Innovations at Dalat #15 - Teacher comments

Here are some of the problems with the process of writing "comments" from teachers on a report card. In no particular order.

1. Writing meaningful comments for 100 students is a nearly impossible task for even the most diligent teacher. Doing this twice every year over and over is exhausting.
2. Comments are written at the end of the quarter or semester when the teacher is already the most busy with grading.
3. There is little incentive for parents or students to read comments, further adding insult to the teacher's injury of having to write them.
4. If there is a suggestion for how a student could improve in the class, it is too late since the semester is already over.
5. The space is short, and the energy to write anything meaningful is low, knowing most of the comments will be ignored.
6. The student is not engaged in the process of evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. It is all top-down with little metacognition. 
7. Comments are often generic and meaningless. Teachers are actually reticent to say what needs to be said because...
8. Any negative comment can be seen as "out of the blue," leaving a student hurt. So positive "fluff" comments are the norm.
9. Anything written has the potential to be misconstrued since it is lacks context and nonverbal cues that typically give insight.
10. Traditional comments are written for two very different audiences.  The first is the next school the student will attend (as part of the permanent record), and the other is for the student/parents. It is nearly impossible to write to both audiences well. 

You can probably add to this list. For now, I think I have made the point that the current system is broken. 

Once we decided it was more important to write comments to the student to improve their learning and achievement (rather than writing an official record for applying to the next school), it freed us to do things differently to overcome most of these issues. We are now in the 4th year of our new system, and feedback from parents and teachers has been consistently positive. Here is a summary of what we are doing and why it works.

At the midpoint of our semester grading cycle (rather than at the very end), students are given time in each class to answer self-reflection questions about their learning. Typically, we ask three standard questions, and teachers have the opportunity to add their own question that is specific to their own class. Here is a look at the form students use. 

There is a lot to look out here so let me summarize. The first two tabs allow students to reflect on our school-wide goals (our Flagships). We have four, so to keep them from being overwhelmed, they do two each semester. Scrolling down there is a place for students to self-reflect in each class.  The final tab shows exemplars so the students have a model to follow.

Our tech guys have worked some magic in the background. The student reflections are compiled for teachers in an easy-to-access format (one document has a whole class of students). The teachers see what the student's reflections are and can affirm, correct, and add to the student's comments. This has helped make the comments far more meaningful and easier for teachers to have something valuable to say since they have a starting point. Often, the students are far more critical of themself than a teacher would be, so it gives a chance to encourage without being fake and to let parents and students know if there are real issues that need to be addressed.

Once all of the information is entered by teachers, the results from all the teachers are pulled back together in a single document for each student that is shared with the family. Parents are asked to read the student and teacher reflections and discuss them as a family. The final step is to have the parents fill out a form telling us they have read through the comments with their students. The parents can even write an encouraging note to their kid that is added to the document. The form lets the school know that parents have taken the time to reflect on both the students learning as well as the teacher's input. Yes, we incentivize this last step...after a grace period, students may not participate in any school activity until their parents complete the task and submit the form.

Once we decided that the point of our process was to improve learning, it freed us to make some big changes that have alleviated most of the problems listed above. It is never going to be fun writing for 100 students, but knowing the comments are hitting home and challenging students to do better takes much of the sting out. 

Pushing Past Barriers #2

The pain is a FEATURE, not a BUG. 

In my early 30's I did a triathlon that started in a torrential rain storm. Five minutes into the bike portion, the road was covered in puddles, which shortly sent me skittering into a ditch with road rash all over my back and a banged-up wheel. By the time I pulled myself together, I was far back from contention and looking at a year of hard work and training getting washed away by the storm. In a panic, I pushed hard on the bike and, in the run, was redlined the whole way. My heart rate monitor data showed I was near 190 bpm for 75 minutes straight. I staggered across the finish line and collapsed from exhaustion. Laying on my back at the line, I could not find the strength to turn my head, and I seriously thought I would drown in my own vomit. Race officials got me rolled over and to the hospital. For the next 24 hours, I was in the emergency room trying to regulate my stomach, body temp, electrolytes, and dehydration. I found my limit, a place I have never been since, and I never want to go again.  

