Indianapolis Youth Journalists Talk About Summer Learning
NEW FROM STUDENTS AT THE CENTER Anytime, Anywhere, edited by Rebecca E. Wolfe, Adria Steinberg, and Nancy Hoffman (Harvard Press, May 2013), synthesizes existing research and practices in the emerging field of student-centered learning, and includes profiles of schools that have embraced this approach. "Brainy Approaches to Learning" is great infographic.
WKCD's 2013 DIRECTORY OF SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Study and volunteer programs in Central and Latin America, Asia, Africa. Academic enrichment programs and special subject camps on college campuses across the U.S.
LAST CHAPTER! A YEAR AT MISSION HILL What goes into creating a powerful learning environment for children and adults? Meet the teachers, families and children of Mission Hill as they experience the highs and lows of a year of self-discovery, exploration, and frustration. Ten videos. One year. A public school trying to help children learn and grow. The national conversation we need to be having.
TOP—AND OTHER NEW—STORIES. . .
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Inequalities in Summer Learning |
| “Summer learning loss” has gained prominence as another hurdle to improving student achievement. Three years ago, WKCD commissioned youth journalists at Y-Press in Indianapolis to report on the issue of summer learning loss, including documenting a remarkable summer camp called City Stories that Y-Press teens organized for local middle school students. At the end of the second year of the summer camp, Y-Pressers created a one-of-a-kind handbook and curriculum for youth and adults in other cities to use. | |
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When Finding a Summer Job Feels Harder than Getting into College |
| The joblessness problems of the nation’s teens are present year-round, including the summer months, which traditionally have been the peak employment season for teens. However, in 2010 and 2011, summer employment rates for teens were the lowest—26 percent—in our nation’s post-World-War II history. The outlook for 2013 shows a small uptick, but it will offset only a small portion of the near 3.6 million summer teen jobs deficit. Low-income youth were the least likely to work; only one in five found summer employment in 2012. Learn more. |  |
Summer Bucket List by and for Teens |
| We've often been asked if we had a "summer bucket list" for teens that we could share. This year, we decided to search the web for lists posted by young people across the country, age 13 - 15, and create a summer bucket list for teens by teens. Here's what we came up with . . . . complete a 1,000-piece puzzle . . . cook a full meal . . . take at least 1,000 pictures . . . rebuild a relationship with someone you used to know . . . read to young children you know . . . try something that scares you . . . volunteer!!! . . . ask for a cheeseburger without the cheese . . . |  |
The Best School Ever |
| What kind of schools should educational reforms produce? Alison Rutsch, who just received a BFA in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design and a BA in Education Studies from Brown University, put the question to the customers—the schoolchildren themselves. The kids expressed themselves as clearly as they could: They drew pictures, about their real school and their ideal school. Rutsch ‘listened’ to what they had to say, then put their words and pictures into a one-of-a-kind research paper, “The Best School Ever.” | |
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Five-Minute Film Festival: Commencement Gems |
The long-held tradition of commencement speeches is a must at graduations from kindergarten to college. At the university level, celebrities don robes and dole out kernels ofwisdom to fresh-faced graduates. At high schools around the world, eager valedictorians wax poetic about the future. Even for the very youngest students, graduation ceremonies are made into special occasions and flowery speeches are brought forth. Our friends at Edutopia have assembled a playlist of the best speeches, pranks, and songs for celebrating that momentous occasion. |
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Living History |
| On April 13, Poland marked the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Throughout the Polish capital, church bells rang for the fighters who began the first and largest armed insurrection by Jews against the German troops in World War II. For the past eleven years, eighth grade students at the American School of Warsaw have produced their own tribute to those whose lives were shattered by this "hell on earth." Inspired by George Santayana's words, "Who does not remember history are condemned to repeat it," they have interviewed local survivors and turned their stories into photostories that make the Holocaust's lessons indelible. | |
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Advice for Parents (now in Spanish, too) |
| For the past few years, WKCD has thought hard about how to better help parents help their kids succeed. We wanted to address character strengths kids develop through practice—like persistence and self-control—along with the standard prescriptions about homework. We came up with a 22-page handbook for parents that covers seven social and emotional strengths, along with two interactive multi-media presentations. We now have Spanish versions of the multi-media and workshop handouts. First generation Spanish-speaking students at Brown University provided the voiceovers. | |
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"You're Constantly Revising Yourself": The Dispositions of a Student-Centered Teacher |
| What qualities should a school seek when hiring teachers explicitly to teach in a student-centered setting? What dispositions help teachers thrive in the demanding environment of a student-centered school? As part of WKCD's study of everyday practice in six exemplars of student-centered learning, we asked teachers and students these questions. We learned that teachers who thrive in student-centered schools care about the "whole child," see themselves as facilitators—not deliverers—of knowledge, are comfortable with fluidity and change—and much more. | |
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This Is My Place: Middle Schoolers Talk About Social and Emotional Learning |
| What most helps young people thrive in a challenging academic environment? Answers from students bear out what research has found: social and emotional factors constitute a crucial underpinning for learning. In recent WKCD interviews at School of the Future in New York City, middle schoolers gave their own examples of how everyday interactions between students, peers, and adults affected how they learned in the classroom. |
