Summit Sparks

How have different schools of varying sizes and geographical locations successfully implemented the Summit Learning Program for their students? This week on the Summit Sparks podcast, four school leaders share their best practices for implementing the Program with fidelity and also for ending the school year strong.

This week on the Summit Sparks podcast, hear about how one middle school student’s combined his passion for filmmaking with lessons from a school project to create a film on cyber bullying that was shared with his entire school. Listen in and hear teachers and students give their opinion on what should be done to help prevent cyber bullying, as well as how the nonprofit No Bully is using a surprising solution in schools nationwide with a 90% success rate.

Shrinking the Human Footprint: Projects from Inside the Classroom

On this week's Summit Sparks episode, Stanford University's Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond explains why strong student-teacher relationships and a teacher's content knowledge are still the timeless and essential elements in an effective personalized learning environment. She talks openly about why strengthening the teacher pipeline for all teachers, especially those of color and those who teach in communities with high poverty rates, is a local and national priority if we want to best serve all students.

In this week's episode, we discuss what it takes to prepare all teachers to be successful in diverse communities and classrooms. We speak with pioneering residents in the Summit Learning Teacher Residency, as well as Stanford University's Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond. Dr. Darling-Hammond was named in 2006 as one of the nation’s 10 most influential people affecting educational policy.

What gets you out of bed every morning? What do you care about? Who are you? These questions get at the heart of Sense of Purpose. And based on the conversations we’ve had this month on the Summit Sparks podcast, if you want to live your best life, developing strong purpose is where it’s at.

What does a canoe without a rudder and Sense of Purpose have in common? Summit Public Schools’ Co-founder and CEO Diane Tavenner enlightens us in this month's Sense of Purpose Series. Diane talks about how purpose, which she describes as the self-knowledge underlying student motivation, is impacting the way Summit thinks about student success.

How can we help high schoolers find a life path? Summit Public Schools uses immersive electives to expose students to as many real-world experiences as possible. If they don't like a class, all the better says Kristina Bockhold. Listen to our interview to hear why.

Princeville High School Teacher Anne Krolicki and student Emily Green join the Summit Sparks podcast to share their experiences and views on why boosting student voice and choice in middle and high school, along with opportunities to explore professional-level projects early on, is central to student happiness and discovering what they’re truly passionate about. 

This week on the Summit Sparks podcast we talk to Stanford professor Bill Damon about how to develop students' Sense of Purpose in life — helping them see beyond due dates and grades and align daily actions with long-term goals.

Today we wrap up our third month of the Summit Sparks podcast. And, like the previous two months, we reflect on the different conversations we’ve had this month — with a learning scientist, three teachers, and a parent — and draw common themes and connect patterns that shine a light on Content Knowledge: why it’s important as a commencement-level outcome, and how a personalized learning environment can help all students demonstrate competency in content across subject areas.

7th Grade Teacher Tammy Penney and Parent Chris Ivens share their story of seeing Autumn Ivens, who has been diagnosed with ADHD and has a 504 plan, learn to take control of her learning using the Summit approach. Tammy also shares her best practices for Personalized Learning Time,  when students are learning the content knowledge they need for their courses through a combination of online playlists, peer-to-peer coaching, and one-on-one tutoring from their teachers.

What if every school had voice and choice over their teaching and learning approach? This week, Dr. Matt Doyle discusses Vista Unified School District's Personalized Learning challenge, which involves inviting schools to become more learner-centered organizations and choose models, or what he calls “learning engines”, that work for each school’s unique community. 

What happens when you give students more ownership over how they learn content? Teacher Sarah tells us what the transition toward more self-directed learning has looked like in her classroom, and how using Summit’s online Platform as a learning and assessment tool has changed how she spends her time each day interacting with and supporting students.

This month on the Summit Sparks podcast, we explore the theme of learning and teaching Content Knowledge. In this episode, Dr. Schwartz talks about why social interaction is everything in learning content, how the kind of feedback that you give students matters, and how today’s learning technologies are helping shape the role of the teacher.