As a  CrossFit coach, I smile when the new guy tells me he cannot wait to get in shape so that his workouts don't hurt so bad. Perhaps, yes, when you first start out, they do indeed hurt differently; blisters happen fast on soft hands and you are more likely to be sore on the day following. The lack of fitness means that the end comes sooner. But in the last ten years doing functional fitness workouts of every variety, I can say for certain the discomfort does not ever go away. 

We have all hit that wall in the middle of a slog of a workout. Sometimes it is the heat, your upset stomach, the heavyweight, or simply having no gas in the tank. You question why you are doing the workout and look around, wondering why everyone else seems to have it together.
This weekend I hit that wall in my workout. Everyone else was two rounds ahead of me. The oppressive heat had me pouring ice water over my head; the exhaustion had me hanging on my sorts doubled over, trying to catch my breath. Pukie kept threatening to show up, and my wobbly legs simply did not want to cooperate as I looked at the bar for the next set of deadlifts. I was in a dark place, wondering how that simple program on the board could wreck me so completely.

If it ever did stop hurting, I would miss out on a significant reason for doing the workout. Similar to the ice bath, there is something significant that happens when pushing through barriers.  I often find that I am not as close to the edge as I thought and there is growth that happens by simply pressing on.

So what is different about the discomfort for a guy after hundreds of workouts? A confidence that comes with knowing your ability to handle the discomfort. Understanding that if you can just climb over that next barrier, you are likely going to find the reserves needed to finish the workout. Self-doubt is less likely to show up as you stop naval gazing and instead focus on the finish line. There is trust in your own ability to handle the next hard thing and simply start on the next set. 

To all my athletes looking around wondering if anyone else feels this way,  my answer is, Yes, if they are working with enough intensity to be beneficial, others feel like you do. We are not all reveling in schadenfreude, feeling marvelous while you suffer.  Not every workout needs to push you to the edge to be beneficial, but part of the reason to work out in a community is that you will get more out of yourself if others are around to push you. There are exceptions to this, but they are few.

Will it ever stop feeling so terrible? Perhaps a little, but not because it hurts less. The ability to package that discomfort and set it aside is a skill that is learned. And it takes consistent effort. Like fitness, your ability to manage the discomfort and keep pushing down barriers is a skill that is quickly lost. A fellow coach tells his athletes regularly to "get comfortable being uncomfortable." That sounds like a tagline that will attract the masses to CrossFit.  

  

Pushing Past Barriers #1

How long should you be in an ice bath to get optimum results? I get this question a lot from people interested in this crazy habit that I have of sitting in freezing cold water. It seems a simple question, but there is a lot of different research about what time of day works best, how often, what temperature, etc. You could probably mess it up and sit in it too little/often or for too short/long or not cold enough/too cold, but the reality is simply doing it regularly (you define) for a set time (you define) in uncomfortably cold water will likely get most of the benefits. Could this be fine-tuned for peak performance if you were a professional athlete looking for a tiny edge over your competitors? Sure. But generally speaking, it is not as much about the ice water itself (yes, that does have some benefits); instead, it is largely about the number of barriers that you can push past. 

Some days, I feel comfortable getting in, and without too much discomfort, I have no problem sloshing around for five or six minutes in water just above freezing. On other days...just getting in takes all of my effort. I shiver uncontrollably almost from the start, and getting to three minutes takes a heroic effort. Many factors play into the experience. Probably the most powerful is my overall mood but there is more too it than this.

Regardless, every time an ice bath challenges one to push past barriers that tell you "I don't want to do this." Andrew Huberman is a research scientist looking at human performance who has done a lot of research on athletes, and he talks about a structure of the brain called the Anterior Mid Cingulate Cortex that grows when you do something you "don't want to do." It might be exercise, dieting, or getting and staying in an ice bath just a little bit longer. In an ice bath, the first barrier is your brain telling you not to get in. Then there is a barrier saying to stop at your waist or chest. Thirty seconds in, I might relax for a while, and then a few seconds later, there is another barrier that again tells me to get out. Waves come at different intervals, and some are more difficult than others to push through.

