You are Formally Invited...

Please join us for our 20% Time Presentations next Thursday, May 11 - from 8:10 - 11:10 and from 2:00 - 3:20. We have lots of exciting projects to showcase!

Mid-Way Update

Wow! We're about halfway through our 20% time projects. It always sneaks up on us. I'm sure a lot of my students feel the same way - I can tell by their surprised looks when I told them we were halfway this morning!

For some reason, we always seem to pull everything together in the last few weeks and it's hard as a teacher to not be disappointed by this or think this is somehow a 'bad' thing that students are getting more done early on in this project. It makes me feel like I need to re-evaluate the value of 20% time and spending so much class time on something that hasn't produced much yet.
But - and this is a big but - 
I remind myself of the successes of years' past and have to realize that these early weeks are filled with so much other types of learning that are valuable in different ways. Teaching is about what students are learning, what's going on inside their brains, NOT a quick product that I can see and grade. I have to let student experience and feel the amount of time they've been given. How can they discover their work habits and experience the roadblocks and difficulties of long-term goals if I micro-manage this time? It's surprisingly hard to remember this sometimes - even though this is at the very heart of this project.

Anyway, I ran out of time to post today. Check out the updates to student blogs on the left - there are some really cool projects that people have started!

20% Time Kick-Off

Last week was our big 20% Time Kick-Off day. This year feels really different than the past 2 years because I was out on maternity leave last semester (I am now a mama to the cutest baby ever - Luke).

Being out presented a few challenges with starting 20% time. Usually, by this time in the year, I have a few things going for me that are really important in starting 20% time:
1. I've built up a level of trust with the students  - this is really important in explaining an ungraded project. For the first time when I introduced it, I had students who really seemed not to be all that interested in pursuing it if there wasn't a grade involved (I think I won some of them over though after our Bad Ideas Brainstorm and showing them the news video from last year).
2. I know them well. I'm still getting to know my kiddos this year. That makes it harder for me to help lead them in the right direction. In the past, I've really been able to help students pick (or should I say get rid of bad ideas for) projects. I'm worried I won't be able to help as much with some of the students that it's taking longer to get to know.
3. They know it's okay to fail. This is a big one. I know last semester was rough with the substitute (not for lack of trying on her part). Due dates were slippery, they did a lot of book-work, they tried to do research papers and had a rough time with that... so it's been a transition to reset their expectations in our Language Arts class. I need to get them to the point where they are willing to try things (with the possibility of not reaching a goal) and learn how to set and re-evaluate their goals quickly. I think there is kind of a mind-set that takes some time to build that is optimal for 20% time projects.

All that said, I'm glad I'm aware of these challenges and I'll be working really hard to gain back some of that missed time together.

Definitely having so many great examples from the past and the news story to show my students helped inspire them big-time. I'm grateful for that. I'm also really excited about my students this year - they're reading more than ever (20 minutes each day of books they choose), they are one of the nicest bunch of students I've ever taught (someone is always holding the door open and people seem welcoming and friendly to everyone), and I feel like I have a diverse group of teens that will soon be showing off their diverse interests and skills.

All in all, I can't wait to see what this year's 20% Time Projects will bring. Here's to counting down the days to our May 12 presentation day (pencil it in!).

End of Year Review

Hey Guys,

I'm writing this actually at the beginning of our 2017 season of 20% Time projects. It got crazy at the end of the year and I forgot to post a final update after our presentation day - which went swimmingly of course!

I was blown away by the amazing student projects and the level of professionalism my students had on presentation day. We also had some guest visitors - WRBL and WLTZ came and interviewed students. The spot showed on the news that day!

Check out the articles: WRBL and WLTZ

Unfortunately, I can't find the video from WLTZ (really kicking myself here and wishing I'd posted this story last year!), but here is the WRBL video:

I also want to share some pictures of the big day: 

Presentation Prep

Today is crazy! Our final presentations will be next Thursday so students are madly working on speeches, posters, multi-media components and interactive presentations. We've sent out our invites and are super excited to see who shows up next week. Please come see what these students have prepared for you!

Speeches before Beaches!

