IDEA Region 9, 4/8/2011 “This was a very concrete learning...

4/8/2011

“This was a very concrete learning experience …”

The first Innovation Tour in NYC concluded last week. Here is a snapshot of what we heard from participants about their experience:

“Most PD (professional development) for teachers isn’t that good. I’ve had the privilege of having a few that have changed how I teach. This is definitely one of them.”

“I heard someone else say that for the first time in their educational life they bit into something and said, ‘Wow, this tastes good.’ I feel the same.”

“So impressed by the leadership and enthusiasm in all four schools. We will take this experience, think about it, and make changes in our school right away. IDEA is a powerful catalyst.”

“I learned that progressive education is about improvement. None of the four schools were conformist. All want to be better. I liked the selections of different approaches, at different levels, and working with different populations. I will remember how everyone was so warm and that we created a real learning community.”

Join us for the Oregon Tour

The Oregon Innovation Tour has 12 spaces left. We hope you can fill one of them.

We will get our hands dirty with an amazing middle school teacher and his students who have created a greenhouse and ecosystem that produces food and teaches them about math and science. We will see one of the leading educational centers for young people ages 3 to 11. And we’ll experience two great approaches to working with older students who are too often and too easily dropped out of the school system.

The tour will take participants through the Hood River Middle School Outdoor Classroom Project, Open Meadow, Opal Charter School of Portland Children’s Museum, and Self-Enhancement, Inc.

Tour costs average $350 per person or $220 without housing.

IDEA’s Innovation Tours are intended to help transform education by showcasing innovative and unusual school models and cultures, and equipping others to learn from them. Tours are designed for people who want to learn from innovative schools: teachers, students, parents, school board members, business leaders, and policy-makers.

Learning as we go

As we launch our first Innovation Tours, we’ve been humbled by the generosity of both the participants and the schools and students we visit. We’ve also seen how viscerally powerful it can be for people to directly experience several learning environments with a cohort of others. And, we’ve seen how valuable it is to have students, teachers, parents, researchers, and activists sharing together. Thanks to everyone for keeping this bus rolling.

Heads up

We’ve been getting lots of inquiries (thank you!) about being an IDEA Organizer or an intern. We love this and keep them coming! We will formally announce our call for organizers, bloggers, and interns mid-May so keep an eye out if you are interested or know someone who is.

At IDEA

SHOWCASE

#itournyc on Twitter

While you might have missed the NYC Innovation Tour you can capture links, questions, and flavor on Twitter by searching and reading the #itournyc feed.