The benefits of ice baths are many, but one of them is simply giving your willpower the opportunity to knock down one barrier after the next. In many ways, this may simply be a concentrated version of something that happens in the middle of a workout and want to quit. Or you are fasting, and here is a wave of hunger to push through. The benefit is more than simply what the ice/exercise/ diet can do for you. The benefit comes from the strength of your willpower as you push beyond a barrier and find that you can go further than you thought. 

Actual physical changes to the brain happen as you practice this over and over. This brain growth helps you push through the next time things get tough and you don't want to do an assignment for school, grade papers, file taxes, or do something else uncomfortable. Your brain will have physically changed from your experience on the ice to grow and allow you to tackle the difficult challenge more effectively. 

  

Innovations at Dalat #15 - Do Hard Things

 

All one has to do is look at the change in playground equipment design in the last hundred years to see that risk tolerance in schools has changed. In general, society is more risk-averse, but schools specifically have taken huge steps to make certain that students never get hurt. I should know since in the last couple of years my role has included leading our school in all things crisis-related. My eye is constantly tuned into spotting potential dangers and averting disaster before it happens. 

But play a thought experiment with me. Imagine if we did not already have sports in schools. How would a person proposing basketball to a school administration who had never heard of  "sports" be received in this century? My guess is they would be met with ridicule and scorn for introducing something that so regularly results in twisted ankles and elbow-induced bruises. How long sports will be "tolerated" in today's safety culture is anyone's guess. In the USA parents regularly balk at allowing their kids to play American football and this trend toward protectiveness from parents trickling into other sports. This comes at a price. When play equipment is safe enough that no one will ever get hurt, and students don't have the opportunity to fall or hang, shoulders weaken, bone density drops, and students don't learn how far they can safely fall. A self-reinforcing cycle means more and more steps need to be taken to protect from injury as students become weaker and more injury-prone. Covid lockdowns further accelerated this trend as students sat at screens and forgot (or never learned) how to play organized sports.  

In general, the opportunity to find limits and to test oneself seems less available than ever. Enter the Spartan Race. Why take 25 high school kids on a weekend trip to participate in something so "dangerous"? There are lots of reasons, but the fact that it is a little dangerous happens to be a positive in my mind, not a negative. It is not life-threatening, but the heat, the uneven terrain, the high obstacles, and the unknown all make this worth doing. 

The race will be hard; for some kids as hard a physical challenge as they have ever faced. And there is a real possibility that some kids will fail to complete the course due to physical exhaustion or even injury. Even without an injury, race day may come with heat exhaustion, muscle cramps, blisters, and discomfort. We have been practicing for most of a quarter for this race and I have done what I can on our campus to give students similar challenges so they are physically ready on race day. Ideally, our practices would be so hard that on race day the students might even find the race easy. 

Besides the physical strength and endurance that our participants are gaining through this training, those who push through the pain (in training and on race day) and seize this opportunity to find limits may open a window into their own psyche, learning that they are capable of more than they thought.  This translates to other obstacles that they will face in life...losing a job, losing a loved one, working on a degree, or starting a business. Once a student learns that they will not crumble when things get rough, they learn that they can push through in all sorts of other areas of life. 

Just to be clear, I am not advocating for some of the crazy playground equipment seen in old photographs. But I am not worried that someone might "suffer" on race day. That may be where the greatest learning takes place. It seems that God has created us to learn best when the heat is on and things are tough. 

Innovation at Dalat #14 CrossFit Gym Outfitting

Did something good come of the COVID madness? You would be hard-pressed to find things. At Dalat, the restrictions on travel and limitations on all sports activities meant that our Athletic budget was largely untouched in the 2020-2021 year. This was a significant sum that was mostly absorbed to help offset costs in other areas. 

