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Arrowhead High School
Hartland, WI


At Arrowhead high school, in Hartland, WI, I implemented a radical, choice-driven green learning improvement system. The administration and I noticed a lack of student contact with the teacher. We noticed a lack of improvement in student writing and we noticed a lack of personal responsibility. We also noticed how much paper and other resources our school wasted.

I needed to implement a radical change because I wanted to not only make students better writers, but because I also wanted to make them more interested and engaged in quality writing; I want to make them like writing more. And I wanted to learn how to be (and then actually be) kinder to the environment.

The hybrid course is different than other academic experiences. The traditional high school experience requires students to be in class. The teacher requires students to sit in rows, take diligent notes and listen to them. The traditional class has pages and pages of handouts, student examples and paper rubrics.

But there is nothing traditional about my classes. In my classes, students are given choices. They decide to come to one writer’s workshop class or all of them. Students decide how many drafts they’ll complete. They decide what they’ll write about and what they’ll share. The students decide when—and if—they need to complete a new draft. Students decide what needs to be improved upon in their writing. And the focus is on quality, not on a grade. AND THEY NEVER PRINT OUT A PIECE OF PAPER OR RECEIVE A HANDOUT!

Although we still meet as a class at least once a week, all of the materials students need are online: we discuss and edit papers online, we talk about problems and solutions online, we read articles online, we take notes online, we watch videos online and we hold discussions online.

Within this form, students demonstrated learning and growth when they were able to:
•    Set and have a goal they can reach (that makes sense to them)
•    Be internally motivated
•    Be positively challenged
•    Be useful in the learning process
•    Be given a chance to practice what they’ve learned
•    Produce quality work they’re proud of
•    See the outcomes of their learning
•    Do something
•    Complete enjoyable assignments
•    Take charge of their learning
•    Become competent in the subject
•    Be partners with the teachers in their own learning
•    Evaluate their own learning and
•    GO GREEN!

Indeed, my online, green composition courses have many positives: the focus is on quality work, students are building partnerships, there is increased accountability, the process fulfills students’ needs, and the student is asked to self-evaluate and work on personal improvement…all without wasting one piece of paper! This, in turn, increases a student’s self-esteem and the quality of his or her work—and their awareness about how much they waste.

The students had success in this form of class. I had success too. I enjoyed my classes more. The students were easier to work with, they’re internally motivated and they had clear, measurable goals. And my school saved so much money!

Indeed, in meeting the students’ needs (and providing them with choice and the opportunities to create quality work), students exceeded any expectation I could have set for them. In the end, students found ways to learn that worked for them; they applied what they were learning to their own lives and they found self-esteem and confidence.

Throughout each project and activity, I was reminded that the most useful and successful assessments are the ones which help the kids reflect and grow. Throughout each activity and assignment, I encouraged my students to discuss, process, and find textual evidence of their growth. In each assignment, I didn’t require a poster or paper. Instead, I said: “choose how you can best demonstrate growth” – and my students did. And the best part? They chose to demonstrate their growth in green ways!

I received Glogsters, Powerpoints, online scrapbooks, Storifies, videos and other electronic submissions. Each student had a choice and each student chose to do a green (mostly a Web 2.0) assignment.

Through implementing these strategies, my courses have become the opposite of your average high school composition course. At Arrowhead High School in Hartland, WI, I am instructing on more than adverbs, appositive phrases and literary analysis. Instead, I tackle a comprehensive, enlightening and challenging social curriculum. At the forefront, standing near sentence structure and pronoun agreement, are social justice, environmental issues and making our world a greener place!

Here is what a student (Kylie Moehrke) had to say about going green:

Anyone who has recently seen a picture of Los Angeles can tell our country is in grave danger. From an aerial view, it is nearly impossible to see the city through the thick layer of vehicular and industrial emissions hanging over the buildings. Although the tiny town of Hartland, Wisconsin, is relatively unaffected by the dangers of pollution, there is the impending threat of becoming the next Los Angeles. As the next generation of leaders, high school students must do their parts to prevent LA from becoming the norm.

Arrowhead High School, of Hartland, has begun an innovative program to do our part in saving the environment. This year, Ms. Jorgensen’s classes are hybrids.

The class meets as a whole once a week. On the other days, students are still required to complete assignments on the online homework site, Moodle.  The specific assignments and grading procedures are all detailed right on the website. Students are able to communicate with each other, privately or publicly, as well as with the teacher.

Let’s talk about paper: Arrowhead High School consists of two campuses, each with their own copy room. At North Campus, there are two copy machines, one of which makes four billion copies annually. That means at Arrowhead High School alone, over 16 BILLION pieces of paper are wasted yearly. I say “wasted” because ultimately where do these papers end up? In the trash. On average, twenty four trees are cut down to make 200,000 sheets of paper. Arrowhead alone kills approximately 3,334 trees each year.

If more hybrid classes were implemented, absolutely no paper would be necessary. All the students would need is a computer with Internet access. In the hybrid courses, assignments are submitted electronically. The teacher comments on students rough drafts on the computer. Printers and paper are irrelevant. Think of the impact more hybrid classes would have.

Unless we want our earth to be blanketed in a thick cloud of carbon emissions and toxins, actions must be taken immediately. Online and hybrid classes benefit teachers and students, as well as the environment.

Watch their inspiring student video about going green!

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