There's school work, and then there's Studio D work.
Think back to your childhood. Do you remember the first time you had an 'Aha!' moment? Maybe it was learning how to ride a bike. Maybe it was learning to tie your shoes. Maybe it was nailing your first vocabulary test. For children, moments of true and authentic learning happen daily. The world is full of endless chances for new experiences and teachable moments. However, as the learning shifts from outside a classroom to inside a classroom those 'Aha' moments become fewer and far between. The discovery in learning is replaced by direct instruction. The rewards are replaced by rules. The natural learning process is replaced by a broken model filled with worksheets, tests, and routine by both teachers and students. Students' innate imagination becomes stifled by a system that defines them, categorizes them, and replaces their creativity with complacency. The once creative child becomes a disciplined factory worker. Teacher-delivered information goes in, student recall-information comes out.
But...what if things were different? What if instead of defined, students were challenged to create their own definitions? What if instead of categorized, they were enlightened to the fact that no one student is like the next, so their learning shouldn't be either? What if instead of complacent, students were hungry for more? What if they were determined to break through any barrier that stood in the way of answering the tough questions?
That is what we believe. That is what our students are.
Welcome to Studio D.
Studio D goes back to the grassroots model of learning by discovery and design. Our students are challenged to think outside the box through a series of processes that empower them to answer the tough questions. Students become engaged in their own learning and direct their path by allowing their curiosities and passions to drive them. Students in Studio D are invested in their work because the work they do is based on real-world problems in their community. They are faced with real questions to which there are no easy answers. They are given a tried and true process that enables them to forge their own answers, and the teacher becomes merely the guide down their trail to discovery. The job of learning is put back on the student, not on the shoulders of a teacher. Throughout this process students learn leadership, communication, collaboration, innovation and perseverance; skills that worksheets and slideshows can't teach them.
We at Studio D do school differently. We don't need students who know how to work the slippery slide of the school system. We take students and show them how to make the system work for them. We make students responsible for their education by setting the bar high and refusing to compromise on their potential. Our students produce top quality work through collaboration, prototyping, careful critique, and thoughtful revision. Our students are not afraid to fail because with failure comes the opportunity to learn. But for our students, failure is never acceptable.
Come and see the Studio D difference.
But...what if things were different? What if instead of defined, students were challenged to create their own definitions? What if instead of categorized, they were enlightened to the fact that no one student is like the next, so their learning shouldn't be either? What if instead of complacent, students were hungry for more? What if they were determined to break through any barrier that stood in the way of answering the tough questions?
That is what we believe. That is what our students are.
Welcome to Studio D.
Studio D goes back to the grassroots model of learning by discovery and design. Our students are challenged to think outside the box through a series of processes that empower them to answer the tough questions. Students become engaged in their own learning and direct their path by allowing their curiosities and passions to drive them. Students in Studio D are invested in their work because the work they do is based on real-world problems in their community. They are faced with real questions to which there are no easy answers. They are given a tried and true process that enables them to forge their own answers, and the teacher becomes merely the guide down their trail to discovery. The job of learning is put back on the student, not on the shoulders of a teacher. Throughout this process students learn leadership, communication, collaboration, innovation and perseverance; skills that worksheets and slideshows can't teach them.
We at Studio D do school differently. We don't need students who know how to work the slippery slide of the school system. We take students and show them how to make the system work for them. We make students responsible for their education by setting the bar high and refusing to compromise on their potential. Our students produce top quality work through collaboration, prototyping, careful critique, and thoughtful revision. Our students are not afraid to fail because with failure comes the opportunity to learn. But for our students, failure is never acceptable.
Come and see the Studio D difference.
