Kevin Brookhouser

Maddie spent her #20Time spreading awareness about how buying clothing from thrift stores is smart, green, and rebellious. Watch this amazing young woman pitch her case in her #20Time Talk. The new book, The #20Time Project  is coming out in October. Sign up for your copy here. Loading...

Thanks to all of my friends and colleagues who helped me put this together. You can read about the process of writing and delivering this talk here .

My students speak for themselves.

One of the several unpopular assignments I force upon my students is the Sophomore Speech. I am capitalizing Sophomore Speech because it has become a thing at our school … a proper thing. Every single one of my 10th grade students is required to write a personal essay and convert it into a speech to be delivered in front of the entire school during our assembly period we call Break. The word speech has fallen out of fashion these days. It’s much cooler to give a talk than a speech, but talk doesn’t alliterate with sophomore . I guess I could have called them 10th Grade Talks, but as I said, the Sophomore Speech is a thing, so I’m going with it. Of course, I don’t win many votes for Most Popular Teacher of the Year when I announce this assignment to my students. Most members of our species tend to avoid public speaking whenever possible, and you won’t be surprised to hear that some students consider this the waterboard of English assignments. “Mr. Brookhouser, I real...

Dear Students and Parents of the York School 10th Grade Class, I hope you all had an adventurous and energizing summer. I wanted to write to introduce myself and let you know a little bit about one of the unusual projects we’ll be taking on this year in English III. In 2011 we began The 20% Project in English III. This is a major project-based-learning assignment that spans the entire school year and encourages students to pursue a creative interest they would otherwise not experience in our academic program at York. Before I get into the details of the project, I want to explain why we’re asking students to participate in this activity. For over 20 years a trend in education has been gaining momentum that suggests the role of the teacher ought to shift away from an industrial model where the teacher stands in the front of the classroom to dispense knowledge through lectures, and the students sit to consume the information. Rather than being the “sage on the stage...

"Seriously? You're going to let us do whatever we want for 20% of our time in English class?" "I'm skeptical."  "That's awesome." Taking Google's lead, and inspired by Dan Pink's book, Drive , I decided to take the plunge and give my students the kind of radical autonomy they both suggest, and I gave my students 20% of their time in my English class to pursue a project of their choosing.  Rules and expectations You may work alone or with a small group. Choose a project that is new to you and something you wouldn't normally do in another academic class. Write up a proposal and pitch it to the rest of the class that includes a purpose, audience, timeline, and resources you will need to complete the project. Reflect on the process once a week in your blog. If at any moment you feel lost, overwhelmed, or uninspired, you must set a meeting with me to find a solution. At the end of the year, you will present...