Reasons Why I think Brooklyn High School of the Arts is a Transformative Program

Programs in the NYC DOE Innovative Zone (iZone)  6uLj5viqw6w

Describe one of the programs in the iZone 360 page and give reasons why you think it is transformative in 1-2 paragraphs.

Prior to joining the 1Zone 360 program, students at Brooklyn High School of the Arts were only interested in one aspect of learning:  performance in the arts classes.  Realizing this lack of interest in academics, the principal, Margaret Lacy-Berman discovered an engaging solution at iZone360 which has made an immense impact in the BHSA classrooms.

Using Project Based Learning, Brooklyn High School of the Arts was redesigned to integrate technology in the curriculum, centered on the needs of students.  This tool motivated students to learn.

Transformation was clearly seen by the teachers and the principal.  The teachers noticed that students were fully engaged causing teachers to spend less time on disciplining students and place more emphasis on responding to students individual questions.  Furthermore, teachers’ time were also wisely spent on sharing suggestions and giving feedback to individual students.  Along with how pleased the teachers were, the principal noticed that attendance had increased, the level of motivation to learn had increased and because of this successful framework, the school has made plans to extend the use of project-based learning throughout its curriculum.

As one of the model design partners in the iZone360 programs, Brooklyn High School of the Arts redesigned the school’s environment starting with the transformation of the school day from many days that lacked learning and no growth to one where the classroom was innovatively disrupted and transformed.  The   redesigning of the learning environment started with changing the school day from a stagnant classroom to one that was engaging and challenging.  Students would spend most of the school days using the 21^st Century Skills communicating effectively with their peers in their core subjects in conjunction with their performing arts classes.

Another transformation that Brooklyn High School of the Arts made was to integrate project- based learning assignments in their curriculum.  This activity was the key and stimulant to teaching and learning appropriately as students would get to brainstorm, participate in an activity with their peers by sharing ideas and taking on roles to complete specific tasks.  These activities allowed students to use problem solving skills, critical thinking abilities in answering questions that are used in the global community daily.

Immediately, the principal and teachers noticed the immense improvements in the students learning.  They noticed how they were very engaged and this remarkable difference carried over into their attendance which showed much better results than previously and students were more engaging as they would spend more time interacting effectively with each other.  These students continued to show how eager they were to learn in this transformed environment.

The Importance of School Leadership in Transformation

 Considering what Alisa Berger describes regarding curriculum, what is the role of the school leader in enahancing the motivation of students?

Alisa Berger made some very interesting points regarding the curriculum:

1.       Ms. Berger believes that technology plays a crucial part in the curriculum at her school.

2.       In her school, teachers use technology to transform learning. 

3.       iSchool has made a commitment to individualized learning where teachers engage students using the 21^st Century Skills to move them from a level of basic understanding to one that involves deep critical thinking skills.

4.       Most of the school day is spent engaging students in authentic learning using deep thinking skills.

5.       Students will eventually know when they have to move on to a higher order learning and the teachers will know this as well. 

Although students might have knowledge on certain topics, they don’t have a deep breadth of understanding on everything; however, Alisa is thinking of ways to create a school where students spending 4 years in high school will receive more depth of knowledge and understanding on a vast number of topics.

As the Co-Principal of iSchool, it would appear that Alisa’s role has a lot to do with enhancing the curriculum to increase students’ depth of knowledge.  I also believe that Alisa will design a blended learning program which will effectively transform the curriculum using technology to make an innovative and immense impact on the lives of individual students in their 4 years of high school.