Video Recap:

In this week’s class, we talked about the film “Most Likely to Succeed.” This is based on a high school called High Tech High. While watching this, I had many questions and was able to have a few answered from our discussions. I was very surprised by how the teachers were given contracts. They would be signed on for one year and were able to choose the hours, the content, no tests, and did not have a curriculum to go off. This holds accountability on who they hire and if they even teach valuable lessons. Now, in the film it looked all positive, but a question I was left with was: What happens to an instructor who does not successfully educate these children for the future? To the “bad apple” teachers. Was there a minimum year of service or an application process to prove what they were going to try and integrate into the school year? The last piece I was very interested in was when students wrote a final test, they averaged a B-. When they took that exact same test 3 months later, the class average was a failure. This is why High Tech High educates the way they do. Maybe the traditional test-based learning doesn’t always lead to later life success. It will get you into post-secondary schools but how will it affect life skills? It is a good learning experience to be able to have an open mindset and tap into each student’s creative imagination. Ultimately you must be able to teach different ways for every child to understand, no one student is the same as the next and may understand it better when taught in a different style.

Here is the movie trailer –>

Things I Want to Incorporate in My Classroom from the Video

Big ideas that I took away from the video were that students don’t need to be micromanaged and controlled if you create an environment where it is safe, comfortable, and where they can lead learning. When this happens, they learn and retain more as they are working harder without even knowing it. It gives children a chance to be more creative and show off their creative side while also getting them out of their comfort zones while also being in a leadership role. To make this work, I would start with something simple at the beginning of the year like “helper of the day,” and then work towards letting each student provide a lesson of their choice on their own passions. This could be a week to two weeklong projects at the end of the year where students get the chance to teach the teacher and their peers.