24-25 Posts – Sisyphean High

This is sometimes shared with students and other stakeholders as a syllabus, because using that term lets us look at how we all approach learning. One interesting thing about the word syllabus is that it comes from a misreading of Latin. That doesn’t change its meaning now, but it does let us think more critically about what a syllabus actually does, not just what we expect it to do.

This syllabus is a guide, but not to the arbitrary dates when we start or stop a unit. It is a guide to our learning, which is a makerspace-inspired study of writing and reading in the Humanities.

Each curriculum prepares students to meet individual goals while maintaining fidelity to the frameworks and expectations used by all teachers. Students are given unique versions of flipped instruction, project-based learning, and standards-based assessment. This frees them up to do authentic work in a collaborative environment.

We focus on reigniting the writing and reading lives of students before they leave public school. There is a universal writing process and a reflective, student-driven reading process to empower even the most reluctant students.

This “syllabus” is also an example itself of how instruction ought to work — flipped so that you can access it at your own pace, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and receive feedback.