However, it did give an opportunity to invest in some equipment. We inked a partnership with our school's health insurance provider and a parent organization that saw a way to invest in our community, and next thing, we had a reasonable chunk of change. After a rig was purchased and most of the basics, including three air bikes and rowers, there was even money left over to train 5 staff members to receive their CrossFit L1 training. This was done online (okay, the online option was also a benefit of COVID) and we had a pretty solid team of coaches ready to get to work.

We had just completed work on a new cafeteria building. This left our old Seaside Café sitting empty with a patio that was within 5 feet of the waves at high tide. The space was sweaty and salty and ultimately proved very corrosive on our equipment, but for training, it was ideal. 

Without much else happening for the kids, all of a sudden, each afternoon work

out was packed with kids and our coaching skills of scaling workouts to a huge range of abilities were really tested. But man it was fun while it lasted. Little did we know that a move would be in the works shortly, but that is a story for another day.
 

Innovation at Dalat #13 Awards Program

The pins and plaques that students receive in our awards program are to recognize achievement, inspire students to try something different, and to serve as a memento of a student’s activities during their time at Dalat. This is a one-of-a-kind program that we designed from the ground up ten years ago, modeled after a “letter-jacket” concept that is traditional in North America. We have worked to improve every year since by recognizing more activities with pins. Dalat custom designs each pin (thank you, Mrs. Roberts) and crafts them for only our students.

When a student graduates, in addition to a diploma, they are handed their plaque and pins as a keepsake to remind them of their activities at Dalat. I have shared the unique program that Dalat is using at several conferences and have consistently received positive feedback from other schools or have heard from them that they intend to emulate what we are doing.

Most of the pins are awarded during our year-end High School Awards Ceremony at 9:30 am on Friday, June 7. This ceremony is for all of our HS students in grades 9-12. Parents are encouraged to attend and help us celebrate. This will be our first year in the Harbor Hall for Baccalaureate, Commencement, Senior Tea, and the Awards Ceremony; and I am excited to have a beautiful space for these celebration events. I hope you will make plans to join us for this special event.

If you would like more details on the program guidelines, please refer to this link. Student Award Program Description

Innovation at Dalat #12 Student Absences

Sometimes too much of a good thing is actually not a good thing…like when you have just a little too much frosting on your piece of cake!  Perhaps that is not the best example since I have never had too much frosting! How about too much exercise? How about too much innovation at school?

As Dalat has grown, so have the number of great opportunities for students to learn outside of the classroom.  Between sports trips, Impact trips, band/choir trips, class trips, Forensics & History Bowl trips, and academic field trips, there are a lot of great reasons for kids to travel the world and miss classes. In spite of our best efforts to schedule things carefully and do what we can to minimize the negative impacts of these outings they do add up to have an impact on the other primary thing that we do at Dalat…teaching classes.

Dalat has reached a sort of “tipping point” where the drawbacks of all the time out of the classrooms have begun to outweigh some of the positives of all of these great opportunities. Teachers have rightly expressed concern that you cannot teach students who are not present, and it is difficult to move forward with the curriculum when many students are away for extended times. Add to this the fatigue factor for students who are constantly trying to catch up from their last outing, and the cost to parents who are trying to pay for all of the enrichment activities and you arrive at the need to make some adjustments.

This is where we found ourselves this semester. Long discussions ensued. These are not easy decisions because sometimes it means “saying no” to great opportunities. But in the end, several policies to try and help will be implemented for next year:

Adjustments

• The biggest change that students must be aware of and plan for is that they will be allowed a maximum of three major trips (two or more nights) in a school year. Students who are involved in multiple sports or other activities may need to make some decisions about what their priorities are and if they are adding an Impact trip, what will they be giving up. The only exception that will not be tallied toward the three trips is the senior sneak in which all students are strongly encouraged to attend.
• Each varsity sports team will be allowed a maximum of two trips per year. One can be the longer ACSC trips, but the other will be limited to a single overnight.
• The administration will work to schedule events so that multiple trips happen at the same time so that everyone is gone at once. This means that everyone is back in the classroom together.
• There are several other scheduling and organizing internal adjustments from multiple departments that will also be implemented.  We will evaluate next year if further changes will be needed.

