A Self-paced Path to a High School Diploma

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Today's post is an experiment. I'm hoping that someone out there who did not graduate high school for whatever reason will try out the ideas in the post and let me know how they work for you. I NEED FEEDBACK! YES, I'M YELLING! 

 I had my HSE (high school equivalency) prep class yesterday, and two new students joined us. However, one student from last week couldn't attend. But that's okay because my main goal with this class is to help my students learn to learn on their own, on their own time, in places they are comfortable, with meaningful resources at their fingertips, etc. I am just a facilitator and guide. Not being able to attend class does not mean that all learning stops.

But I also want to make sure I give my students feedback in a timely manner so they can fix their mistakes before doing the next assignment. I was pleased to see that one student had done her homework so I collected her essay and today I reviewed it and emailed her with feedback. After we discussed in class the data that her essay was based on, she had already decided to rewrite it. I'm looking forward to a much improved essay next week. Yes, it can happen that fast in adult education, something we need to remember.

We can't do everything in an hour a week so we will follow this basic procedure:
  • We will go over run-on sentences and fragments in class regularly because that's a problem for many. Sometimes drill work works. If you look online, you can find good practice problems that are helpful.
  • We will talk about Khan Academy and the students' progress.
    • Do we need to bring in a math tutor once in a while?
  • I will collect weekly work during class and give feedback via email within two days so they have something to work from before doing the next assignment. Some of the work, like worksheets, we will correct and discuss together in class. 
  • I will periodically email additional assignments that build on the weekly work. Nothing is mandatory. 
This week's additional assignment:Last week, for their first writing assignment, my students looked at 2013 data about the death penalty. They were instructed to read the facts and come up with one main idea to write a one-page essay about. I kept it open because for this assignment, I'm only looking at how well they write. 

I plan to continue giving assignments that require students to analyze and interpret data because the new tests are geared that way. For this week, I will be emailing the following website to my students and asking them to do an assignment that hopefully will help them start to think a little deeper, a little more critically. It's also a good place to get ideas. 

Here is the assignment: 

procon.org
    • explore the site and write about one of the following:
      • look for a topic you know a little about and would like to learn more about. What did you already know about this issue? What did you learn on top of that?
      • look for a topic you know nothing about and explore. What did you learn? 
      • look for a topic that is in the news, etc. today. What is the issue and what is your opinion about it? Did your opinion change after reading about the issue on this website?
    • we will talk about what we discovered in class next time. (This is my chance to demonstrate the kinds of questions to ask as they look at the data, and connections and inferences that can be made.) 
Okay, that's it for today! It's a beautiful fall day. Take a moment to appreciate it. 

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