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.”
"I think it gives us a more creative approach to regular assignments and it is more project-based, which I like because I definitely think I think more creatively than I do on a regular assignment." Lilly Barton, 12
"I think it’s different from others because we get more freedom in what we want to do in class and what the topics we research are. For example, we did an essay and we got to choose the period of literature we were researching and how we wanted to show what we learned about it, via project, or powerpoint, or something like that." Grace Hotchkiss, 12
"I think that the level at which students control their learning has really set it apart from other classes. And each project or activity that we do, it’s really up to us to kind of like outline what path we want to take it down, so we can detail everything about the project that we want, whether it’s the rubric, the timeline; for example, one of my projects, I made playlist, showcasing my creativity, and i think that most classes can’t really replicate that, but this class has really allowed us students to embrace our individuality and kind of use that to our advantage when we do these projects." Spencer Beckett, 12
"I think this class is different from others because it gives me a time during my day where you know sometimes I may have a busy schedule that week or a busy day where I can like do something that I am passionate about that maybe I wouldn't normally have the chance to do like during a typical week. But because I have this class I can work on something that I enjoy or that something I think can make a difference." Owen Kirkham, 12
"We have a lot of freedom to do what we want. And personally I dislike language arts so this class seemed like a good option for me because I don't like busy work. This class has given me a bigger appreciate for language arts because I am able to use it in a way that I actually enjoy." Zoe Gravitt, 12
"It's very casual, self-paced and a lot less stressful than others." Allison Tarone, 12
"I would say that there’s obviously a very big independence part of the class but there’s still an aspect of being handheld, sort of, it’s not completely free rain which I like as well. Also, the class itself is small and made up of people who want to be there and want to express themselves. I have nothing against underclassmen and you get thrown into an elective classroom with a group of all grades sometimes but being in a class with just juniors and seniors is very nice since you guys are all sort of at the same level in life." Sarah Williams, 12
"How diverse we can all be; we can all be doing the same project and it all be completely different." Peyton Goss, 12
"I didn’t think it was going to be fully self-directed, but she lets us go on our own and do what we think will be the greatest for us. I think that’s like the best part." Avery Boone, 11
"It is definitely a surprise to have something so freewill, like everything is in your own hands. As someone who has difficult time with time management skills, I have felt more motivated to do things since it is on my own schedule, and I don’t feel like I’m having someone constantly breathing down my back being like “Get it done, get it done, get it done” because I can actually have the time to work on other things and this class when I can and when I need to." Cheyenne Lescas, 12
"Honestly the grades. For the first time ever, it has not been a very grade-dependent class. We made our own rubrics for instance, so it is impossible to fail a lot of projects, so we just got to put in as much effort as we wanted, which was such a relief compared to other classes." James Robinson, 11
"How you can bond with the other students just by being able to talk to each other and communicate about what you’re doing." Dani Myles, 11
"Maybe just like the idea that you kinda just get to choose whatever route you want to go with these projects, because like I didn’t expect to go the route I did for a lot of my things, and it was just nice to be able to choose." Emily Jesse, 11
"I think it’s the community that has developed, I think it’s a really eclectic bunch of us in here, and I think that’s what gives all of our discussions a unique perspective and a unique spin that you just don’t get in a lot of environments, especially in school." Alana Casto, 11
"Honestly, self-determination. Which I know it’s what it’s all about, but sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to do things when it’s all self-directed." Lilly Barton, 12
"I think it is the motivation to do the work. And also I’m in AP Bio, so I’m only in here half the time, which makes it hard to catch up on the stuff, and I just don’t want to do it because I procrastinate about it." Grace Hotchkiss, 12
"I would say the discipline. It’s really on us to do everything, obviously Mrs. Smith does a great job guiding us, but it’s more independent and having the discipline to do things in a timely manner. I guess I can refer to my twenty-time project. I can procrastinate as much as I want, because it’s up to me to make sure that it’s done. But we have so many different people here and people from different backgrounds, so some people struggle with discipline more than others, but that’s a pretty common theme." Spencer Beckett, 12
"Sometimes getting tuff done because we are given a lot of freedom like with what we can do so sometimes like if I have work from other classes that I haven't done ill use that time to do that and then I might not be able to get to the thing I actually want to do which is difficult because that's the whole point of this class. I think its good because it challenged me to motivate myself." Owen Kirkham, 12
"I am in AP Biology so we are only here two or three times a week and that makes it really hard to stay up to date. For example we were just writing our research paper and the day before it was due I had figured out we needed two intros, I had no clue at all. Also, I am a really big procrastinator so like I guess that's hard but since I enjoy doing the things we do in this class I don't feel the need to procrastinate." Zoe Gravitt, 12
"Keeping myself on pace and being responsible for my own self-discipline." Allison Tarone, 12
"For the most part since we are the first group doing it at this school ever we are kind of the guinea pigs of this type of class. So though there’s a lot of room to mess up it’s also hard for strict assignments for a college essay or a research paper." Sarah Williams, 12
"That it is good to express yourself and your opinion and what you think and it's just like you don't have to agree on something, everyone can have different views." Peyton Goss, 12
"To try my best and be myself. Usually I have a deadline, so it is better for me to not procrastinate." Avery Boone, 11
"I’m bad with schoolwork schedules, but figuring out how my own brain works and how my own time works, I’m actually able to like work without wanting to bash my head in a wall." Cheyenne Lescas, 12
"I really learned how to not procrastinate. That’s why I took this class in the first place, I wanted to get better at not procrastinating and with things like our twenty-time project, where we have an entire year to do it, it seems so easy to be able to procrastinate and push it off, as we all had to actually push through and learn about, but it became so much easier. I know how to make my own schedule, make my own time, and do all these other things that I haven’t quite learned yet until Junior year." James Robinson, 11
"I’ve learned how to do things for myself, and do things I want to do and drive myself to learn, rather than rely on classwork to get me where I need to be." Dani Myles, 11
"That I procrastinate a lot, and it has kinda helped me to be like “Oh, I need to find motivation to actually do things that I enjoy” because I enjoy this class." Emily Jesse, 11
"I think what I’ve learned is that your classmates want to engage with you. With my twenty-time project I’ve gotten a lot more engagement, a lot more feedback, and a lot more enthusiasm than I expected. And I think to that end I didn’t expect other people to care as much as I cared about it. And that’s been really cool; it’s been nice to see people want to learn it too." Alana Casto, 11
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