Here are other notes to continue to be aware.

·    

Our final exam time in high school is important enough that we do not allow a students to be absent from exams or reschedule. We end sports and most activities early to give students study time. Students are not given permission to leave early or reschedule exams in any way except in extraordinary extenuating circumstances.
      
 Our absence policy does allow parents to decide to miss up to eight days of class in a semester without penalty. While we don’t encourage this, we also know that life happens outside of school and there are good reasons why a family may need to miss a few days throughout the semester. However, unless there are serious medical or personal emergencies that fall outside of the control of the family, we have held to the standard that grades are dropped by 10% if a student misses more than eight of a particular class in a semester. School-sponsored absences for trips do not count towards this policy. There is more information about this in our parent and student handbook.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Let me know if you have any questions.

Innovation at Dalat #11 Technology Contract

It is no secret that there is a significant downside to using technology in the classrooms. It means that our students spend more time looking at computer screens and there are more distractions when work needs to be done. Computers open up a world of new opportunities good and bad and I have heard compelling arguments for both schools that adopt 1 to 1 programs and those that eschew technology altogether.  

What tips the scales in favor of keeping them at Dalat is the opportunity we now have to teach students to use the technology well, to use their time wisely, and to make good decisions about what they access online.  Once they graduate and leave our care, we lose the opportunity to mentor them as they navigate a digital world. No matter where they go and what they do, they will use technology. So I believe we should be investing in teaching them wisdom rather than sheltering them. Our role as a school is to partner with families in this education process, not to replace the family.  We want to empower parents to engage in the process of guiding young minds to learn how to make good decisions regarding the use of technology.

Our 9^th-grade students piloted a trial program this school year working with their parents to develop their own “Family Technology Contract.”  Students spent time talking with their parents about expectations for technology use and care of devices. The questions on the plan help families think through important questions and establish expectations up front so that the kids and parents know the family guidelines.

Next year we will require the plan of all students and their parents in high school. Filling it out each year as the student progresses will allow families the opportunity to talk about what is working or not, and reevaluate the rules and expectations as the student matures.

As summertime approaches with extra free time, the challenges families face to establish healthy boundaries may increase. I am offering the questions from the technology plan below for families that want to get a head start. You are encouraged to take some time and work with all of your kids to talk through the questions below.

Innovation at Dalat #10 Small Groups

“We’re connected but alone.” This is how MIT professor Sherry Turkle describes the state of most people and their relationships in our world today.  In her well-known TED Talk, Turkle describes the alarming shift in human relationships that has come through the growth of technology.  She describes how more and more young people, as well as adults, no longer feel comfortable talking in person with others.  People relate to each other more and more through virtual platforms, which can create a feeling of connection but in reality, does not substitute for humans’ innate need for meaningful human connection.  The result is that the number of people reporting loneliness and isolation continues to increase, along with resulting maladies like depression and anxiety. 

In a world that is slowly becoming devoid of face to face relationships, Dalat has chosen to innovate by reintroducing the lost art of having face to face conversations.  As part of our high school Bible program, students in high school Bible classes spend one day a week with a small group led by a mentor-adult.  After a snack and some light conversation about how the week is going, small groups discuss their thoughts about some of life’s deeper questions.  Small groups also spent the service day together and were able to work as a team to impact our community. 

So why take class time to invest in a small group program?  Learning to talk and listen are skills that have to be developed; they do not come naturally for everyone and require a safe space for growth.  Though this simple skill of learning to work in groups and relate to others might have been a normal part of the world a few decades ago, this is not a skill that people are developing as much anymore.  Beyond learning conversation skills, being part of a small group is an opportunity for our students to experience community and deeper relationships, as well as give them a safe place to talk about whatever they are facing.  As a significant part of Dalat’s Christian tradition, these are values that we hold dear.  Small groups are one way we prioritize these things in a world that is increasingly connected but alone.

