Student: Only features the symbol, then the money would be less than the compound.

Student: But if I’m planning on having it long-term, then I’ll choose the compound interest.

Lisa Collins: Since I’ve been using vertical learning, students are more apt to participate, take risks. There’s not that fear of being wrong.

Kyle Asmus: Good, I like that.

Lisa Collins: They will make it their mission to make sure everybody understands.

Kyle Asmus: At Design 39 campus, one of our guiding principles is promoting high-quality collaboration. It’s really about facilitating questions and facilitating rich conversations. Vertical learning is a great way to do that.

Lisa Collins: Come on in, check your spot.

Kyle Asmus: The time to task is much quicker, but the time on task is actually longer.

Lisa Collins: Point to point, excellent.

Lauren: Vertical learning is being able to showcase your thinking process on a vertical surface such as a whiteboard.

Lisa Collins: Traditional school has students working here, just really looking down. And when you use vertical learning, you’re not protecting your understanding, you’re sharing your understanding. So now that you’ve done the content, now look at the structure of it.

Kyle Asmus: Having vertical surfaces doesn’t create meaningful learning. There’s some key components that have to be present for it to work. Front and foremost, there has to be a rich task. All right guys, so today we’re gonna focus on the question “How does it grow?”

Lauren: Today, we were focusing on exponential growth patterns, compound and simple interest.

Kyle Asmus: So, who made the better decision if both Eugene and Claire plan on keeping their money in the account for seven years? So we’re gonna go ahead and randomize you guys here.

Caeden: He puts everyone’s name in, and it randomizes you into all the different groups. Then you’re not just stuck with the same people who have the same thinking. You’re seeing more people’s way of viewing things.

Kyle Asmus: The randomizer also assigns them a role that day.

Caeden: I’m scribe.

Lauren: There’s the scribe, the speaker, the inquirer, and the manager. The scribe is writing down what you’re thinking, and they’re the only one who is able to use a marker on the vertical surface. The speaker is the one who’s representing your group.

Kyle Asmus: So what type of model is gonna be created here?

Students: Linear.

Kyle Asmus: Person three is what I call the inquirer. They’re the only ones that can actually ask me questions. And then the fourth person is the manager. They’re the ones that are making sure kids are staying on track.

Lauren: And then we need to write a key at the top, what dotted equals.

Kyle Asmus: So I’m in the middle of the room, and I usually do a quick little 360, making sure kids are on task. It also allows me to see if kids haven’t started anything yet. I can ask a couple probing questions, or allow them to ask some clarifying questions. Where’d you guys get your multiplier from?

Student: The 1.08 represents the 8%. Oh, it’s actually 7%.

Kyle Asmus: And then obviously another key component is the vertical non-permanent surface. Kids’ work is always public. It’s a little bit intimidating at first for kids because they’re afraid to make mistakes. But then they realize, hey, it’s not permanent, I can erase.

Iniyaa: It makes it easy for the whole class to see what everybody else is doing, so we can be inspired by each other’s ideas. Some people might use a table while others might use a graph or an equation.

Kyle Asmus: All right, caps on pens. Gonna have a quick little debrief. Group number four, walk us through which of the twins made the better decision.

Student: So if you’re going for one to four years, you’ll want Eugene’s. But five plus years, Claire is going to get way more than the simple interest.

Kyle Asmus: Long-term, who made the better choice?

Student: Claire.

Kyle Asmus: All right, really nice work. Go ahead and erase your boards.

Lisa Collins: By using the vertical surfaces, I’m not the deliverer of all the information. I can move around the room and facilitate that conversation. What’s one thing you noticed in the deconstruction?

Student: So one thing that we noticed was that it had a claim at the end of the first paragraph.

Kyle Asmus: Because of vertical learning, our kids are not afraid or shy to share information. It’s really a positive environment where mistakes are valued. Collaboration is the norm. As a teacher, that makes me proud.

Schools That Work

Design 39 Campus