Ormiston

Today was a long, yet gratifying day. Due to a lack of understanding of Auckland geography, as well as a general lack of planning foresight (Ormiston is close to the airport, whereas my host's house is not), I had to get up before 6 this morning in order to navigate Auckland's public transit system for over two hours. The ride was nice, though you certainly get a different view of the city on public transit than you would if you just stuck to downtown. Ormiston Senior College (11th and 12th grades, US) is a pretty remarkable school in a variety of ways. First of all, the school is less than two years old and was designed from the ground up to support their ideology. Second, the school is composed of a wide variety of students in Auckland's growing immigrant population (there were very few white students). Third, and most noticable, the ideology behind the teaching is truly radical. In a nutshell, the school day consists of four ninety-minute periods (4x5 = 20 for the week). The students are scheduled for two periods in each of five classes throughout the week (20 - 2x5 = 10). Two periods are given over to PE (and if you are on a school sports team, that's when you practice), one period is given to service, and Tuesday is a late start for faculty developement (10-4 = 6). Those final 6 periods are denoted as "iTime," and the students can persue whatever the need to during that time. In a course, a unit is planned out for two or three weeks and given to the students as a Learning Guide. A teacher may teach (in a traditional sense) for 10-20 minutes a week and then be there in a supportive role the rest of the time as the students work through their learning guide. During iTime, the teachers make themselves available en masse and students can receive help from anyone who is available. If it sounds a little crazy, you probably have a good understanding of what is going on. One of the most profound things that I saw as a result of what the school is trying to do is that the students are extremely self-motivated. Being in this environment over time allows the students to develop habits that will serve them well in college and beyond. It was really quite invigorating.