Innovation at Dalat #9 Student Leadership

Student Council, the Junior class experience, and the Senior class experience are instrumental in developing strong leaders. But they don’t provide a lot of opportunity for our grade 9 and 10 students to practice their leadership skills.  

“How can we do this better?”

This was the question that led to a significant change, to the structure of our leadership program, which was announced to the Student Council earlier this week. Our goal is to expand the leadership development experience for our younger students and have a more consistent and thoughtful  approach to all of our student leadership.

Next year our Ninth and tenth-grade students will each be led by two sponsors and will elect officers to lead Executive Committees (Ex-Coms) of 8-10 students. Every Monday during X-block, either the Ex-Com or volunteers from the entire class will meet to work and plan activities and events.

Ninth grade students will have a number of opportunities to plan and participate in, like class parties and hosting an event for the entire high school. Tenth-grade students will work with their sponsors to run a lunchtime store (what is currently the StuCo store) and to organize events such as our Christmas Banquet. Throughout the year, both grade levels will have opportunities to learn leadership lessons and come into the Jr. year more prepared. Overall, more students will be able to get involved and find out what they enjoy/where they are gifted.

Out of all the student Ex-Coms, a group will also be given the opportunity to serve on the Principal’s Advisory League (PAL). PAL students will meet regularly with the principal to advise, support, and communicate with the administration about student issues.

All of the leadership groups—each class Ex-Com, PALs, Dorm Council, and Spiritual Leadership—will make up what is called Student Government. 

Innovation at Dalat #8 Agendas

Sometimes being innovative means “going old school”. In the past few years, Dalat HS students used digital day planners (also known as a daily agenda) to keep track of their assignments and activities. For some, it worked well to keep this information on a computer. But for others, the digital version was a challenge. Last semester we asked for some feedback and many students told us that an old-fashioned paper daily agenda notebook would be more useful. So we designed and printed copies of a Dalat branded book and are offering them to any HS student who wants to use one.

Using a daily planner to keep track of daily assignments is a critical life skill needed for success in nearly any occupation. As an educator, I think the simplest way to predict a students success as a student is to see if they regularly use an agenda. Our 9th-grade teachers recognize its importance and even make it an assignment and occasionally will mark our students on how well they are using an agenda.

If a student loses their agenda and needs a replacement, for a small cost, all they need to do is come and see one of the friendly ladies at the front desk. If your student is having trouble staying organized, perhaps a first step to help them is to encourage them to stop by and pick one up.

Innovation at Dalat #7 CLEP

Did you know that Dalat is the only The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) testing center in South East Asia? Many of you have heard of Advanced Placement (AP) courses and the related exams, but you may be less familiar with the CLEP program. Both programs are run by the College Board.

However, unlike the AP classes, a CLEP test can be taken without taking a class and students may sign up at any time of the year. CLEP allows students to show proficiency in 33 different subject areas and many US universities will give credit to students who pass a subject test. If you are headed to the US for University this is definitely worth looking into, but keep in mind CLEP is not well recognized at other systems around the world.

Dalat HS students in some of our Science, Math, English, and Social Studies classes may have the opportunity to take a CLEP exam instead of a final exam at the year-end. Our students have traditionally done well on these exams and earn credits that may save the family money by not needing to pay for introductory courses in university.

If you are interested in finding out what tests are available, take a look at the CLEP website. https://clep.collegeboard.org/. If you would like to know more about scheduling an exam, you are invited to talk with our test coordinator Marsha Yost myost@dalat.org.

Innovation at Dalat #6  - Next Level Fitness Challenge

I am going to switch gears from academics to athletics in this email and talk about an innovative challenge that we have given to all of our student-athletes. As our sports program has developed, the Athletic Director has worked to find ways for our students to both get in shape during the offseason and to identify areas of fitness to work on. Out of that initiative comes the NextLevel fitness challenge which measures a broad range of fitness attributes including cardio, strength, agility, speed, flexibility, endurance,  and balance.

