Nikki B. Sweeney

Where is the frontier in independent school education today? 

Historically, independent schools have strived to use every tool available to help their students excel academically demonstrated in high-standardized test scores. These measures have supported students’ entrance into the very best schools in the world, but don’t necessarily express how well students will do in college after their first year. Nor do the scores indicate how well students will work in teams to solve complex problems, or challenges, show empathy, or navigate ambiguity as I have seen directing the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at USM where students solve complex, real-world problems independently and on teams. When answers aren’t clear and students struggle to find them, their biological systems sometimes take over and they can lack the strategies to navigate their self and social awareness, as well as manage relationships. As more and more of these students participate in internships in the community to accompany academic programs and provide experiential learning opportunities, it is even more important that they develop self and social awareness, as well as relationship management skills to find greater success working with professional teams in areas they are passionate about to maximize these opportunities; ironically, these are the soft skills that can be especially hard to measure and increase even though tools to do both exist.

Emotional Quotient, or EQ, has certainly taken its place at the professional level with substantial research supporting that it can be drastically increased, unlike intelligence, or IQ, but hasn’t been more formally introduced through assessments with opportunities to develop the affective skills that comprise EQ with most Upper School students today.  Further, universities are now using research on EQ during the admission’s process to better identify which students will actually excel through college today and beyond. For example, some admissions’ officers at the University of Chicago, MIT, and Notre Dame have to provide examples demonstrating how students work through ambiguity and are comfortable navigating opposing views as part of the application process. With this kind of growing performance and college admissions information in mind, I decided to investigate EQ further and determine how independent schools, like University School of Milwaukee, can strengthen students’ emotional quotients helping them grow into the best versions of themselves to excel in life!

According to Bradberry and Greaves, “People with the highest levels of intelligence (IQ) outperform those with average IQs just 20% of the time, while people with average IQs outperform those with high IQs 70% of the time.” Countless studies indicate that the critical variable that explains success is emotional quotient, or EQ, and that can be increased and strengthened! Emotional quotient can be divided into four categories including self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness and relationship management. There are currently valid and reliable tools available to help our students measure and develop the affective skills they will need to accompany their intelligence and live happy and successful lives (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009, p. 8). If that is not convincing enough, Bradberry and Greaves tested over half a million people, and according to their research, EQ comprises 58 percent of performance across professions and is the largest predictor of success personally and professionally.  In fact, 90 percent of the highest performers also have high EQs making just under $30,000 MORE a year, while only 20 percent of low performers have high EQs. There is a $1300 increase in salary tied to each EQ point regardless of profession or region of the world people live in (2009).

With this information in hand, I took the first step and provided students the opportunity to survey, or assess, their EQs and identify where their strengths and challenges were in each of the four categories using Talentsmart’s survey. Their assessment contains at total of 66 strategies to strengthen EQ. According to students, the assessment was user-friendly and easy to understand from the very beginning of the process. Some students readily discussed the four categories and the one or two strategies they focused on to improve the way they managed their relationships at school and on the playing fields. They readily identified where they found challenges when trying to understand their friends’ feelings as they relate to social awareness and how the strategies in their profiles were helping them to connect with others in social situations more effectively. It was much easier to do deep project work with the students individually and on teams following the survey because the four categories could be referenced with students as needed in a constructive and non-threatening way.

In the first two categories, students develop internal lenses to better understand their self-awareness and self-management. When students become more self aware, they are able to know themselves as they really are. They better understand the emotions they are experiencing, where emotions come from, and why they are there. In fact, 83 percent of top performers are self-aware leading to much better self-regulation and management. There are 15 specific self-awareness strategies that can be measured and improved throughout students’ educational experience. According to students, the process itself also helped them become more mindful overall and less reactive when they felt uncomfortable emotions. As students’ self-management skills strengthened, they used their emotional awareness to determine how to behave. Since the brain experiences emotions in the limbic system before they get to the prefrontal cortex, it is vital to identify the specific emotion, and then respond most appropriately to a situation. There are 17 strategies to help students regulate their emotions in appropriate ways and the original survey helps pinpoint which ones to prioritize to strengthen their individual emotional quotients.