It's almost the end of the year - 14 more days of school left. That means it's time for us to wrap up our 20% Time Projects before we hit the beaches this summer. What a great way to end the year!

Students are currently working on outlines for their speeches and thinking about how they will present their projects. I've given them outlining resources and pointed them in the direction of some of the top speeches last year (at least that were posted on the blogs) to get inspiration.

To read some of last year's speeches, check out the following students' blogs:

Celeigh
Annes
Brooke
Donghan
Gabriel
Luke
Nate
Meredith
Kevia

April 8th Update

Good Morning!

It's a beautiful Friday morning in Auburn, AL. This morning, I'm taking some time to peruse the student blogs. Some exciting things have been happening lately. First, I'm starting to notice students taking more control and independence in their projects.

Luke set up a personal tour with Officer Roberson of our local police station and got to go with him and see all sorts of behind the scenes stuff. This is really cool to me, because Luke really wants to be in law enforcement when he graduates. It is so awesome that he was able to get a hands-on experience like that! Many students this age have a general idea of what kind of job they want when they "grow up," but often, students at this age don't really realize what that job entails or what the day-to-day work in the job might be like.

Kekeli is working on composing and strengthening her drumming skills. I'm loving reading her blog and watching her videos. It seems like she's actually learning quite a bit about teaching music - much of her time has been spent working with other students with musical projects. I'm interested to see what her final learnings will be at the end of 20% time this year.

Shelton and Sarah have been working hard to find someone to help them learn to play guitar. I'm proud of them for expanding their horizons and tracking down teachers who are available during 3rd block to help them. I got an email yesterday from Mrs. Carson, our library aide, asking when our 20% time started so she could bring her guitar - which means Sarah and Shelton worked out a lesson arrangement with Mrs. Carson all on their own.

I know some of this might seem silly to some, but these are big steps for 8th graders. Sometimes talking to adults you don't know, teaching peers and experiencing new things can be scary and intimidating (let's be real, those things still scare and intimidate me too!). I'm so happy that they are pushing their comfort zones and learning to do this stuff before they get to high school and college.

I just highlighted a few today, but please take the time to look through more of the student blogs linked on this page. They are all in different phases of their learning, and each phase is valuable and important. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Brain Space

Today is exactly one week until spring break. Even though student (and teacher) brains stop working during the few days before any school holiday, our 20% time brains are fully functioning.

I think students are finally getting their minds wrapped around these projects because I'm getting a lot of questions today like "Can I change my project to specialize in making Lacrosse sticks instead of writing a sports blog?" and "Can I work on my project outside of school too?"

These are exciting questions for me because it shows me that they're reaching a more realistic thinking zone in terms of their projects. They're really visualizing what the end result might be and starting to understand that to live up to their own standards, they'll want to work on their projects during times other than that I will be providing in class.

Project Proposal Day (a little late)...

Okay, so it's actually the week after project proposal day. I've been sick since last Friday and I am literally just now starting to look at the proposals students submitted last week. I can already see the magic happening. The very first student proposal I read today started with this:

"I wanted to do photography, but I also wanted to do something outside of my comfort zone. Usually I take pictures of objects or of nature. For this project I wanted to do pictures of people. I’ve noticed that a lot of girls feel insecure when taking pictures without makeup on. Society seems to tell people that they need it to look okay. I wanted to do photography of people with little to no makeup on so we can see that everyone is beautiful." 

Well, I think it goes without saying, but I have to say it anyway - the type of thought Katie put into her project proposal is already getting me excited! I can't wait to see how this project turns out.

By the way, I decided to buy some 20% Time teacher literature this year to check up on myself and see if I could get some new ideas. I've been reading Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer and Penny Kittle's Book Love and what rings true in both of these books is that kids need to find love and passion in learning! I ordered The 20time Project by Keven Brookhouser which was super reaffirming and gave me some great new ideas. One big change that I think helps a lot is that I used his project proposal template for my students this year. It's a lot more user-friendly for 8th graders and I love the timeline layout - I'm predicting that this will help students achieve their goals and understand how to revise goals throughout the project a little more clearly.

