Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The New Way is the Old Way

Among the many new and innovative practices at Magnolia Heights this year is the addition of the Harkness Teaching Method. This year’s Honor’s History Symposium students taught by Mr. Barry Coleman will benefit from the practice of this challenging method of instruction. In their first assignment, Mr. Coleman assigned readings from The Art of War by Sun Tzu. From their readings, he students then developed battle strategies to repel an invading army. 

In 1930, The Harkness Method was proposed by philanthropist Edward Harkness and accepted at Phillips Exeter Academy. "What I have in mind is [a classroom] where [students] could sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where [each student] would feel encouraged to speak up. This would be a real revolution in methods," Harkness said.

Learning is a collaborative effort in a Harkness classroom where each student has a vested interest in the discussions. Seated around a large table with their teacher, students learn to bring to “the table” their observations, questions and prejudices from the reading, equipped to support their comments with textual evidence.  

They also learn to become listeners, as one goal of Harkness Method is to enrich perspective, not merely to share a sole opinion. Harkness is student-centered; the method builds confidence because each student’s opinions are valued.
 
The teacher directs the discussion of the day’s readings, occasionally changing the direction of the discussion and suggesting other areas of importance.  Students speak as they see fit rather than waiting to be called on by the teacher. Together, the class’ responsibility is to uncover truths in the text.
 
There is nowhere to hide around a Harkness table, no seats in the back row or classmates in front of you. Since the discussion at the table depends on active participation, the expectation is to come into class prepared to do the “work of discussion.”

The teacher does not give students the answers because there is no value in that. There is great value, however, in learning to think critically. This takes tremendous effort as students sit and struggle with the text at hand.  The correct answer is not as important as the means by which they arrived. Thinking critically will affect the way they approach a new problem tomorrow, or ten years from now.  

Our MHS students have a head start on the 21st Century Learning Skills that will be valued in the jobs and careers of the future where they will learn how to solve problems that don't yet exist using technologies and strategies that have yet to be developed. Stay tuned.

 


 

 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Great Start

August 5, 2013

Day one of the 2013-14 school year has come and gone at MHS and we had a fantastic first day! There were lots of smiles as everyone greeted old friends and met the new ones for the first time. From the opening prayer in the gym with grades 7-12 to my tour of all the elementary classes, I certainly felt the excitement of opening day.

There have been so many changes over the summer. From personnel to technology, and facility improvements to professional development for the faculty and staff, it has been an incredibly busy summer.

We have several new faces on "The Hill" this year. In math we added Mrs. Ann Robbins; in science we added Dr. Shelly Self and Mrs. Sharmin Hughes; in English Mrs. Lynn Savage; to our coaching staff we added Mr. Winn Scott who will also serve as our Director of Technology and Mr. Dusty Hughes who will also teach history; and finally, some of our teachers from last year have changed positions. Mrs. Rebecca Atkinson has moved to the junior high; Mrs. Janice Taylor has moved to the secondary library; Mrs. Hayley Warren has moved from kindergarten to the second grade; Mrs. Sunny Lane will be teaching a 3K section; Mrs. Mikelle Perry will direct the elementary technology center; and Ellen Glosson will teach art full-time.

On the technology front, year one of iMHS is in full swing; students in grades 10-12 are now using their MacBooks to access classroom resources to enhance the educational process; elementary teachers are piloting iPads this year thanks to a generous donor; the PC’s in the secondary computer lab were replaced with some of the MacBooks from last year, with the rest going to all secondary teachers; the school’s technology infrastructure was completely re-vamped with new access points and other infrastructure switches and routers; and finally, the faculty attended various workshops and conferences like the iSummit Conference in Atlanta a few weeks ago.

The school has also been the beneficiary of a new coat of paint and new ceiling tiles. Soon the doors on the gym will be replaced with attractive full glass doors, and, as always, the custodial staff did an awesome job getting the floors shinier than ever.

Fall sports are also underway. Our softball ladies are off to a great start and look to make it back to the State Tournament again. Varsity and junior high football are also underway with the varsity traveling to Pillow for their jamboree Friday, August 16th, before opening up on the road at SBEC (now Northpoint Christian School) Friday, August 23rd. The junior high opens with their jamboree on Thursday, August 22nd at Pillow, with their first game at North Delta on Thursday August 29th. Also our ladies’ soccer team under the direction of Coach Allen Holley has been practicing hard for the opening match with Kirk this Thursday, August 8th.

As you can tell, we have been busy, but we are also mindful of the tremendous opportunities that God has blessed us with. We get to work each day molding the minds of students to prepare them for the challenges of college and beyond. We never take that for granted. As I told the faculty during in-service, we never know where our influence stops. I used the following video to show how far -reaching our efforts can go, and I would like to share it with you.