{"data":{"ID":538,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1445722456,"CreatorID":4735,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"The Answers Aren\u2019t In This Classroom","Handle":"the_answers_aren-t_in_this_classroom","ShortDescription":"What if we didn\u2019t measure student success in grades, but rather the depth and duration of good they create in the world?  What if we placed \u201cimpact\u201d at the forefront of conversations about students\u2019 abilities and potential?  This conversation is for anyone who is tired of pretending, playacting, and performing safe solutions.  For anyone who is ready to give up the security of classroom-based projects, experiments, and simulations in pursuit of deeper purposes.  This is a conversation for anyone who believes in our students\u2019 capacity to shape our world for the better, and our ability to assess impact, not abstractions.","Description":"This is a conversation about our students\u2019 capabilities and seriousness of purpose when they are working on something that truly matters.  It\u2019s about what they can do when faced with a client or partner or responsibility to another that isn\u2019t going away.  It\u2019s a conversation about the difference our students can make when failure isn\u2019t a choice or even a comprehensible possibility.  It\u2019s an opportunity to talk about hopes and dreams for our students\u2019 futures, and how we might eliminate the distinction between classrooms and real-world complexities.  \r\n\r\nIn January of 2015, I handed my students a dozen handmade paperclips and told them they had to use them to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  They could only barter (no money or donations) and could not trade with each other or their families.  They were on their own and had to wade beyond the secure classroom environment and into the messy real world beyond.  Hundreds of trades and countless surprises later, they gave nearly $14,000 in goods and services to individuals and organizations at home and abroad.  Along the way, they discovered the value of values and the power of collaboration.  \r\n\r\nEarly on, students asked how they would be graded.  \u201cAccording to the depth and duration of your impact on others,\u201d I said. \r\n\r\n\u201cIs there a rubric?\u201d they asked.\r\n\r\n\u201cNot one that I can give you,\u201d I replied.  \u201cThe answers aren\u2019t in this classroom.  You\u2019ll have to go out and truly understand others\u2019 needs in order to know what you should do.  They are the ones who will tell you what the requirements are.  Not me.\u201d\r\n\r\nThese were clearly not the answers that they wanted to hear.  But, alongside others\u2019 needs and the good that they were trying to create in the world, my students quickly stopped concerning themselves with my alphanumeric assessments of their academic performance, and began to place emphasis where it really mattered\u2014making a positive impact on others.  \r\n\r\nParticipants in this conversation will discuss the myriad challenges to pursuing and measuring impact while also remaining accountable to the \u201cgame of school.\u201d  What impact do you hope your students will have in the world beyond the classroom?  What are the structural, temporal, spatial challenges to focusing on impact?  How might we measure impact in (your subject area or grade level)?  These and other questions will drive the conversation, as participants seek the inspiration they need to let their students lead the way toward our future.","Link":["http:\/\/jessedowns.wordpress.com","http:\/\/www.providenceday.org","https:\/\/twitter.com\/downs_jesse"],"Audience":["High School","Middle School","Elementary School","All School Levels"],"Practice":"After briefly sharing the story of sixty-one Providence Day School students\u2019 successes, failures, challenges, and determination to positively impact others, and their teacher\u2019s attempts to measure that impact; participants in this conversation will use a version of the focus\/framing question exercise to develop the questions that will provoke the very best in their students.  They\u2019ll leave with the questions that will drive the pursuit of impact and catalyze students\u2019 learning in and beyond their school walls.","Presenter":["Jesse Downs"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Providence Day School (Charlotte","NC)"],"PresenterEmail":["jesse.downs@providenceday.org"],"ScheduleSlotID":71,"ScheduleLocationID":6,"SubmitterID":4735,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":5}}