The other two categories, social awareness and relationship management, require students to use outward lenses to understand and respond to others. Social awareness is students’ ability to use their senses to identify others’ emotions and cues. The sixth sense, or emotions, can also be used in the process. There are 17 strategies that can help students overcome challenges that might be hindering their social awareness in the survey and each profile is provided the most effective strategies to strengthen their social awareness. Relationship management utilizes skills in the other three EQ categories to act or respond to others’ emotions and behaviors appropriately. There are 17 strategies to strengthen how students manage relationships for the long-term well after a honeymoon period has ended. These can be easy to reference when conflicts between students arise and provide vehicles to resolution suited to each student’s strengths and weaknesses.

TalentSmart’s program is just one valid and reliable program on the market today among other competitors like Six Seconds, which also provides strong materials to strengthen EQ as part of social emotional learning tailored more closely to the nonprofit sector. There is detailed content explaining each strategy to increase EQ once a profile has been created for students. Based on my experience using an EQ survey with students, I have seen firsthand that the profile materials containing the 65 specific strategies with students serve as a reliable guide to help them develop and strengthen their emotional quotients to lead healthier, happier, and more successful lives while attending independent schools, wherever they choose to go to college, and in any one of the professions they pursue. In conclusion, I’d like to extend this tool to the faculty as many tried it informally and found it extremely helpful themselves. There are new, reliable, and valid EQ tools with the potential to improve the lives of all people in the school community. Having experimented with one such tool this year, I’m optimistic and excited to continue working with my team to learn even more and expand the opportunity to continue the history of the independent school where the most effective tools available are utilized to help others find the greatest success in life.

Self Awareness Strategies

1. Quit treating your feelings as good or bad
2. Observe the ripple effect from your emotions.
3. Lean into your discomfort
4. Feel your emotions physically
5. Know who and what pushes your buttons
6. Watch yourself like a hawk
7. Keep a journal about your emotions
8. Don’t be fooled by a bad mood
9. Don’t be fooled by a good mood either
10. Stop and ask yourself why you do the things you do
11. Visit your values
12. Check yourself
13. Spot your emotions in books, movies, and music
14. Seek feedback
15. Get to know yourself under stress.

Self Management Strategies

1. Breathe right
2. Create an emotion vs reason list
3. Make your goals public
4. Count to ten
5. Sleep on it
6. Talk to a skilled self-manager
7. Smile and laugh more
8. Set aside some time in your day for problem solving
9. Take control of your self-talk
10. Visualize yourself succeeding
11. Clean up your sleep hygeine
12. Focus your attention on your freedoms, rather than your limitations
13. Stay synchronized
14. Speak to someone who is not emotionally invested in your problem
15. Learn a valuable lesson from everyone you encounter
16. Put a mental recharge into your schedule
17. Accept that change is just around the corner

Social Awareness Strategies

1. Greet people by name
2. Watch body language
3. Make timing everything Develop a back-pocket question
4. Don’t take notes at meetings
5. Plan ahead for social gatherings
6. Clear away the clutter
7. Live in the moment
8. Go on a 15-minute tour
9. Watch EQ at the movies
10. Practice the art of listening
11. Go people watching
12. Understand the rules of the culture game
13. Test for accuracy
14. Step into their shoes
15. Seek the whole picture
16. Catch the Mood of the room

Relationship Strategies

1. Be open and be curious
2. Enhance your natural communication style
3. Avoid giving mixed signals
4. Remember the little things that pack a punch
5. Take feedback well
6. Build trust
7. Have an “open door” policy
8. Only get mad on purpose
9. Don’t avoid the inevitable
10. Acknowledge the other person’s feelings
11. Complement the person’s emotions or situation
12. When you care, show it
13. Explain your decisions, don’t just make them
14. Make your feedback direct and constructive
15. Align your intention with your impact
16. Offer a “fix-it” statement during a broken conversation
17. Tackle a tough conversation

References
Bradberry, T., Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: TalentSmart.

