Post-it notes were born by a 3M employee who had the chance to use 20% of his work time to pursue a passion project.

20 Time is an evolving concept that has grown in popularity in many fields including education, and it is the cornerstone of E.B. Smith’s new Self-Directed Learning (SDL) English class.

English Department chair Smith proposed and created the course for juniors and seniors to take instead of their mandatory English class. 

One of the leading influences and inspirations of this class was that Smith believes that in traditional classrooms, the room to learn how to fail and adjust to that failure is limited. 

“I would like them to learn to be better critical thinkers,” explains Smith. “In here I’d like them to learn that it’s not necessarily the grade but maybe when you are trying to make a project happen, something doesn’t work and you have to pivot. How to be able to do that is such an important life skill.” 

Like the title implies, the SDL class is guided intensely by students’ ideas, thoughts and opinions. This independence is something that will allow students to learn and grow important skills for the future but also give them the chance to learn individualistic characteristics with a helping hand from Smith before going off to college. 

“I’ve learned how to be on top of things,” senior Rachel Schmidt said. “Because we don’t have much teacher direction, you just do it yourself and I have to know when to get things done for myself.” 

A new way of thinking has been introduced to us students, according to senior Lucy Walters. Students have learned that having a definitive answer or idea is not always necessary. Having the opportunity to try something and if it doesn’t work, the ability to persevere and adapt to a new plan is not something students can get in many other classes, Walters said. 

One of the most important aspects of the class is the introduction of the 20 Time project. According to Smith, the idea is based on the 3M company allowing their employees 20% of their work time to work on a passion project. She allocates 20% of the class’s work time for students to work on their project. The project can be focused on anything the student is passionate about, the only constraint is that it encompasses the English language arts standards. 

“It just to me captured everything that SDL is about,” says Smith. “With this, you have to figure things out for yourself and the fact that I’m not saying ‘Okay here’s the assignment, and here’s what I want you to do.’ I want them to also realize that learning can be fun again. To remember that excitement from preschool and to bring that back and realize that you can enhance your life with learning. It’s my favorite part of the class, it’s probably everyone’s favorite part of the class.” 

The 20 Time project is individual but that doesn’t stop collaboration and connection from happening within the class. Being an extremely important skill, Smith highlights that learning to work well with others is another critical element. But it isn’t just her who recognizes the uniqueness of the opportunity this class has given these students to be with each other. 

“My 20 Time project is pop-up coffee shops for my SDL class,” shares Walters. “I create a new one usually every month or so where my classmates come in and I set up a mock business where they can come order coffee, mingle with each other, or work on homework. My idea behind it was because I really love coffee so I wanted to incorporate that and I also wanted to give our class the chance to connect beyond just school. We have a very different variety of people in our class and I think that we can all benefit from branching out and talking to new people.”

The most interesting part of this class for Smith is being able to watch interactions between different students and learn different sides of high-level success students whom she has previously had. 

“It’s been so interesting to watch them work together and learn each other’s personalities,” says Smith. “And it’s been fun to watch them learn how to fail and adjust.”