Now, on to helping students set up blogs, post proposals using Google Docs, and giving myself time to read through each project proposal and discuss them with each student.

20% Time 2015-2016

Yay! It's 20% time again! I'm so excited and a little bummed that we're getting a later start this year (last year we started in November), but I think it will help keep us focused and possibly give us a little more oomf in motivation to get projects done by May. Today we started out with our traditional (totally non-traditional) "Bad Ideas Brainstorm." Boy, oh boy, did my students this year have some horrible ideas for what to do with our 20% time projects! Here is a sample of what they came up with: staple all our fingers together, shank someone, dig a hole to China with a spoon, stick a fork up your nose, sleep, eat a desk, drive through a wall.... Yep, I sure am glad we recognized those as bad ideas! Of course, some of those bad ideas became good ideas. Some interesting ideas I heard today were write a travel blog, take self defense classes, and learn how to cook BBQ. I can't wait to see what these kiddos come up with next week when we start our project proposals.

Success!

Wow! I am blown away by my students' presentations. We had quite a crowd show up today to hear about our students passions, interests and findings about themselves and the world we live in. I think the best way to show our awesome day off is with some pictures!

The Big Day

Today is presentation day!!

I'm so excited for our guests to see what these 8th graders have done this year and learn more about what fuels their passion in life! After hearing speeches for the last few days, I have been blown away not only by the projects these kiddos took on, but by their wisdom and insights about themselves and their journeys this year.

Hope to see you there today!

You're Invited!

Please join us for our final presentations:

When: Friday, May 8 from 10 a.m. - 3:20 p.m.
Where: Auburn Junior High School Media Center
Details: Students will be conducting TED Talk-style presentations in a gallery/walk-through format in our media center. Please come and find out what the highlights and learnings were for our students this year as they tried to make their passion projects come to life.

Light refreshments will be served. 

**Please sign-in in the front office when you arrive.**

Contact me at dmbrowning@auburnschools.org with any questions!

I'm so excited, I just had to write it!

So, it's 1:30 in the morning and I can't sleep because I am so excited to hear my students' This I Believe essays tomorrow. I know this is off topic but I had to let my excitement out somewhere, and, well, everyone else is sleeping. Not only are my students doing amazing things for their 20% Time projects, they are writing stellar essays about their beliefs and convictions in life by sharing their life experiences and philosophies. Yes, I'm getting more energy just writing this and thinking about it. Looks like sleep is a long way off. #teacherprobs #mystudentsarekeepingmeupatnight #foralltherightreasons

Check out the This I Believe project at www.thisibelieve.org. 

And yes, our 20% Time speeches are coming along nicely. I think I'll have a few "I'm so excited I feel like a kid before Christmas morning" sleepless nights next week too! #can'twait 

#writingatnightmakesmehashtageverything

#gotobed

Get Ready, Get Set, Find that Motivation!!

Welp! I haven't written in a few weeks, and it's because we're in high-gear right now preparing for our speeches on May 8. Boy I am excited for these students to share what they've been doing and learning about their own journey with the project with our community. Today, we watched an awesome, super inspirational (yes, I got a little choked up, even though it's totally not typical "choke-up" material) and just incredibly interesting TED talk by Dan Pink. Check it out here:

Speech Time!

Today, we've started working on our speeches. We'll be giving TED Talk style speeches and inviting teachers, parents, and other community folks to see what our passion projects are on May 8.

I've given students outline organizers to help organize the important talking points in their speeches (credit goes to Mrs. Raville, who gave these bad boys to her 20-timers last year). Students will highlight their successes for the year, and talk about how they met or didn't meet goals, what they struggled with and what they liked or didn't like about the project as a whole.

On another note, I'm so impressed not only by how quickly our tech staff have been clearing student blogs and websites so they are open on our school network, but also by how flexible my students have been when they try a site that's been blocked. It's been a good learning experience to hit this road-block and learn how to continue our projects despite this change.

Refreshed and Restricted?