Dear Sisters,

I have learned much from each of you and am most grateful for the love and support you’ve shown me the last 50 years.. SO, I decided to write a little thank you for each of you that I’d like to share today at this incredible birthday party…. BUT there is a little caveat in my thank you messages. Each one corresponds with a character in a TV show that we watched growing up.. Remember the television in the huge living room that we all gathered around and what was on it?

I remember it well. Before I get started though, I want us to take a minute to remember our two sisters God called home before us, Patty and Holly. Let us remember the smiles and beauty they brought to our lives and their sons, Tom and Jeremy, who will carry on their legacies.

Now let me get started with my thank you messages and begin with my beautiful, grace-filled eldest sister here today, Terry… Remember Ginger, the movie star on Gilligan’s Island played by Tina Louise? She had a beautiful face, gorgeous figure and wore sparkly gowns.. I recall seeing a wedding picture of you and Vern on your big day so many years ago and remember thinking, “Wow! She is as beautiful as Ginger.” As I grew up I learned about the depth beneath your beauty, Terry. Your dedication to running a successful business is second only to your love of Christ and family. You have been a role model I have looked to when setting and maintaining the priorities in my life. Thank you.

Charmaine, you are the eldest and aren’t in beautiful Wisconsin on the day of my birthday party, but I have learned much from you from afar these many years you’ve been living and working in sunny California. You are Jaclyn Smith from Charlie’s Angels. First, like Jacklyn, you do NOT age, beautiful sister. She has had a 40 year career and is still as fresh faced as when she started and every teenage girl wanted to be her. I would say many think that about you and your ageless beauty. I recently learned that Jaclyn was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, where she so accurately portrayed the grace and beauty of the first lady, something you emanate so easily regardless of the places you’re at or people you’re with. I’ve watched you navigate tricky situations over the years and have learned how to be more open to the universe of solutions, analyze them critically, yet with a sense of humor, and move forward confidently and with poise. Thank you for that, gorgeous lady!

Christine… You are Dixie McCall the nurse from the show, Emergency… When I was little I remember how you loved to care for people and in many ways behaved like a mother figure similar to Nurse McCall…. Like that time I fell down the stairs and broke my arm when Mom and Dad were out of town.. You wrapped it up and splinted it until they returned. You used that love of others to pursue a nursing degree and career. The very essence of who you are has stayed with you as you loved and cared for your most beautiful husband Pat, the boy next door that you married and left us too soon, and your three children. I read recently that if we work from our being, the doing and having all fall seamlessly into place. You have emulated that with tremendous grace. Thank you.

Candy… Your name epitomizes the sweet and loving spirit you have and so you, my love, are MaryAnn from Gilligan’s Island… You are a fresh faced, natural beauty who is always smiling and happy. You always choose kindness, Candy, and you inspire me to choose joy everyday regardless of the challenges that appear in my life. Most importantly though, Candy, you have taught me to pray and be intentional about my relationship with God, I’ve made many changes in my life and am connected to God more frequently and for longer periods of time everyday. I am most grateful for that. Thank you.

Denise… I remember calling you Neecie as a child and miss you today in Wisconsin, but know you are doing something spectacular in New Jersey with one of your children or your beautiful grandson. You are so strong and wise, Denise, and remind me of Murphy Brown the investigative journalist and news anchor, played by Candice Bergen. She fought the patriarchy like a champion with her intellect and wit. She emulated brains that extended well beyond her beauty much the way you do with your intelligence and natural, God-given looks, pretty sister. She was also a  pioneer as a single mother, who provided for and loved her children. I have looked to your strength and intelligence as I worked, went to graduate school, and raised a family. I have NEVER heard you complain about life, even during difficult times raising your children on your own. You continue to inspire me to take care of my health the way you do in the pool. OMG, are you are an amazing swimmer! You help me get onto the solution and execute without complaining, or getting stuck in the challenge of a situation. Thank you for that, Denise.

