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Student Work

New this year:
Entirely student-led ceremony (including presentations, music, photography, reflections, poetry, public speaking, invite design, etc)

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Student Work

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Student Work

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* 2021: Moved the Early America Day exhibition night at the New Haven Museum. This move increased student buy-in throughout the project with the knowledge that they would be presenting to an authentic audience in a space other than their school. The special evening served as a way to celebrate the culmination of their work. It also helped strengthen the tie between Foote and our community partner, the New Haven Museum.
*2020: Adapted the Early American Day (EAD) project to a remote model that can be used as a teaching tool in the lower school (and eliminated the "culture as a costume" element). When the students know their project lives beyond the deadline, they are more apt to produce high quality work.
* 21-23: Designed the Witness Stones Project deliverables and ceremony.  The Witness Stones Project provides the primary documents necessary to construct a locally enslaved person's life. I designed how the students will show their work and honor the men and women we studied. This looks like:
* teaching the basics of graphic design
* kind, helpful, and specific, peer feedback protocols
* how to use Canva, a graphic design online tool
* Displaying student work (large, colorful infographics on foam core)
* Designing a student-led ceremony to honor the formerly enslaved and showcase student work

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Student Work

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Student Work

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Student Work

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National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) / Harmony Education Center

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National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) / Harmony Education Center

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Critical Friends Group
Certified Coach
June/July 2021

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Seniors for Seniors is a joint effort between High Tech High and Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center that aimed to connect two groups that are often very isolated from each other – senior citizens and high school seniors.

Students have a great deal to learn from our communities aging population and this project was a conduit for learning and experience.

What did students do for this project?

Students will be visited the Senior Wellness Center throughout their semester and partnered with a senior for the duration of the project. In addition to social activities, general volunteering, and educational activities, students will were responsible for the following:

Interviewing their senior partner.

Producing and publishing a piece of creative nonfiction / literary journalism that represents their partners legacy.

Producing a mechanical wooden toy that represents their partner’s legacy.

At the conclusion of the project, all books & toys were given to their senior partners for keeping, gifting to loved ones, or donating to a local charity.

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Aug 2011-2014
Presenter and Workshop Leader

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12 th Grade English Language Arts

2010–2015

* Collaborated closely with peers to create cross-curricular projects and lessons to integrate learning

* Incorporated multiple types of teaching strategies in the classroom with an emphasis on Project Based Learning
* Modified general education curriculum for special-needs students using various instructional techniques and technologies in an inclusive classroom

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Master's of Education in Curriculum  and Instruction

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Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

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* Led staff PD
* Facilitated project tuning protocols
* Supported local community partners in understanding PBL
* Engaged with international visitors
* Facilitated new teacher training workshops
* Presented at new teacher professional development training
* Led Critical Friends Groups
* Participated in Collegial Coaching program

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California Single Subject Teaching Credential

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California Single Subject Teaching Credential

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English and Language Arts
Grade 7-12
Expires 2025
Documentation

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Connecticut English Language Arts Certification

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Connecticut English Language Arts Certification

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015- English
Grade 7-12
Expires 2028
Documentation

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2006-2009/ Residential Faculty

* Closely collaborated with the Dean of Students to run the upper school Student Life department
* Led college prep advisory curriculum for eleventh grade students and faculty advisors
* Provided scholastic and personal support as an academic advisor
* Taught resident life curriculum to eleventh grade resident students
* Resident in Charge for weekend residential duty
* Faculty advisor for the Student Senate

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2013 Recipient

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Instruction for English Language Development (ELD)

Cross-Cultural, Language, and Academic Development (CLAD)

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A lifetime ago

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A four-week immersive internship program that all students undertake in 12th grade. During internship, a student works at a local organization for at least 30 hours a week, doing work that they would typically require a college degree in order to be doing.

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POLs (Presentations of Learning):
A presentation at the end of each semester in which students present their work to an audience including a panel of experts from the community. POLs are often referred to as “our final exams.”

SLCs (Student Led Conferences):
Conferences in which students, teachers and parents meet to discuss the student’s academic performance and goals. At most schools, every student wll take part in an SLC midway through the fall semester.

Exhibition Night:
An evening event in which students, faculty, parents, and visitors come to to see what students have been working on. Each school has at least one school-wide exhibition a semester, but teachers are encouraged to end all their projects with some sort of exhibition, often off- campus.

X-Block Advisor:
X-block is an elective course that meets several times a week and allows students and teachers to explore their passions and interests. Past X-blocks have included yoga, ultimate Frisbee, theater, board games, coding, podcast recording, music making, community service, etc.

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High School Diploma

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2001-2006, 2018-19, 2021-present

* Assistant Director (2021-2023)

* Aloha Transition Administrator (2022-23)

* Office Manager (2019)

* Sailing Department Head (2003-2006, 2018)

* Residential Unit Head (2006)

Aloha camp serves girls, age 12-16.

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Elk Literary Magazine (Founding Advisor)

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Elk Literary Magazine (Founding Advisor)

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* Seventh Grade Advisor
* Professional Development Committee Co-Chair ('22-present)
* Learning Support Person ('20-'21)

* Admissions Reader ('20-'21)

* Professional Development Strand co-leader (Curriculum Development) ('21-'22)
* Club Faculty Advisor
* Strategic Planning Committee: Philosophy Design Team
* Hiring Committee: Lower School Associate and Intern

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San Diego, CA (2009- 2015)
Newport, RI (2016)
Alexandria, VA (2017-18)
Guilford, CT  (2019-present/permanent)

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Led, organized, and facilitated travel experience for students age 14-18yrs old. Assisted in fundraising efforts for low-income students (70% of our travelers).