The exercises can be done in the Dalat gym/weight room.  Here is a list of the 7 events…

•          Rowing
•          Paper Challenge
•          Agility Sprint
•          Beep Test
•          Deadlift
•          Handstand hold
•          GHD sit-ups

All the details of the 7 events of the fitness challenges and the rules of the competition are in this document.  Fitness Challenge Instructions

To make in interesting and fun, they can submit scores through links on the school intranet. Anyone can try the challenge as often as they like. Who knows, even parents may want to give it a try or to do it with your kids. This is a great way to work to get ready for the next sports season or just to help you get back in shape.

Innovation at Dalat #5 Service Learning

While service learning is not new at Dalat, I am including it in this series of innovation updates because it is such a unique and valuable part of our education process.  For nearly 15 years, Dalat has required all HS students to engage in a minimum of ten hours of community service each year as part of the student graduation requirements. This first exposure to service is often the spark that leads students to commit to many more hours of service than are required, and eventually, we hope, a life of service to others. Dalat recognizes those students who go above the minimum service hours with student “Service Awards” that are handed out by our service learning coordinator, Mrs. Pagee.   

What is new this year is “Track it Forward”. This software platform gives simple and accurate recording of all of the hours students have served. Track it Forward gives simple verification from a community organizer of the quality of work done and helps the students record and communicate their hours in a way that is simple and fun. We have introduced it this semester for students in grades 9-11.

Several teachers are connectors in our community who know where needs are and how our students can reach out and help meet those needs. They regularly organize trips to an orphanage, the old folks home, SKTT school near Tesco, and a host of other outings to provide outreach opportunities for our students. It is a joy to see students learning to use the gifts that they have in service to others.

Dalat’s new “Impact” trip program is taking the concept of service learning a step further. It creates opportunities for students to engage in another culture at a deeper level for a full week of service, often in remote locations around SE Asia. Students commit to many weeks of training before they leave to prepare them to be able to serve well. This year four teams of students will care for young prisoners, work to develop seed storage techniques, care for young girls who have become pregnant, and run programs for children who have been abandoned.  

If you know a place where our students can serve or want to engage in any of these programs, communicate with our service learning coordinator Mrs. Pagee or the Impact coordinator Mr. McClary. We would love to hear from you.

Innovation at Dalat #4 Independent Study

Last time in this “Innovation newsletter” I talked about our e-learning program that offers online classes from teachers and schools around the world. It gives HS students opportunities to take classes that otherwise are not offered here at Dalat. But even with that option, sometimes students have a different idea for a course of study that they may want to pursue.

A good example is the students who approached me two years ago with the desire to learn how to 3-D print. The school owned a 3-D printer, but we didn’t have a course that taught students how to use it.  The students wrote a proposal of study using our “Independent Study” guidelines. They received approval to print a 3-D model of the Dalat campus development. At the time Dalat had only finished the Castle building. The Lighthouse and Harbor building were just a dream but the independent study students gave us the first vision of what the campus would look like when the development was completed. 

The printing project was full of challenges and difficulties that forced students to come up with creative solutions. One of these challenges was that when the school printer print did not have the fine resolution needed to complete the model, the students solved this by printing and fabricating, from the first printer,  a second printer that was then used to print the campus model. The completed campus model, printed with the second printer, now sits in the entryway to the library.

The independent study program gave these students the opportunity to engage with learning in a way that satisfied their curiosity. Their work earned them school credit towards graduation and gave them something very interesting to share on their college applications.

Students, what area of study would you like to propose? If you have a project that you would like to pursue, take a look at the “Independent Study” guidelines or talk with Mr. Dobson in the guidance office for more details. This is the time to get serious about submitting a proposal as we will soon be enrolling for next year’s courses and finalizing your schedules.

Innovation at Dalat #3  e-learning

“What if Dalat does not offer a class about a concept that I really want to study?”

