By Jonathan Coronel
More and more these days, Kyrene Middle School administrators are saying out with the old and in with the new by implementing innovative technological and course changes to help accelerate learning.
The days of rote memorization and seemingly endless lectures are being exchanged for hands-on and independent learning as well as personalized classroom intervention to improve student behavior.
One such initiative having a measureable effect on Kyrene students is known as Leadership Course, an elective students take for one quarter of the school year to replace bad habits with good ones and help them improve both academic and behavioral performance.
“The class focuses on instilling good habits in our students,” student adviser Sarah Sottile tells me. “The class textbook for seventh and eighth graders is ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens’ and for some of our sixth graders ‘The 7 Habits of Happy Kids’.”
The elective has students make daily goals that they review with their teacher—certainly a habit that carries over to all aspects of kids’ lives. Students are also expected to maintain good behavior in their other classes.
To exit the class after one quarter, a passing grade of 75 percent is required. This past year 90 percent of eighth graders passed on their first try; the other 10 percent passed on their second try.
To further cultivate students as leaders and responsible citizens, Kyrene also uses a new technology, Live Class, to reward students with virtual points when they exhibit good behavior or demonstrate leadership on campus.
Students can then use the points to buy things from the school’s Public Behavior and Intervention Supports store.
In addition to teaching kids lifelong study skills and leadership, Kyrene is also bringing students’ coursework to life with technology. A large “smart lab” is focused on hands-on technology-based learning.
Computers equipped with the latest programs allow students to design models. Various tools and materials allow them to make cars, models and dioramas for everything from science to history projects. Teachers typically spend one day showing students how to use the various resources in the smart lab, then turn them loose to create and build things for their other classes.
Another unique opportunity Kyrene Middle School students have is their daily broadcast program, KMS TV, which involves conducting a live television broadcast for the school every day.
“Students get to learn every aspect of broadcasting from production to directing to acting. They learn how to edit videos and also since it’s live they have to learn to improvise if they make a mistake,” says Michael Davison, the KMS TV advisor and Kyrene’s multimedia instructor.
In a rapidly evolving world, the way we educate our children is changing faster than ever. The opportunities and technology available to Kyrene students largely did not even exist just six years ago when I was in junior high. These technology skills and hands-on learning experiences will serve students well as they prepare to transition to high school and beyond.
