Walnut Hill.

How to filter the massive amount (constantly changing) of information available.  Kids see internet as their "expert friend"--  HS kids are taking in; not putting out--they cobble; they collage; they appropriate.

Walnut Hill is trying to balance being authoritarian with managing students' constant connectivity.  So cell phones, for example, are simply not allowed in certain places.  But they recognize that students are adept at finding workarounds for things that are crucial to them (they tried to outlaw Facebook, but gave up on it). 

Students have a naivete about, on the one hand, being totally OUT THERE on Facebook, and not understanding when parents and authorities transgress the boundary of what they consider "their" social space.

WH trying to impart "the habits of mind" that students need to be engaged citizens and artists.

WH working to shepherd students into being all-around, holistically engaged people--concentrating less on grammar, skills, etc.  Post-secondary expecting secondary to do skills?  WH grateful for this conversation.

Technology affecting the notion of "planning ahead"--no itinerary, just texting.

Should we be so dismayed about "its/it's" and "their/there/they're" among high school students?  Or is that the kind of thing that sorts itself out over time?

Role of homework...the notion of reading a book all the way through...sustained work.  How to meet students where they are (used to discrete nano-chunklets of info) and still train them that there are useful benefits to sustained attention to things.

Students are very "me-centric"--but we have to GIVE them reasons to want to engage.

Skills vs. content vs. developmental processes

We assume students will learn x because they had their prescribed class in x.  But learning happens incrementally, over time, in context, and through repetition.

What is the role of a COMMON cultural content?

The difference between a "hook"--the thing that engages--and the rest of it.

If everything is "look up-able" and there is no need to impart any content, what is our role as educators?