CLINTON —
Clinton High School students will have a chance no other high school students in Iowa will have next year.
The high school will begin using an innovation classroom that encourages students to collaborate, ultimately giving them skills many employers and colleges desperately seek.
“We want our kids to have every advantage they can,” Clinton High School Principal Karinne Tharaldson Jones said. “I’m elated.”
Tharaldson Jones has been saving funds from the CHS budget and obtaining grants to pay for the classroom for nearly two years. The Clinton School Board approved the plans for the innovative classroom during board meetings this summer.
The classroom will be set up differently than the typical classroom. Rather than having a teacher standing at the front of the room, addressing students, the students will be the ones leading the work, Wes Golden, chairman of the CHS science department, explained.
There will be tables set up throughout a room that is nearly as big as two classrooms with six to nine students working at each table. Students will be split up at the tables into smaller groups and each group will use computers to work on a piece of a problem or challenge. Students will need to collaborate among their groups as well as groups throughout the classroom to solve the problem completely. Teachers will use a projector to share ideas from different groups and facilitate learning.
“It’s a very 21st-Century, skill-based classroom,” Tharaldson Jones said.
Students also will be able to share their research or work with other innovative classrooms across the world, including the ones operated by the University of Iowa, where CHS faculty and staff first visited to learn about innovative classrooms.
Beth Ingram, associate provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the University College at the University of Iowa, welcomed Golden and other faculty to the university when they wanted to learn more about the edge an innovative classroom would afford students.
“The way the room is set up facilitates that collaboration in ways we didn’t expect,” Ingram said.
Ingram said the room breaks down the barriers a normal classroom sets up, allowing students to collaborate and exercise critical-thinking in ways the traditional classroom might have hindered.
The University of Iowa calls its innovative classrooms spaces to transform, interact, learn and engage, or TILE. What started as one TILE space has now expanded to seven. According to Ingram, most of the innovative classrooms across the country are in colleges. She was not aware of any other high school in Iowa with this technology. As CHS students start to use the facility, teachers from CHS and the university will be partnering in order to learn from one another.
“We’re excited about that connection,” Ingram said. “I’m really excited for the high school.”
The work on the innovative classroom in CHS will begin soon and is anticipated to be complete near the end of the year. Teachers will start training to use the new, technology-rich facility in order to bring classes in by spring. While the science facility is expected to begin using the innovative classroom, it will eventually be used by most disciplines across the curriculum.
“This is revolutionary. This is groundbreaking. This will put Clinton High School kids at an extreme advantage when they leave, in my opinion,” Golden said.
Features
August 6, 2012
CHS innovative classroom is first of its kind in Iowa high school
- Features
-
-
'Now I can talk to anyone'
CLINTON — On his first day of school in America, Gaspar Raymundo Lopez was on the verge of tears. The Clinton High School junior moved nearly 3,000 miles from Guatemala to Clinton in 2010.
-
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Sam McKenrick
CAMANCHE -- Those attending Camanche's Memorial Day ceremony on Monday will not be able to miss Sam McKenrick, 91, of Clinton. This veteran will recite Johnny Cash's "This Ragged Old Flag" by heart.
-
Earthen Treasures: Vendors and shoppers ready for farmers market
CLINTON -- Jean Morgan spends more than 10 hours a week weeding, planting and tending to 2-acre plot of land just outside of Camanche.
-
New marina operator, manager make changes to please boaters
The new Clinton Marina and RV Park operator has taken charge of the riverfront amenities, making sure boaters and campers are taken care of and the facilities run smoothly just in time for Memorial Day.
- Krumpets will be moving to Fulton FULTON, Ill. — A Clinton restaurant will be moving into the old Corner Treasures & Treats building at 1016 Fourth St. in Fulton. Charles Dykstra, of the Fulton Retail Development Group, made the announcement during the Fulton City Council meeting thi
-
Okla. front pages capture tornado aftermath
View how several Oklahoma newspapers covered Monday's massive tornado in Moore. Please note that officials revised the death toll downward early Tuesday morning after some papers were printed, but it is expected to climb again as recovery efforts continue.
-
Striding for awareness
CAMANCHE -- Organizers for the third annual Strides for Clinton County Autism Family Walk and 5K run agreed that Saturday's turnout was better than last year. "It's getting bigger every year," Lori Bigwood, one of the organizers for the event, said.
-
Nancy Holt
CAMANCHE -- Nancy Holt, 65, of Camanche, had a port placed in her chest this week to facilitate weekly plasma infusions. She said this is the best way to treat Alpha-1. For the past few years, Nancy's health has been declining. At the same time, her
-
Students honored at ceremony
CLINTON -- Seventy-four students from Clinton High School's class of 2013 were honored Thursday during the 27th annual senior honors convocation. The class of 2013 has taken more Advanced Placement tests and has earned some of the highest scores on
-
Group eyes bandshell improvement
CLINTON -- A group of Clinton volunteers wants to transform the Riverview bandshell from an unkempt structure to an attractive venue for community events. Members of Vision 8, a Clinton-based nonprofit organization working together to improve the ima
- More Features Headlines
-
