Innovation Day, Part 1, the Introduction

Original Post 5/15/13

About a month ago I stumbled across some posts on Twitter by Karl Lindgren-Streicher (@LS_Karl) about Innovation Day.  His students were working on these fantastically original projects and I wanted to learn more.  Innovation Day is a day where the students come to school and for the entire day they learn about one specific topic of their choosing, and then they create a product to demonstrate their learning.  The students are in control of the subject matter, not the teachers.  After reading more about Innovation Day from Josh Stumpenhorst and Pernille Ripp I knew this was something I wanted to do.

Pernille Ripp's Innovation Day

I informed the five other 5th grade classes in my building about Innovation Day and asked if they would like to join my class in this process and every teacher said yes.  I knew I worked with amazing educators, but I was still surprised that everyone in my grade level saw the value in this opportunity.

Next, I went to the specialists in my building (the Physical Education, Art, Music, and Library teachers) to let them know on this day the students would not be coming to see them because they would be doing research and creating projects.  I asked if we could use their rooms for the periods they were not there and again I was met with tremendous enthusiasm.  The Art teacher told me she would set up a station where the students could come in and out to gather supplies, and the Gym teacher said if it was a nice day I could have the entire Gym and he would keep the other classes outside.  Unbelievable support.

We scheduled our Innovation Day for June 11th or 12th, depending on the weather, and I felt the students needed about a month to think about how they are going to spend this day, and to organize themselves.  So yesterday, the 5th-grade met with Karl Lindgren-Streicher and his 9th grade class via Google Hangout.  Over 130 of us gathered in the cafeteria to listen and learn from Karl's class.  His class had already completed their Innovation Day and my class was just beginning this process, so we had some of his students talk to the 5th grade at my school about their experiences.  Karl's students answered four questions:

1) What was your project?
2) How did you choose it?
3) How did you ensure success on Innovation Day?
4) What is something you would do differently?

His students provided many helpful hints to our 5th-Graders and our students were amazed at the work these students from California were able to complete.

After the G+ Hangout I brought my students back tot my room.  I expected tremendous excitement and enthusiasm, like I had received from the other 5th-grade teachers and specialists.  However the room was eerily quiet.  I asked the students what they were thinking and a brave student raised her hand and said she was nervous because she had never been given such an open-ended question.  All the students around the room nodded their heads in agreement.  I began to think about it and I could begin to understand.  My students have been given the opportunity to learn about anything they want, and they are taking this very seriously.  I can't wait to see what they produce.