Two things to mention today. First, we just got back from spring break week. Such a nice break for all of us. And guess what? That means we only have 8 weeks of school left! Whoo hoo! It's certainly bittersweet though, because I have THE BEST students ever who are doing THE COOLEST projects ever! Here's to you classes of 2015-2016 "step up your game!"

Second thing that we're running into is a bit of a hurdle for all of us. The internet is always a moving thing, and we've pushed a much needed update across the school system to continue to ensure online security and clear our bandwidth up (a.k.a. too many people streaming videos and using various sites at the same time clogs up the pipes!) On the unfortunate side of things, this means a lot of us are reaching 'virtual' brick walls with our 20% time projects - some sites we've been using have now been blocked. So please, don't judge us too harshly these last few weeks aren't as visibly productive as you've seen leading up to today. We'll be working over the kinks of having some of our resource sites blocked, like Gmail, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.

Our new mantra for the year: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... just keep surfing (the internet)"

Rules from My Mother

Just got off the phone with my mom - did I mention she's an 8th grade teacher in Michigan? Check out our other awesome project here: Project North & South! Anyway, her school just sent her and a whole gaggle of teachers to Detroit for a MACUL conference. What is that you may ask? MACUL = Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning. Yeah, that's a mouthful. But, she got an earful of information from the over 4500 folks who attended the conference about the most awesome technology based projects - one of which was a presentation about 20% time in the classroom.

I'm loving that this is the big new push because it's definitely one of the coolest things I've gotten to experience this year. Why? I've gotten to understand and get to know my students in a new light, I've seen my students motivate each other and themselves in ways I know wouldn't naturally happen in the classroom, and frankly, I've just been pretty durn impressed with the passion projects my students have devoted themselves to and the things they're discovering how to do on their own.

I know she had a lot to say, and I'm going to have to pick her brain again about all this info, but two things stick out to me that I want to use as goals for myself next year. 1. NEVER skip a Friday (We are so guilty of this). If you're going to commit, then commit. I just need to completely and totally reserve our time and never use it for other classwork. 2. Get students to actually have a relationship with a mentor. Now, I did have students identify mentors in our project proposal stage, but I know many have not really cultivated a relationship - something that can bring a whole new level of meaning and discovery to the projects.

Ok, gotta rush - more updates soon :)

My Passion Project

Yesterday, Ji Sung asked me what I would do if I could do my own 20% time project. In a way, I am doing my 20% time by facilitating and monitoring my classes' 20% projects; but I knew Ji Sung meant more than that - he wanted to know what my passion project would be without the responsibility of mentoring my students during this time.
 

Today, I'm thinking an extra period for grading papers might be kinda nice... but I started talking a little about how I started getting interested in the concept of a 20% time project and I realized that this really is one of my passions (duh - right?) If I were doing "my own" 20 time project, it really would be researching 20% time information and learning more about the cool things teachers, companies, and people following their passions are doing.

So, yes, I have some restrictions so to say on my 20% time because I've committed to being a mentor to my students, but this is truly what I find fascinating! Plus, it makes for awesome story telling and bragging on my students every time I have dinner with friends, call home, or tell my hubby what my students did at school each day.

Conference Day

Today, I set a goal to meet with every student individually about their 20% time projects. I actually met it (minus the folks who were absent)!

I'm so, so proud of my students this week. I loved looking through each blog and hearing about their successes and struggles with their projects.

One exciting development that I hope will grow is that we set up a Google "Writer's Circle" for my aspiring authors, hopefully this will give us a chance to connect and share our work and get some extra feedback for those working on writing projects.

One of the things a lot of my students seemed to need help with is citing sources and getting permission to use materials. We're so used to copying and pasting and sharing pictures on social media now, that it can be hard to remember to take the time to give credit where it's due. Luckily, we'll be starting with our research papers soon, so we'll have plenty of resources to help make citations perfect!

This weeks highlighted blogs:
Ji Sung: Learning to play the piano after years away from it (truly impressive).

Learn about photography with Sarah Kennedy. I love the most recent post about taking pics of pets - I'll have to try this with my dog this weekend!

Check out a history of music with Tori. I think I'm feeling some classic rock on the radio on my way home today.