Allayna Garrett

The American Dream: Then And Now
by Joan Roux

Allayna Garrett and her English 3 students will explore the phenomenon of the American Dream since James T. Adams coined the term in 1931, and trace its evolution through subsequent decades.

“What does it mean to be American?” This is the overarching question that the English 3 curriculum examines through a variety of texts. The Dream is woven into the fabric of American literature, and students become familiar with a cast of characters who search for their identity both as individuals in a certain time and place, and also as members of a larger community that shapes their world view.

Ms. Garrett will give her students firsthand exposure to the aspirations of generations of Americans as they pursue the illusive and ever-changing dream.

Students will do group research of news articles from three assigned decades, looking for trends in how the American Dream has evolved. They will familiarize themselves with how people thought and felt about their hopes and dreams, and what might have impacted those aspirations.

Once they have compiled this information, the group members will collaborate to make a list of interview questions. Each student will then find and interview at least one person who came of age in the assigned decade. These interviews will be recorded on their iPads for their final presentation.

The groups will extract overlapping and contrasting ideas from their interviews and create charts to identify indicators and illustrate how and why these thoughts developed.

Next each class will create a pie chart comprised of 3 colorful wedges to graphically illustrate the cultural shifts over three decades.

Finally, students will present an oral and video presentation using their notes and clips from their interviews.

The outcome will be that her students will have personal connections with and first hand knowledge of preceding generations of Americans whose legacy helped to shape current culture. This empowers these young people to reach their own conclusions, and make mature and well informed assessments of the ubiquitous American Dream.

Simon Espinosa

Giving Every Student The Chance To Be Heard
by Patricia Garrison

"It was just a coincidence!"

So says Simon Espinosa when explaining his first encounter with the program, Pear Deck. During this year's pre-school week of activities, he happened to be walking to his classroom at the same time Mark Davies, The Hun School's Educational Technology Coordinator, was in a room close-by, demonstrating a new classroom application, Pear Deck. As he passed the door, Mr. Espinosa noticed large moving dots on a screen and was intrigued. Stopping in to the demonstration, he now reports that he could immediately see the educational possibilities the program offered, and so, he was determined to try to integrate Pear Deck into his lessons.

According to Mr. Espinosa, Pear Deck is as easy to use as it is effective. He says that while he is "not a tech person," he was able to go home that day, experiment with the program, and feel that he would be able to utilize it almost immediately, which, in fact, he did. After a "dress rehearsal" with colleagues, Mr. Espinosa used his prepared presentation for one of his initial class meetings in the course, Latin American Culture and History. He was delighted with the result; immediately, he was able to assess his class' prior knowledge regarding Latin America. Using maps and short quotations, he provided an interactive exercise for his students during class time, which later allowed him, as the teacher, to see the details of the individual answers. In this way, Mr. Espinosa was able to evaluate the skill level of the class in general and each student in particular. And in turn, this knowledge has allowed him to plan more effective lessons. 

Another benefit of the program is what Mr. Davies calls the "non-embarrassment" factor. Even the shyest student can participate in the exercise, without the fear of exposure, and still the teacher can gather important information about that student's learning. Mr. Espinosa agrees, saying that this program gives every student, including the most quiet, an opportunity to be heard. Due to the success he has had already, Mr. Espinosa intends to use the program as chapter "conversation starters," as well as a review tool for assessments, as the program also allows him to gauge the efficacy of test and quiz questions.

And the students' reactions? One student offered this comment: "Pear Deck? It is so cool! In Mr. Espinosa's class, we had so much fun seeing what we know and learning what we didn't know!" Indeed, an enthusiastic endorsement of a fine teacher and an exciting new program!

(Interested in getting started using Pear Deck? See Mark Davies for a quick tutorial!)

David Bush

Finding their Paths
by Alex Lipoff

At their best, our classes can help students begin to see themselves and the world around them a bit differently; David Bush’s Advanced Art Class, made up of all seniors and one junior, is both literally and figuratively helping students “find their way.”

