No, I’m not going to start singing songs from Aladdin, but the Integrated Studies Program (ISP) did actually make me want to sing. It is an intriguing program that puts 100 students in a classroom with 5 content area teachers while leaving the schedules and artificial course increments behind. As Mike Ritzius (@mritzius) explained, instead of saying “you adapt to my classroom,” the classroom adapts to the student. They use Moodle for content management and Project Foundry (connected to standards) for more in-depth learning and project coordination.
This program breaks down walls and content-area silos. For example, math teacher, Nicolae Borota (@nborota), does not teach classes in algebra, etc. Instead, he describes his teaching of math as a “united subject,” a “whole thing.” It is no longer compartmentalized but instead all levels work together. They helped students who needed more structure by allowing them to create their own schedule until they were comfortable working without it.
My favorite story was about a girl who was frustrated because in the classroom she finished her work in about 15 minutes and then just waited for everyone to catch up. In the ISP, she had to work the entire time…poor child!
I’ve gotta be honest; this session made me salivate…intellectually, that is. My district, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, is currently putting together a committee to investigate alternative scheduling options for high schools. In addition to session 2 stories, please consider sharing any and all alternative scheduling options. The more ideas, the merrier!