Jean…. You are Alice from the Brady Bunch… You have raised eight children and are filled with energy, connectedness, and are always smiling. Alice could actually learn from you, Jean. There is no distance you won’t travel to help your children anywhere in this world. The same is true for your sisters; you will traverse the continent to help each one of us. You inspire me to be more giving to others with a selfless spirit and smile on my face. Thank you.

Lynne… You are Velma Dinkley, a character in Scooby-Doo.. I had to use that show because of your love of dogs and animals, but mostly because Velma is the brains of the group. Like, Velma, you are highly intelligent with specific interests and are amazingly well read on just about everything… I know that you are extremely talented at helping others make connections they would struggle or be unable to do on their own while learning, and you do that in our family, as well as with the high school kids you work with in Port Washington.. You are a highly evolved soul who uses your genius to help others, especially those with significant social, emotional, or learning needs. I admire that in you and try to emulate it myself to be a better educator. Thank you.

Michelle… Shelly, you are Lindsay Wagner from the Bionic Woman.. Like her, you are absolutely beautiful inside and out. While Lindsay used her bionic ear to hear at incredible distances and had enormous strength in her arm and legs, your bionic powers are seeing beauty in the natural world with the food you grow to nourish your body and beat back your MS. Another bionic power you have is seeing the beauty in people. I have never heard you speak ill of anyone, instead steering others towards kind words when needed. You inspire me to be kinder, look for goodness in others, and nourish my body with healthy foods, beautiful sister. Thank you.

Pauli… You are Hot Lips Hoolihan from MASH. Clearly she was beautiful and well known for her great ass, as you are. More importantly, however, she acted pretty tough and was in the military, but was truly loving and emotionally vulnerable. She devoted her brains and most of her energy to caring for her nursing staff and Army career. I see you do the very same thing with your family and work caring for other people’s animals with your business, Pauli’s Paws. When a challenge arises, Pauli, you are unafraid and brave. You learn as much as you can about a challenge, and then take action to overcome it.. You did this with your own cancer and amazing recovery, and with anyone who needs help. I admire your determination to go back to school and do the work you are called to do. Thank you for helping me approach challenges with more confidence.

Becky…. You are Mary from Mary Tyler More who also moved to Minneapolis to work and like Mary are unafraid to take a stand on issues that you are passionate about. Like Mary you have also made a great career for yourself in the Twin Cities even when you have had to work with buffoons on occasion. You also have a real knack for making great, lasting friendships like the ones you have there with Lisa, Leslie, and the beautiful Kelly who left you too soon. I watch you with others and admire how easily you connect with people and welcome them into your life and heart so easily. I’ve taken some notes, most loving littlest sister, and have used them to make and care for the friends that I have. Thank you.

AND thank you Kel-Kel and Luke for hosting this party at your beautiful home and Allie for all of the love and creativity you put into this occasion. You three are most generous, loving, and kind. I feel proud to be your mother and thank God for you, my children.

Lastly, thank you Kelly for putting the party together for me and supporting me the last 32 of my 50 years. You have been my confidant and partner through many great times and some really rough patches too. I’m grateful for all of it and am a better person having had you by my side. Thank you.

I am so very grateful and feel blessed by each and every one of your friendships. Thank you all for coming to celebrate my 50^th birthday today!

This morning during my run I listened to Verse 17 of the Tao Te Ching and various interpretations. It got me to thinking about how leadership shapes the life of a school.

