Hi, my name is Leila Moayedi and I am 12 years old. I’m a 6th grade student at Indi-ED and I love my school!
I like the independence we have at Indi-ED. I have improved by feeling more mature and staying more organized. I am able to be myself more. I think I have also improved on sharing positivity and being more positive in general. I also do realize I have a bigger smile on my face.
(Me rehearsing)
This week we had our first showcase evening where we presented things that we have learned about to all our families.
This project helped me learn more about myself, leadership, and I also learned a lot about the kids I go to school with. I feel like this presentation made me feel more confident in front of other people, but also it was the project I enjoyed more.
One of the things different about the presentations we did was that the teachers didn’t have to choose what we had to present. We were able to pick based on our own interests.
One of the cool things we all got to do were schedule interviews with people we either look up to or who inspire us and I was lucky to get an interview with Frank Wells. What he does is runs the Venture House which makes houses for artists or people who are unable to get one.
Another cool thing is that Mrs.Laurenzi and Ms. Heller were able to get speakers to come to our school to talk about leadership, interviews, and presenting skills.
I can’t wait to learn more and achieve more goals.
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Leila explained the showcase evening from one of our student’s perspectives. I’d like to take a moment to share some of the highlights from a teacher’s perspective.
To set the stage, all of our students were guided through our first inquiry cycle together and like mentioned before, our curriculum all tied into our themes: self-awareness, leadership, and owning their process of learning. Those themes aren’t going anywhere but were the intentionally the basis for our first units as they will be what the rest of their learning experiences will be rooted in.
After many activities coordinated by our teachers over the first few weeks, the next few were spent with the students going through the process of owning it themselves.
Then what turned out to be the biggest challenge began, how to put it all together to explain what they learned for themselves. What we noticed was that this was the toughest part for our students which confirmed the notion that kids are not traditionally expected to create understanding of information, but to simply regurgitate it.
If they were asked to answer multiple choice questions on what the definition of leadership is, perhaps they would’ve had an easier time, BUT that is NOT our objective.
We truly strive to have our kids not only understand content in a moment but to also truly understand it for themselves and to see how it connects to real life. Clearly, that takes some extra work if it’s not a process that they’re accustomed to.
Even after giving them multiple tools, examples, and one-on-one support we still had students who were paralyzed with the “I don’t know what to do” syndrome, students who didn’t use their time wisely, and students who reworked their ideas to confusion.
BUT what makes us different is that we were patient enough to know that these are NECESSARY parts of a very long journey!
If THEY didn’t struggle, then we didn’t make it challenging enough.
If THEY didn’t see for themselves what it felt like to rush after you’d wasted time, then we wouldn’t have allowed them to learn the lesson for themselves.
If THEY didn’t feel what it was like to have to work at home too to prepare, then THEY wouldn’t have had the pride that they did when they got up and stood for something.
We know that we pushed students and parents alike (thank you parents for sticking with us on this one!), but if you could have been in that room for when each of them got up and spoke THEIR truths- who THEY were, what THEIR definition of leadership was, shared THEIR experiences, and what THEIR goals were- you would’ve felt what it was like to know that it was ALL WORTH IT!
If you could have heard their words or seen their presentations, (we did video them but they are for our students and our families alone) they were proof that not only did they hear and learn what we had hoped, but they took it to an entirely different level and made it their own and we believe became better students and humans as a result.
No test or assessment could have taken the place of a student who shared how grateful they were for their family.
No test or assessment could have taken the place of the student who was so nervous to present initially but who walked off with a huge smile on their face and was completely pumped to do it again.
No test or assessment could have created that much enthusiasm before and after.
No test or assessment could have taken the place of the student who so deeply analyzed the ideas to create her own piece of artwork to convey her ideas or the student who absolutely rocked the house with the song that he challenged himself to learn.
No test or assessment could have showed our students that we mean what we say, you’re all different and we support that.
And no test or assessment score could have taken the place of the consistent support that each one of our families showed to each other’s child.
Our village, again, displayed why I will keep preaching about what a class act they are.
They could see as adults who was nervous, so they got quieter and engaged with kind hearts. They could see who had a natural sense of humor, so they laughed to lighten the mood. They could see who was comfortable to be challenged, so they pushed with tough questions.
That is how we learn. Together, taking them where they are and pushing them to grow with love and support.
Only 29 days in. In the words of Leila, I can’t wait for what’s next!
