EDUCATION


and print out the graph. They show their work to each other and talk about why they chose a particular piece of art, what problems they encountered, how they solved those problems, and what they learned in the process.


The student generates the impetus for learning, and we are there to guide and direct but not to hand everything down fully formed and ready to go.


—Rick Rees, US English teacher and English Department chair


“By success, I mean the kids are


engaged, I don’t have to push them to do it, they’re proud of their work and want to post it on the wall,” she said. “And they learn the concept without even thinking that is what they are doing.” For a project in her Individualized


Algebra class, students bring in a photocopied image. They look for the lines in the artwork and mark 8 to 12 lines that best represent the work. For example, a picture of a cat could be reduced to two lines for each ear, a line for the tail, two lines for the shape of the back, three lines for a paw, and so on. They sketch their lines on graph paper, choose two points on each line, then use those points to find the slope and equation of each line. They plot the equations with Geometer’s Sketchpad software, limit the length of each line,


WWW.OES.EDU Bettina’s project did not progress


in a linear fashion through exploring, creating, connecting, and committing. Students explored artworks at the beginning of the project, and later they also explored how to use Geometer’s Sketchpad for this project. In addition to collaborating with one another while working on the project, they also connected the realms of art and math. Giving them the option to explore something relevant to their own interests (the picture) and then translate it into a concrete mathematical skill (equations of lines) nurtured their intrinsic motivation.


CONNECTING WITH OTHERS Each of these broad areas—


exploring, creating, committing, and connecting—encompass six or seven more specific competencies that the faculty developed to be more specific about the skills students need. For example, creating includes nurturing imagination, designing and applying solutions, adapting to a changing world, and other abilities. Upper School Head Jordan Elliott


’97 teaches a class on Islam, and he believes students need to understand Muslim culture to adapt to our world. To do that, they need to do more than learn about Islam. They


WINTER 2012 OES MAGAZINE 7 7


Students need to master the discipline and skills of learning so they can apply the essential competencies.


—Jordan Elliott, US Head and religion teacher


also need to connect with Muslims beyond the few Muslim students who attend OES. “There is God, there is Muhammad,


and there are the five pillars, but if you only teach that, you are not preparing kids to live in this world,” he said. “You also have to know that there are Muslims living down the street who are not extremists. You have to go and talk with them.” His students go to the Oregon Islamic


Academy where they have lunch with students and talk about what it is like to be a Muslim in Portland. They discuss the experience of wearing the veil, the relationship between science and religion in Islam, and who decides what religious practices should be followed. Katie S. ’12 had learned in class about discrimination against Muslims in this


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