Although I was unable to attend class on Friday, I read through your slides and watched Most Likely to Succeed independently.
I found it really interesting to see the differences between my own (perhaps more typical) high school experience, and the experience of the students at High Tech High. What really resonated with me was the statistic that if students had to take a test a few months after they had studied for it, they would remember very little of the content. I can relate to this as I recently completed a psychology degree and ever since have been feeling like I should remember more of the content I learned.
High Tech High’s innovative model allows students to fully engage with material they learn at school, in a way that works with them and their interests. School is more about completing a task that students are really passionate about, and less than rote memorization. To be honest, I would have liked high school much more if I had gone to High Tech High. However, I share the concerns of many of my classmates that these students may not be ready for the academic structure of most universities. Times may be changing, but getting into higher education (ex. medical school or law school) requires a very high GPA. Students at High Tech High will not come into university with exam experience, and I am curious how they would handle this extreme shift in their schooling. Personally, I had never taken a three-hour long exam when I attended university and I found this to be a huge jump – it would have been way harder if I had never done a written examination before!
Looking forward to hearing your feedback!