Each grade's plan is different from the other grade's plan depending on what the team decides. The interdisciplinary planning document is an outgrowth of some problems that were encountered the first year of implementing the interdisciplinary projects. In the planning meetings, teachers decide who is responsible for a particular part of the project, and a planning document is completed outlining who is responsible for each part, dates due, evaluation methods used and the signatures of all the teachers involved. Students complete projects which involve more than one discipline and reinforce basic skills of thinking and communicating. MMS has networked a technology lab for each grade level, and students are scheduled in a technology lab two or three periods each week.
Technology enables students to design, construct, and demonstrate learning.
One important component of the interdisciplinary projects is the use of technology to complete these projects. It may be as simple as wordprocessing a vocabulary list, creating a database in social studies, creating a spreadsheet in mathematics, typing a research paper for a language arts class, or a combination of all these subjects into one research project. For example, science was selected as the topic for the major project for the seventh grade. The science department was responsible for helping the students select their topics and develop the major points to cover. The language arts department taught students how to do bibliography and note cards, develop outlines, research in the library, write research papers, and complete bibliographies.