* Italy (2012)
* Dominican Republic/ Puerto Rico (2013)

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Students explored the experiences/perspectives of those in our community who have been displaced from due to war, hunger, human rights abuses, religious persecution or other factors.

The students interviewed immigrants or refugees telling their stories of coming to this country, their ideas about home, loss and new beginnings. The students drew, collaged, painted and use video and sound to tell these stories.

Partnered with the IRC in San Diego

For more of this project, see Immigrant or Refugee

Attached: Student Model

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Students participated in a structured simulation of a U.S. Senate hearing on American foreign policy regarding nuclear weapons.

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Description:

Students of Skye Walden and Peter Jana (10th Grade Humanities) participate in a structured simulation of a U.S. Senate hearing on American foreign policy regarding nuclear weapons.

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Students of Skye Walden and Peter Jana (10th Grade Humanities) participate in a structured simulation of a U.S. Senate hearing on American foreign policy regarding nuclear weapons. - High Tech High Videos Website

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Classroom of the Month
"The mission of High Tech High in San Diego, CA is to create an environment where students can get passionate about learning in a hands-on, project based way. Twelfth-grade English teacher Skye Walden is clearly an advocate for these principles, exhibited in the innovative way she teaches her students."

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By Liz Crowder

The mission of High Tech High in San Diego, CA is to create an environment where students can get passionate about learning in a hands-on, project based way. Twelfth-grade English teacher Skye Walden is clearly an advocate for these principles, exhibited in the innovative way she teaches her students. Among her methods has been to develop a lesson plan that utilizes the Six-Word Memoir format. At the beginning of the semester, Walden asks each of her students to write a Six-Word Memoir. Then she asks them to open up the words into a 600-word personal narrative, with the title of the essay remaining the original six words.

Students also create an image to accompany each Six-Word Memoir, which are then collated to become the Six-Word Memoir class film (as you can see above-it's amazing). Hearing about all of this is (almost) enough to make me want to go back to high-school-or at least attend Walden's English class.

Walden says she uses the Six Word, personal narrative format as a method to diagnosis her students' writing styles and abilities, and also as a creative way to get to know them. "The limitation of only six words helps them to realize the importance and power of word choice," she explains. As so many teachers have found, the form is similar to writing poetry; the fewer words you have, the more each and every word counts. Walden must be doing something right: her students' six words burst with a kind of structured self-expression; channeled thoughts and feelings that become stories seemingly steeped in literary prowess.

"It's a great way to start the semester," she says. "It works especially well in the fall when the seniors are writing their college essays. They often struggle with where to begin, and this assignment gets them writing about themselves and reflecting on their life experiences."

Here are a few Six-Word Memoirs from this semester's new students-more in the video, above.
The bluntly straightforward: "Music is more interesting than people."
The painfully questioning: "Surgery: Will I play the same?"
The appropriately exasperated: "No. It's spelled Chuy, not Chewy."
The hilariously self-aware: "Appetite as big as my hair."
The sardonically sad: "Thanks for the birth deformity, Mom."
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Note: With the generous support of our publisher, Harper Perennial, we've created two Six-Word Memoir lesson plans, one for our first book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure, as well as one for our teen book, I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure. Download a free PDF of either or both below. In return, all we ask is that you let us know how six words works in your class. We love sharing your stories with the rest of the SMITH community.

Teachers Guide: First Six-Word Memoir book (click to download)
Teachers Guide: Teen Six-Word Memoir book (click to download)
Video: "Six Tips for Writing Six-Word Memoirs."

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Classroom of the Month: 6 to 600 in San Diego | The Six-Word Memoir Blog

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The mission of High Tech High in San Diego, CA is to create an environment where students can get passionate about learning in a hands-on, project based way.

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The journey of a college essay:: Adaptation moves the college essay from restrictive word counts and dry writing prompts, to a shared multi-media experience.

Attached: Student Model

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Overview: Each student has subjects of particular interest  that they rarely have the opportunity to investigate. This assignment outlines the second-semester independent reading requirement. The purpose is to prepare them to do well in your freshman composition courses. I want each student to leave senior year having investigated a topic in depth, through several different books, which is of genuine interest to you.

Within a partnership, each student must:

Read three books by semester’s end

Submit a written proposal

Prepare and participate in 2x/week lit chats

Investigate your subject through at least two other sources, both of which must be included in a final annotated bibliography.

Perform, produce, or present a final project; it must incorporate all three books. This final presentation must also include an interactive component

Turn in a final paper

A complete reflection on the project as a whole.

Attached: Student Model

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National City, CA
Once a week during fall semester, our 12th grade team "skipped school" to spend the whole day volunteering on a Habitat job site in National City. We painted, spackled, caulked, cleaned, dug, hammered, and sweat!

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Mapping San Diego Stories
Guiding Questions:
- Whose stories do we often hear? Whose voices are missing?
- How can we represent the underrepresented?
- In what ways do we document information / evidence (that we were there)? How has that changed over the years?

- What is the purpose of mapping? journaling? archiving?

Attached: Semester Road Map

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The Facilitation Fellowship Team helps grow and further align programs, build leadership capacity, recruit, and retain staff and campers from underrepresented groups, and continue to strengthen our camps and programs. Each Fellow brings their own experience, creativity, collaborative spirit, and commitment to equity.

Fellows participate in ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional development training; co-facilitate three training sessions; support and attend two or more regional recruitment efforts; attend regular virtual team meetings with the other Fellows, the DEI Manager, and invited guests; write pieces for Aloha Foundation publications or blog; serve as a resource for other counselors; and work to support ongoing projects and spearhead new initiatives related to equity and community.