PSII is the pacific school of innovation and inquiry. This school is an alternative school also known as a special education school. This school serves diverse learners and allows them to learn at their own pace, and how they would like. Today, we had the opportunity to visit PSII and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to visit, explore and gain new knowledge. Although this alternative school was directed towards secondary students, I believe the idea and structure of learning should be also implemented into elementary schools. Learning through inquiry, allows students to work at their own pace and learn about things that interest them. While we were at PSII, the principal, Jeff Hopkins spoke to us about what the school offers, its pedagogy and informed us about some technology tools their students use. I found it very interesting to hear that all students are given a laptop and that they use Trello, to stay on top of their work and therefore their teachers can also see what they are doing with their inquiry questions. Another thing I found intriguing was that there is no structured schedule or bells to tell the students to change subjects, however the teachers put on classes and they are optional for the students to attend. PSII is a small school of 96 students, but its authentic personalization makes it such an accepting environment to learn in. Jeff Hopkins stated that a majority of their students are on the spectrum or struggle with anxiety and depression, therefore they had sensory rooms to help these students. Finally, my experience and thoughts on PSII is breathtaking. I was truly amazing and inspired by the learning and the projects many students were working on, as they are ultimately designing their own learning paths. As future elementary school teachers, we need to learn from this visit and apply this technique and pedagogy of learning into our teachings.

Below is a picture of the common area of the pacific school of innovation and inquiry, where students of all grades in secondary school may communicate and collaborate with their classmates. This type of learning environment allows children to bounce ideas off of each other and gain new perspectives about their inquiry topics and subjects.