With the greatest leader above them,
people barely know one exists.
Next comes one whom they love and praise.
Next comes one whom they fear.
Next comes one whom they despise and defy.
When a leader trusts no one,
no one trusts him.
The great leader speaks little.
He never speaks carelessly.
He works without self-interest
and leaves no trace.
When all is finished, the people say
“We did it ourselves.”
Lao-tzu

Much of the hierarchal structures within school organization seemingly reflect leadership that creates various iterative changes, and that is somewhat true, but who are people really following? Is there a teacher, coach, colleague, organization, or parent that leads others in thought and action?

I’m not an expert by any means, but some of the people who lead me are not even in education; however, they gently initiate and guide the questions that I ask myself about learning and the life of a school and those lead to reflection, communication with others, and oftentimes actions that are quite different from anything I had originally thought, have even read about in my educational leadership journals, or heard about from the professional organizations or people that hold leadership titles at the top of an educational hierarchal structure.

The leaders ask great questions, tell meaningful stories, and create personal emotional connections that resonate in my mind where my imagination engages to create deep
connections within the brain and heart that encourage new ideas and conversations with my colleagues that shape what happens in a school. Actions that emerge are developed without force, to the extent that my colleagues and I find what we do our own choice, rather than a result of the leader. The beauty of leadership as taught by Lao Tzu reminds me of water because it is soft, pliable, and yet able to penetrate and shape anything hard and rigid gently and over time.

Yesterday, I watched the Pink Ribbons Inc documentary and appreciated how it drew light on the commercialization of the breast cancer movement and the exploitation of human generosity and trust. One of my USM colleagues, Monica Liberatore, mentioned the movie to me and I am very grateful to have invested the time to watch and learn from it. Pinkwashing was a new term to me; companies that say they support women with breast cancer while profiting from the illness are far too common. Consumers have to be vigilant of the fine print when it comes to purchasing “pink” items. How much money is actually donated to breast cancer foundations and what are the foundations doing with the money? Further, do the companies selling and profiting from the pink items produce products with known carcinogens in them? You’d be surprised to learn just how many companies fall into that category! There is a website to check the products you use just to understand how widespread this is.

I greatly appreciate that there are foundations working to find a cure for breast cancer, but according to current data only 15% of that money actually goes into prevention research. Even more startling is that 5% of the funding has been directed at environmental research. Considering that the Komen Foundation has invested nine billion dollars into research since 1982, and Avon, 380 million since 2003, why so little directed to prevention? How have the research dollars been directed and organized systematically so that the money efficiently drives health solutions? There are so many questions. Where are the answers?

In reflecting on my own experience and the ugliness of breast cancer with my 27 year old daughter this morning, she provided me the picture in this post just to show how far from soft, pretty, pink everything was. It was ugly, and I am fortunate to be healthy today when many have died. “Fighting the battle,” as many people say is so unfair when those who have died, or are holding onto life with stage IV cancer, are as vigilant about their health as the people  like me, who do not die from cancer… Let’s pay greater attention to the details in life. Be a critical consumer when shopping and careful communicator when choosing the language you use with women who have breast cancer. There is a generous spirit in the world today to find cures for the many types of cancer and consumers have the power to hold companies and foundations accountable for the donations that are made. It’s time to pay greater attention and call them to task.

Today the students informed me that there is an open house at USM tomorrow and that we might consider organizing all the projects into areas in our space so that visitors could better understand what happens in the House of Technology.  I think they did a bang-up job, but can you tell what happens in these learning spaces?

Yesterday, a friend mentioned that he could tell that I had been through some transformative experience in my life. Perhaps my daily rituals and worldview reflect a peculiar perspective on life or spirituality. Maybe it is my prayer and meditation sequence while I work out at the gym daily. I’m not sure exactly where the comment came from, but it got me to thinking back to a time when everything changed for me and tinkering with how that impacts my life as I know it now and in the future.

Most people who watch others go through cancer treatment and surgeries likely understand the pain and perseverance needed to survive. When problems arise that darken medical situations it takes suffering to a whole new level. That’s when life changed for me during my cancer battle. I’ll call it that, because it was a knock-down-drag-out war.

