to do.鈥� But numeracy also needs reinforcement. Teachers in the PBL Academy take responsibility as a whole for the core competencies that state testing tracks. 鈥淭hose English and math scores are a reflection on all of us,鈥� Hawkins says. Moreover, any realistic account of history covers economic and financial factors.

Soon after he began working at New Tech, a student鈥檚 question pushed Hawkins to wonder how to integrate math with social studies. 鈥淲hile studying the Civil War, we put students in the role of travel agents and asked them to design tours of historical sites related to the war. Then we staged a 鈥淭ravel-Con鈥� expo in which each team prepared an exhibit showing the tour stops, what travelers would experience, and why these sites were important. A student commented, 鈥業n the real world, I wouldn鈥檛 just be assigned a convention space; I could ask for the part of the room I wanted, couldn鈥檛 I?鈥� In fact, anyone organizing a convention would charge for a prime spot,鈥� Hawkins reflected. 鈥淚 wondered how we might do that in class. I decided to invent a classroom currency and economic system. It has grown ever since.鈥�

Each project period lasts for three to four weeks. Midway in a project, Hawkins holds an auction in which students bid on project options. Students pay for options that simplify or enhance their project work, using 鈥渕oney鈥� they have 鈥渆arned鈥� in the course of other projects. For example, as they study the 1920s, they invest in fictive versions of Coca Cola, US Steel, and other enterprises, watching stock prices rise and calculating the best moment to cash in on their stock and withdraw bank deposits. Those who miscalculate, losing their savings when the market crashes, are forced into project parameters demanding greater inventiveness.

As students study the mid-20^th century Civil Rights era, they develop model city parks commemorating civil rights activists. Hawkins encourages them to look beyond heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr. and investigate activists for other causes, like feminism, the American Indian Movement, immigrants鈥� rights, and so on. After researching their ideas, teams bid on 1′ x 1′ project boards Hawkins and his teaching partner prepare. Some have streams or other land features. Some are connected to other teams鈥� boards, so that completing the project entails coordinating with those teams. Students also bid on options such as the right to add a written explanation to the project board; lacking funds for that, they will need to design features that reveal the memorial鈥檚 meaning without words. They may bid on the right to use first person pronouns when they present the finished project. Without this right, they 鈥渕ust talk about their team members鈥� work instead of their own鈥濃�攚hich pushes them to work and learn cooperatively.

Why Hawkins Enrolled in MASTAHG

Hawkins was awarded a in 2015. While participating in an effort to revise the South Dakota State Social Studies Standards, Hawkins met a Madison fellow who suggested he investigate Ashland University鈥檚 Master鈥檚 program. The program is designed to deepen teachers鈥� content knowledge while accommodating their teaching schedules. Enrolling, Hawkins found it 鈥渁n amazing program.鈥� What he learned in one course overlapped with what he learned in the next, deepening and broadening his knowledge. New discoveries proved immediately useful: 鈥淢any times after an online evening class, I鈥檇 put what we discussed into the next day鈥檚 teaching,鈥� Hawkins said.

The program increased his 鈥渃omfort level鈥� with the primary documents he taught. 鈥淎s a teacher, you feel that you have to know it all. But sometimes you just don’t. So you gloss over concepts鈥攜ou mention them, but quickly move on. MAHG seminars cause teachers to pause over the documents they teach, thinking them through. I saw connections I鈥檇 never seen before that I could now show to students. Learning occurs when we make those connections. If all we learn are isolated facts, we鈥檙e doing little more than getting ready for Jeopardy.鈥�

While earning his Master鈥檚 degree, Hawkins taught a project-based government course. 鈥淢y partner and I assigned a Federalist/Antifederalist debate,鈥� Hawkins said. Students prepared for the debate by reading Federalist and Antifederalist essays Hawkins had been studying in the Masters program. Hawkins felt confident as he pushed students to make connections between the arguments made during the ratification period and the arguments over constitutional government that occur today. He had already thought through those connections with his fellow teachers in the Master鈥檚 program.

Confidant that he can steer students through the complicated intellectual terrain of American political thought, Hawkins helps students gain their own intellectual independence. Hawkins sees the effectiveness of his Master鈥檚 degree鈥攁nd of the New Tech teaching approach鈥攁s he watches students鈥� confidence grow over the course of their junior year. 鈥淪tudents begin the year with tons of questions. 鈥榃here’s this? How do I do this? Tell me this.鈥� They bring a checklist of the reassurances they need. But we steadily push them to take ownership of what they’re doing. By the end of the year, when we walk around among the project teams to see how they are progressing, students say, 鈥榃e鈥檝e got this, Mr. Hawkins. We’re good.鈥欌��

Summarizing his teaching goals, Hawkins says, 鈥淚 want my students to become critical thinkers who are willing to ask questions. I can never give them all the information they need to know; I can鈥檛 make every concept instantly clear. I hope they learn to make note of what they read and hear, and then to process that with a critical eye. If they learn to ask, 鈥榃hat is this author or speaker trying to tell me?鈥� and 鈥榃hat do I think about it?鈥欌�攖hat will take them miles.鈥