Current parent Tom Meegan passed along the following ARTICLE noting a recent study demonstrating a student's IQ can change drastically during his or her teenage years based on educational experience and stimulation.



Until recently, the measure of IQ was thought to be relatively static during one's life, however, this article notes students' brains can change as they are exposed to new concepts and experiences, particularly when they study a subject that genuinely interests them.



While classifying students by intellectual ability will never be a part of Proctor's mission, we certainly place much value on helping students find and pursue passions in the classroom.



Knowing that there is a scientific connection between helping a student unlock a new talent and subsequent brain growth in that student affirms our work as educators at Proctor.



While allowing students to pursue their passion is important, cultivating those talents through relationships with teachers remains an essential part of the learning process.



Traditionally, the accountability of a teacher may provide the necessary motivation to some students, however, the 'hand it in' approach to assessment has been replaced with a 'publish it' approach.



Across departments, Proctor is integrating this form of assessment. Be sure to visit the "Student Voices" blog to see Peter Southworth's Journalism class' contributions to student publications on the web by clicking HERE.



Other student work in the English department lives on Tom Morgan's Ecological Literature blog. Much like AP Environmental Science's use of student blogs, Tom espouses that knowing your work will be critiqued by peers encourages students to think more critically about their audience and the quality of their work.



Mikaela Buldoc's AP French and French 4 classes are also using a class wiki (click HERE) to collaborate ideas both in and out of class.



The notion of 'publishing' student work can come take many forms. For a group of six upperclassmen, volunteering to be liaisons for Wednesday's visit by the Invisible Children organization illustrates their abilities to be social activists on campus.



Charlotte, Peter, Nicole, Derrick, Kiki, and Kelsey have taken a passion of theirs and helped share it with the community through hosting a school-wide video Friday evening and leading discussion groups following.

 

Knowing that in every academic program (we were only able to share a small sampling here) students are creating wonderfully diverse masterpieces representative of their newfound (or longstanding) passions gives us great confidence in our mission as a school.