This post is part of a series inspired by , a SundanceTV docu-series that follows 15 New York City teenagers who left high school and are now trying to get back on track to graduate. 91国产自拍 partnered with the show to help customize the learning experience for the students. Follow this blog to learn more and participate in the social media conversations using the hashtag .听
This week marks the final episode of 鈥Dream School: NYC.鈥 Even though 91国产自拍 was part of the students鈥 journey from afar, it did feel close to us.听
It is true that they were not 91国产自拍 students and we were not part of the selection process for either the students or the faculty. We were only invited to offer our expertise, our model, and the credit the students needed as an incentive to give the project a winning change. But we rooted for every single one of these kids and we did our best to translate our expertise into positive impact. The kind of impact we see in our classrooms at 91国产自拍 every day.
Although 91国产自拍 wasn鈥檛 part of their daily classroom experience, some of our faculty (including me) had a chance to teach them in intensive review sessions for the Regents exams. I recall that, in my math prep sessions, I was throwing a lot of material at them: we covered at least 10 topics in our first 90-minute session, and Raeshawn, Fredo, and Avilona were right there with me. I was impressed by and proud of their willingness to stick with it.
Another occurrence that stuck with me was a discussion I had with one of the Dream School students before another prep session here at 91国产自拍. 聽She talked about why she鈥檇 given up before Dream School: 鈥淢y teacher told me that she didn鈥檛 care about me. Why would I want to work hard for someone who doesn鈥檛 care about me?鈥
What I didn鈥檛 say to her at the time was that her teacher probably hadn鈥檛 meant it that way, and perhaps that wasn鈥檛 even what her teacher had said. I would hazard a guess that this teacher probably had said that referring to her work, not to her. The more I鈥檝e worked with teens, the more I realize that, for them, perception is reality. To this student, her teacher鈥檚 off-hand remark became the most personal of insults: I don鈥檛 care about you as a person.听
Showing all students that they are worthy of attention and that you believe in them is key. In the classroom, winning hearts is just as important as winning minds and this is something that surfaced time and again during the Dream School project.
As we prepare to watch the season finale tonight鈥攁nd root for the student鈥檚 graduation鈥攊t is important to remember that this is not their end of the journey. It is, however, an experience that strengthened their foundation and we look forward to seeing how they will build on what they鈥檝e gained from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
To learn more about why and how we got involved in the "Dream School: NYC鈥澛爌roject, check out our earlier post: