WEBVTT

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Mikela Tarlow: So how do we prepare kids

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for the future
that they are going to face?

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Because I believe

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when these kids graduate high school,
college, get their first jobs,

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I think their future
is going to look radically different.

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It's going to change so fast,

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I don't think we can even predict
what's going to happen.

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So how do we prepare them
for that kind of world?

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So, that question has obsessed me
for the last six or seven years.

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And I feel like we are slowly stumbling
on some solutions

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where we are working with portfolios
that allow kids to find their voice.

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We have developed a way for kids

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to customize and approach
to an assignment.

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So 20 kids can have the same assignment,

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but each find their own way
into approaching that same assignment.

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But a large part of what we're doing
is project-based learning

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where we are asking kids to apply
what they know and make something happen.

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We call it action-based learning,

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because we're asking them
to go even further than that

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and to make a real difference
in the world.

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So one of our partners in this has been
Stone Creek Middle School here in Edwards.

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I'd like to introduce
three of the students

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who have been working with us
for quite a while.

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This is Conrad, Troy, and Nicole.

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So my first question is to you, Conrad.

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You have just started working
with project-based learning.

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I am wondering
what the impact has been for you.

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Conrad: I definitely become
a better researcher.

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Because with my project
there wasn't too much about the topic

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that I was doing, net zero energy.

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So I had to go to some sites
that I wouldn't normally go to.

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M.T.: So you start to think
outside the box?

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Conrad: Yeah.
M.T: OK.

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Troy: It has taught me
how to be a better leader,

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and that a leader is not someone
who is mean to their employees

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or bosses their group members around.

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They find everybody's strengths

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and help them work together
as a good group

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and make them feel empowered,

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and that way, your project will get done
in a much more efficient and fast way.

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Nicole: It has taught me
not to feel scared.

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Because deep inside of me,
I want ideas to be expressed,

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but I am always scared about being judged
or being called different.

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And now I know
that I don't have to worry about that.

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MT: So let me ask you another question.

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You've been watching
a lot of your friends go through this.

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You have been watching
the whole class go through it.

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I will start with you, Nicole.

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What kind of changes have you seen

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in your friends and others
you have watched?

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Nicole: Well, I have two personal friends.

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They are like anti-social.
They really don't talk with anyone.

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But when the problem-based learning day
comes, they are jumping off the walls,

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they are talking,
and interacting with everyone.

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They are totally different persons.

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Troy: My friends have
so much more self-confidence,

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because they feel
that they can create an idea.

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No matter how crazy it may seem,
no one will judge them.

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They can make it into a great project
that everyone will be very proud of.

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Conrad: My friends-- we did
a couple of projects last year.

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When it came to the day to do it,
they are all just blah,

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and now when it comes to
the project-based learning day,

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they are all just bouncing off the walls

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and are really happy
kind of like Nicole's friends.

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MT: Let me ask you one more thing.

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So the whole intention of this
is to prepare you for the future,

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for what you are going to face
in the future.

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So how do you feel,

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do you think it has prepared you
for the road ahead?

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Troy: I really feel it has,

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because in our future jobs we are not
going to be doing huge algebra problems.

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We are going to be working
on practical problems,

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and we are going to have to know
how to put a plan together,

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and how to put that plan in action.

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Nicole: I agree with what Troy said.

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You can't just sit at that table and say,

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I am going work on
my personal problems for 30 minutes.

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You can't do that.

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You have to think about
what you are going to do in that moment

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you have to think everything effectively,
and everything will turn out right.

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Conrad: People should include more
problem-based learning in their curricula

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because it definitely prepares kids
more for the world ahead of them.

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MT: So thank you.
I hope you enjoyed our dialogue.

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Students: Thank you.

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(Applause)