I remember feeling such incredible amounts of pain that I didn’t think I could really handle another hour and prayed that I would either die, or heal so the pain would simply end. Medication only made me sick making everything feel even more painful, so relief escaped me. One really terrible night while I was laying down on the only side of my body that wasn’t sutured to find peace in sleep, I could not find relief anywhere. As I laid awkwardly, I examined a picture of my family across the room thinking about how much I loved them, and wondered how their lives would be without me. I seriously contemplated whether they would they be alright without me, without the unconditional love I had for them; at the same time, I knew I couldn’t handle the suffering much longer.

Then, quite suddenly, I felt a warm presence and saw the most luminous, bright, spirit-like, yet human creature with golden eyes that shone like the sun. I wasn’t afraid, just drawn to it with amazing magnetism as it seemed to hover above me. I instinctively knew that it was an angel.  I said, “I can’t handle the pain much longer. Please help me.” It asked, “Are you ready to come with me?” I wanted to go with the angel, but knew that I had things to do with my family and with others who I had been drawn to live and work with in my life. My children were at such pivotal places in their lives and my heart broke at the thought of my husband trying to raise them without my love and support. I replied, “I need to say. I’m not ready to leave here yet because I know that I have work to do.” With those words, immense relief and heat flooded my body. I got up slowly knowing I was healing and the light and angel vanished. I sat for hours trying to reconcile what had just happened feeling love and warm energy move within me. It was singularly the most amazing, life-changing experience I have ever had and it compels me to live the way I do today.

I told the angel that I had work to do and wasn’t ready to die yet. Those words became my bond and guide in life. What is that work? As a mother and wife, it is loving and so easy. More broadly, however, it means loving others by using my skills and knowledge to help them, to serve them in ways that help them grow and live joyful lives. The things I say and do in my relationships with friends, parents, students, colleagues, and acquaintances, or anyone have the potential to make a positive difference in others’ lives. This is THE conscious thought I have when I open my eyes every morning and set my intentions. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this when life gets challenging and unloving emotions want to converge in difficult situations, but the bond I made wins. The life-changing experience I had when I was sick changed everything about my life because everyday everything I do drills down to simple things. My work is serving others with love and using my God-given skills, knowledge, and passion.

This afternoon the Wildcat Creation Station in the Lower School at University School of Milwaukee was in full swing! Young students experimented with Lilypads, a variation of the Arduino micro-controller, that is designed to be used in clothing and other textiles. Students sewed the Lilypad into their designs using conductive thread, rather than wires, to create circuits that work with sensors and lights controlled by drag and drop programming written with Ardublock software. Critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity were evident as students learned, as were enormous amounts of sheer joy!

Students also programmed Dash, their robots, using the Blockly app on iPads to explore variables, events, and conditions as they raced one another across the room. Students were engaged and challenged as they learned new concepts with developmentally appropriate tools that will grow in sophistication as they progress at USM. Like the Upper School’s House of Technology, this space was a little noisy, messy, and full of engaged learners! I can’t wait to visit again soon!

I recently wrote several college recommendations for USM students in the House of Technology. Each letter reminded me of where the students began working with me almost four years ago and my conversations with them about what they liked to do and how it had the potential to shape their futures in ways that would add meaning, direction, and growth in their lives. I’m not sure those words meant a lot a few years ago; however, the students have matured, some more than others, and now understand what I meant when I asked them to be themselves and dare to imagine and dream about big things instead of letters on a report card. I’m not saying letters don’t matter because the system we use to enter college today requires strong grades, but I wanted the kids to think more about learning and less about letters and grades. Essentially, I gave them carte blanche to create a program with me that would help them learn and grow in ways that interested them. I knew their efforts would not be in isolation and that the critical skills they needed would accompany their efforts and desire to learn about technology.

