I learn new things each year at Constructing Modern Knowledge. That new knowledge often appears in the form of epiphanies revealed while observing the intense project work of our participating educators. Unless you have EXPERIENCED CMK, it may be impossible to appreciate what folks like yourself learn and accomplish in just four days.
We work hard to create a utopian parallel universe where educators take off their teacher hat, don a learner hat, and throw themselves off the deep end of a pool filled with ideas, wisdom, creativity, expertise, support, materials, and laughter – lots and lots of laughter. The results are breathtaking. Year after year, educators produce incredibly sophisticated, beautiful, complex, clever, whimsical, and immensely creative projects, often on the frontiers of S.T.E.M. Our guest speakers leave gobsmacked after seeing what teachers can do. It is through this project work that educators develop countless skills, construct knowledge, and in the process of learning about their own learning, reinvent what it means to be an effective teacher.
After fifteen years, none of this is surprising. The Constructing Modern Knowledge experience is unlike any other. Our pedagogical approach has been consistent since 2008. CMK always delights and serves as a reminder of what’s possible.
I promised an epiphany…
Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a great deal of concern about “learning loss.” If one stipulates that “learning loss” exists, it seems that schools have two possible options for responding to the crisis.
- Pass legislation and identify funding to make 18th grade mandatory if the prescription for learning loss is teaching the same things in the same way so kids may “catch up.”
or - Change everything and create school settings inspired by Constructing Modern Knowledge where participant projects demonstrate years’ worth of learning and skill development.
Learn more about how learning occurs at CMK in the next post, The Madness Method.