Using the smartphone app “Map My Run,” which is intended to give runners data about the course, duration, and difficulty of their workouts, students have been utilizing the mapping capabilities of the app and incorporating those images as part of a visually evocative project that combines technology, artistry, and poetry.

Students are asked to use Map My Run to come up with a project that is visually interesting and looks professionally presented, and they must incorporate a poem or a page-and-a-half long reflective response that uses the word “Path” in its title. Students are randomly paired in groups of two, a gesture toward the idea that rather than distancing ourselves from one another, technology can also be used to bring people closer together.

While many projects and classroom activities that utilize technology can err on the side of superficiality, only relying on the “sizzle” of the tech itself to interest students, this art project, in the words of Mr. Bush, “lets students use technology as a drawing tool that expands the notion of what technology can be, as well as the notion of what drawing can be.”

As students have progressed with the project, and continue “drawing,” they are beginning to find things and ask questions that they initially hadn’t considered. Some students have begun leaving the app running all-day, while others have been going up and down the stairs in different buildings, and some students have even been trying to walk in particular directions to create a recognizable image, like an animal or a human face.



One of the universalities of education is that we hope that our classes can be, whether explicitly or covertly, experiences that our students draw upon when solving problems and making decisions in their lives. Mr. Bush has figured out a way to incorporate technology in his course without compromising the promise that art is the vehicle that we can use to teach about creativity.

Patty Garrison, Pauline McKean & Otis Douce

Video Pen Pals Around The World
by Dana Radanovic

This week, the Blue Sky Project is pleased to highlight the collective efforts of Patty Garrison, Pauline McKean, and Otis Douce for reaching halfway around the world to Istanbul, Turkey, in hopes of having a group of Seminar 9 students make a connection to a global community. 

Pauline McKean, who hails from George School, brought many travel experiences and connections to the Hun School and thus was able to have Patty Garrison “meet” Erica Hoffman, a teacher at Robert College High School in Turkey. As an English teacher, Ms. Hoffman was searching for ways to enhance her students’ writing skills, while Ms. Garrison and Mr. Douce were looking to build on the seminar curriculum theme of community. This connection was the start of a unique journey.

The students on each side of the globe were paired with one another. Because of the time difference and busy schedules of the students, using Skype was not an option. Ms. Garrison and Ms. Hoffman decided to have their students become video pen pals. Each of the Seminar 9 students created a video to introduce themselves and to inquire about their pen pal’s interests, hobbies, communities, and education. Two favorite questions the students asked were, “What were your best and worst memories from your childhood?” and “If you were a song, which one would you be?” All students have created and exchanged their videos and are waiting with great anticipation to hear back from their pen pals. This is just the beginning of a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn that they are really no different than their counterparts in Turkey, and they are all part of the same global community.

Historically, the Seminar 9 classes have studied the classic story set in South Africa, “Cry, the Beloved Country,” by Alan Paton. Ms. Garrison has found this book “rich with opportunity for students to see, feel, and make a connection to a community,” far beyond their own communities of friends, school, church, and teams. Now she and Mr. Douce have discovered that sharing stories across continents has provided distinct teaching similarities to the South African tale. 

The Project applauds the collaborative efforts involved in this cross-global correspondence!

Marty Hoban

Searching for Innovators
by Ted Shaffner

For this week’s showcase, the Blue Sky Project is pleased to highlight the work of Marty Hoban. The entire faculty read and discussed the book, Creating Innovators, by Tony Wagner, over the past couple of years, but Mr. Hoban took this to entirely different level. He made it his professional goal to examine the arguments in the book specifically and then to seek out examples of innovation right here on the Hun Campus. This is something we also seek to do over the course of the year, so we are very grateful to him for doing our job!

For his Teacher Support Team project, Mr. Hoban crafted a 20-minute documentary about innovation at Hun, which you can watch below. He highlights the work of several teachers and classrooms. Full disclosure - I’m one of them, but luckily I’m only in a small part of the video and my students receive more of the spotlight! He also interviews Julie Davis, Vivian Piel, and Kevin Chen, as well as other alumni, students, and outside experts.

The video really speaks for itself, but the Project is grateful for Mr. Hoban’s diligent work, which he says he intends to continue this year.