Teachers, including me, want students to learn without dangling an abstract letter grade in front of them to earn in recognition that they have mastered something deemed worthy by an adult or system. Children are hard wired from birth to learn; they’re innately curious and want to figure things out as seen by the rapid progression of development from birth to kindergarten where play is the primary mode of learning. How do you emulate that kind of natural development with high school students? How do you make students the decision makers of their learning?

The House of Technology, a program that my students have created with a little help, is ungraded and involves solving messy and complicated problems, tinkering with computers, 3-D printers, drones, and electronics, and debating effective solutions with one another. This is not a neat process, but one that requires a flexible environment where noise and mess are inherent to the process. Sometimes there is no clearly defined solution and a problem has to be solved in ways that haven’t been delineated yet.  For example, a 3-d printer breaks and there is no part available on the market to repair it. What do you do? Can the part be designed in CAD software and made? How? These are everyday problems that the students face and are motivated to solve. It takes critical thinking to determine what is needed and how something can be achieved to be successful in this environment. Failure is part of the process, albeit frustrating, but necessary. Students document their failures, redesign elements of their projects, and test them again until they are successful. It takes many iterations sometimes to arrive at a successful solution, but the tenacity and skill set developed using this kind of process will pay off when obstacles appear in these students’ lives later. I’m counting on it anyway.

When projects come to fruition successfully students are excited to communicate their solutions and the process they used to find them. I think this is one of the only situations I have seen in which some of the students are excited about writing and publishing overall. The purpose behind the communication drives and encourages them to explain with detail and clarity, things that come from within the students and not an assignment that I will grade. Granted the students will get feedback from me on their efforts because I have to understand what they have done, but the greatest feedback they get on their problem solving and communication comes from their peers who are deciphering the puzzle solved and if there was another way to solve it more efficiently and at less expense.

Many times the problems being solved by students have led to areas of interest that have consistently grown into longterm projects. From building robots to apps to multi-rotor drones to fixed wing/multi-rotor drones, to desktop hydroponic gardens controlled by phones, the students have made tremendous gains in knowledge and skills. I didn’t plan their deep learning with a thorough syllabus, but by creating an environment where curiosity could be explored and supported as directed by the students. The process has truly added meaning, direction, and growth in their lives, the intended outcome that students have only begun to understand as seniors at USM. I will be most interested in talking with them throughout the years ahead as their curiosity, interests, and strengths lead them into fulfilling careers and joyful lives.

The learning Space is a third teacher providing the setting to nourish creativity, motivation, reflection, and collaboration as much as the teacher or parent. While teachers create conditions by which students develop meaningful projects tied to real pursuits, the learning space should be inviting enough to inspire students to roll up their sleeves and work together to develop ideas and solve problems that matter to them. When students learn and work, their projects evolve through an iterative process much the way spaces must do. So what do these modern constructionist spaces consider and look like?

When I think about where I began with students when we designed the space for the House of Technology, a modern constructionist space, and how that has evolved, I can’t help but stress the importance of defining the intent of what happens in the space and having students involved in the design process. How you design the space will affect the behaviors, culture, and priorities of the people who use it. IDEO, an innovation design firm, offers a useful way that I used with the students to think about the design in four categories including places, properties, actions, and attitudes. Places are spaces that share an overall purpose like hallways, properties are components of a space that can be modified to impact behavior, actions are the behaviors that will occur in the space, and attitudes are the values that are central to the space. Each of the four categories are investigated deeply to identify how the space should look, feel, and function.

There can be overlap in all of the categories. When examining the place category one can determine which of four areas will best support the desired behaviors. Will there be a place where people meet or gather? How will the place connect to other places to set the tone or mood of the place? Will there be a place or individuals or groups to call home to create, store things, or share their projects? What kind of support structures will be necessary to support the behaviors in the room? There are many things to consider that come to light when setting the stage for creative collaboration and many voices to include and consider.

Even today, the space in the House of Technology is in an iterative process as students configure areas to pursue mindful endeavors and recommendations are shared to invest in and continue to improve the space as new ideas and technologies become available to empower students to transform and improve the world in which they live.