Blackbaud K-12 User Conference Breakout Session

2. Curt Lewellyn & Will Tuttle
The Fessenden School, West Newton, MA
@clewellyn
@thereal_wtuttle
Making Room
for a
Makerspace

3. A Day in the Fessy iLab

4. INSTRUCTIONIST CONSTRUCTIVIST

5. YESTERDAY: Knowledge Workers
TOMORROW: Learning Workers

6. “The aim is to unleash teachers -- and their
students -- to design learning experiences that
are applied, integrated, situated, expeditionary,
and alternatively assessed.”
- Rob Riordan
President HTH Graduate School of Education
Author: Schooling for the Real World: The Essential Guide to Rigorous and Relevant Learning

8. Fessy iLab

9. @fessyilab

10. The Fessy iLab is:
● a resource to help us achieve our academic goals*
● rooted in overarching curricular objectives
● seamlessly integrated with classroom work
● working in tandem with the library to enhance learning
● a space where “failing forward” is encouraged
● a magnet and beacon for 21st century learning
iLab Mission & Vision

11. Guiding the curriculum are six common goals for students to achieve:
● think analytically and problem solve.
● communicate effectively in writing and speech.
● gain, apply and synthesize knowledge.
● build the foundation for future learning and education.
● develop the capacity for creativity and innovation.
● work cooperatively with others.
*Academic Goals

12. iLab by the Numbers
Other
QED/EDP
(80 Students)
Tech
Electives
(136 Students)
Class
Projects
(312 Students)

13. iLab Classroom Projects
Lower
● 4H - Collaboration Indicators
● 2B & 2H - Float Your Boat
● 3H & 3O - Interactive Trees
● 4A - Historical Documentaries
● (Science Bob!)
95 students
Middle
● Banister - River Models & Bird’s
the Word
● O’Hara - Timeline Project
● Pepi/Beatty - Create a Country &
Bizarre Bazaar
● Paine - Latin Games
● Sanborn - Operation & Robotics
● Tejada - Green Screen Music
Videos
● Brophy - Make Something That
Makes Art
130 Students
Upper
● Belin - Imagining Boston 2024
● Morrissey - Dharavi Reimagined
● Singleton/Boudreau - Fedex
Challenge
● Stirling - Solder Something
● Johnson - Design Your Own
Puzzle
● Cincotta - City of the Future
85 Students

14. iLab Elective Courses
Preferred
Choice
(33)
Preferred
Choice
(43)
Preferred
Choice
(38)
Preferred
Choice

15. • QED - 23 current projects (32 students)
• EDP - “Innovation Station” (24 students/term)
*Study Hall/H&W Drop-ins (opportunity varies)
Other (QED/EDP)

16. iLab/Library Partnership (ATLS)
iLab Library

17. Reading, Research, & Resources

18. Authentic Learning
“Students engaged in direct
experience with materials,
unforeseen obstacles, and
serendipitous discoveries may result
in understanding never anticipated by
the teacher.”
- Sylvia Libow Martinez:
Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom