New Course... Engage

For roughly three years we've been kicking the idea around of a 'Senior Seminar' type course here, specifically to meet the needs of our students graduating and moving into the world. We've had many discussions on 'starting here' and the need / opportunity to incorporate these tools into many other areas of the school. Hopefully the work that students do here can be a beacon to open doors in other curriculum areas. Here's one of my original posts here on my personal blog from when we started brainstorming with students on this topic.


Colby Halligan ('11) and Luen Proft ('11) shored up the work this semester that  Anders Ax ('08) and a host of others began and we again passed it on for approval.


We received notice this morning that this new course was approved so we're off and running. We'll be announcing more details about the course, asking for feedback online from the academic community here and abroad as to what to include, ideas for guest speakers, and for projects. Think tank sort of stuff: The essence of social networking... and moving forward.


Many thanks to Jenn Hyatt and Neil Freeburn for their input and also the cast of people who contributed ideas along the way.


Engage, AP


SOCIAL NETWORKING: A SENIOR SEMINAR
1 credit Level 2
Seniors (available to Juniors if there is space available)


What role does technology and social media play in your life? Is it a source of entertainment and grounded to more typical school functions like reading, research, and writing? If so, there's a good deal more it can do. How can you leverage these tools to build an extensive learning network? How can you learn to deal with information overload? How can social media be leveraged into, well, more? Here are some other questions designed by your peers who created this course: What practical knowledge and tools will help you in the future to understand the world of finance, budgets, credit cards, online investing, amortization rates, taxes, individual retirement accounts, and mortgages? What resources will help you manage stress, and understand the role of nutrition in this modern world? We'll explore the questions from the class by leveraging social media... for you. We'll also use these tools and skills to connect with guest speakers. These speakers will discuss their areas of expertise and also how they made the transition from high school into the responsibilities of adult life. We'll use social networking skills to collaborate in and out of class and help you learn about how to head into your future. This class will consist of collaborative work, group discussions, explorations and projects designed by the class.