Each day begins with physical activity to stimulate the brain. Students choose from a number of different offerings, which are determined by interest of students, community members, parents, and teachers. The community trekking group explores and discovers our neighborhood and surrounding community.
Our school is a charter school in its second year, just having opened our doors on August 5, 2013.
Our 6th, 7th and 8th grade students are of a diverse background, coming from the surrounding Honolulu area. Our diverse community fosters a joy of learning through collaborative and interdisciplinary investigation of questions essential to Hawaii's future. Graduates will be stewards of planet Earth and healthy, effective citizens of the world.
Our school uses the environment as an integrating context for learning, providing a natural setting Hawaii that is inherently place-based.
My Project
My Community Trekking physical activity group would benefit greatly from being able to use pedometers to both map out our walks and self-asses. Presently I use an inexpensive watch with a built-in pedometer to track our steps, but this is not individualized nor applicable to their age (assuming I take larger steps). It also doesn't provide them with the ownership that our school works hard to promote. Additionally, students would be able to use their individual pedometer to keep a running log of their physical activity and improvement over the course of the quarter. Currently, there is no accurate way for them to do this.
The additional purchase of dodge balls will provide them with activities to do once we reach some of our closer park locations, such as kick ball, dodge ball, and other student-led games.
Allowing students to learn by way of choice, challenge, and collaboration leads to a place of better understanding.
Providing students with control over the direction of their own learning activities creates more authentic and meaningful learning experiences. Furthermore, being a part of a diverse group motivates effort and participation. Providing a tool to measure one's growth as influenced by others will no doubt reshape students' vision of learning, individually and collaboratively.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Dr. Jones and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