If a student has a passion or area of interest that they would like to engage in at a deeper level, occasionally the answer is to take one of the many online courses through outside providers. Our e-learning coordinator is available to help parents and students find just the right course. We will then support families by helping with the enrollment process and even giving financial support to help pay for the course. Then during the school year, we will give space in a student schedule each day to work on the class, provide academic support to the student in the class, and even include the final work on a student transcript. These courses count toward graduation requirements. In fact, online learning is becoming so important for all students Dalat is moving one-quarter of one of our 11^th grade English classes completely online (even though the teacher is on campus) just so that students have some exposure to online learning before they leave high school.

Over the years the number of online courses available and the quality of the courses has continued to improve. Some of the courses even give students the option of “dual enrollment”. This means that they can earn University credits at the same time they are earning high school credit.

No matter what the interest, (maybe not “underwater basket weaving J) we are likely to be able to find something that works. If you have questions please talk with our e-learning coordinator  Mr. Yost (dyost@dalat.org).

Innovation at Dalat #2 Portfolios

Portfolios are simple in concept. They give students a digital platform to record, save, and organize important information about themselves. They are an important “digital locker” to use for sharing when applying to universities that can help students record all of their achievements. This includes information such as service hours, awards, leadership experience, and extracurricular involvement. Students will use their portfolios to record growth in our Student Outcome Statements in the areas of Leadership, Scholarship, Discipleship and Citizenship. And they will be challenged to record important academic classroom work that demonstrates growth.

The Dalat Student Portfolio is actually a notebook in the Microsoft program “OneNote”. The framework for the notebook and all of the sections and pages has been organized by a team of HS teacher leaders with the key pieces that will continue to be optimized and developed. Over the next few semesters, both students and teachers will be learning how to use their portfolios to capture information. We will be sharing the value of this tool through our guidance department and teaching students ways to make the most of this space.

Below is a snapshot of the front page of a student Portfolio. If you would like more information talk with Mr. Dobson in the guidance office as he will be giving students leadership in this area. So far these only have been shared with students in the current freshman class. The rest of the HS will gain access to their portfolios over the semester with guidance on best practices to use them. Ask your student to show you around their portfolio and imagine the ways it could be useful.

Innovation at Dalat #1  Venture Program

The genesis of this Blog was a series of emails to parents about innovative ideas that Dalat is using to give our high school students opportunities to flourish. In each letter I highlighted one idea with a brief explanation to spark interest and better inform our community of the opportunities to engage in learning in innovative ways. The emails needed a shelf to store them for reference, thus the decision to put them on this blog. The material will seem dated soon but may be useful as a reference.

Encouraging student entrepreneurship skills, the brand new Venture Program at Dalat is designed to give students the opportunity to start and run a business of their own. After some training students can write a business plan and submit it for review. If approved, the student(s) are granted a “Dalat Business License”. This gives them the opportunity to sell to our community and on our campus. They will then have access to our supportive community who can help their small business get off the ground. Already we have had three students working through the program with dreams of starting and running their own small business for the Dalat community.

This article “Five Reasons for Teaching Entrepreneurship” is one of many such articles that highlight a new understanding of the value of entrepreneurial skills to the future economy. There is a need for schools to develop curriculum and create space for students to learn how to identify needs, creatively address them, take risks, and develop businesses around them. The Junior Class Store, the Student Council Store, and our Christmas Craft Fair have all given opportunities for our students to get a taste of running a business. The Venture Program is another step in that direction for Dalat Students.

To further assist students, Dalat has also set aside “seed money” for motivated individuals with a business idea to help get things off the ground. We are working to develop a mentor network to pair students with adults who can help them develop their business acumen.

Students who are interested in finding out more should talk with Mrs. Davis (in the learning lab next to the guidance office). She will be working as a point person for students that are interested in getting started. If you would like to be involved as a mentor, let her know as well (sdavis@dalat.org).

We are excited to see what kinds of ideas our students come up with to provide fun and valuable services for our Dalat community while developing their business skills. And when you see an email from a student with an attached business license, or see a student selling their product or services on campus, you are encouraged to support their venture.