Learning is in the doing

Had a great day today learning more at the conference.  A lot of cultural information was shared today along with other topics.  I really enjoy working in a charter school system that allow staff and students to think outside the box and achieve standard credits by creating projects on topics they like.  At Hakipuu Learning Center students have the option to choose their topic of interest and staff helps to advise and guide them to learn how to find & use many different resources to research information on their topic.  The best part to me about our project base learning system is connecting every project to Hawaii's maoli culture.  It takes creative thinking to find a connection that suits every project but that's the skill that makes this type of learning very special.  Many times we are able to physically interact in our culture activities, values and experiences.  Today, we were able to participate in the unveiling of an underground oven that we Hawaiians call “Imu”.  Nice to be able to return to our roots and perpetuate our way of life and also share the experience with our guest.  Check out this short video of our Imu experience.