>>Teacher: Boss Level is this unique space because it kind
of like takes what we normally do, it condenses it
into this smaller package, but it's like amplified.
So during Boss Level, kids are met with these challenges, multiple,
multiple challenges every day.
>>Student: For my Boss Level I did with Kate is
that I went to the MOMA with her.
In that Boss Level, I was able to prove my talent.
>>Teacher: On three, Bruce, say "Go Boss Level."
Ready, one, two, three...
>>All: Go Boss Level.
>>Teacher: I think if kids really recognize what their teachers want
to teach them and want to expose them to, that the sky's the limit in terms
of what their future can hold.
With Boss Level, I feel like the teacher's really able to pick a topic
that they are passionate about and then use
that passion to inspire the students.
And because you have such a long period of time to work on a project,
it feels more satisfying than even playing a game
for two periods or two lessons.
Like you're really spending five or six periods a day with the same group
of kids, really pushing them towards this challenging goal
and it allows the students to really embody what an artist does
or what a scientist does or a fundraiser.
And so that really is a special experience.
The students have to embody the role of that individual
to get to the end results.
As opposed to, as a student, the end result is prescribed by the teacher
and defined by the teacher.
They have to define the end result for themselves.
>>Student: Boss Level is like where you get to show what you know
from the past trimesters that you've learned from your teachers and see
if you can show that you improved from the past months.
>>Teacher: I think it's important for the kids to be at MOMA first of all
to be in the space and be two feet in front of a Jackson Pollock.
Like that's a sensory experience that's really important.
>>Teacher: The idea of learning by doing is so important
because we really believe that in order for students
to really understand something, like to really deeply learn something,
you have to do something with it.
So it's not just about learning something,
but it's about taking the information and creating something out of it,
or making something out of it.
And so that kind of learning is not limited to a classroom space,
but it also happens in a classroom space.
>>Student: In MOMA, you can only look at the art and you can't touch it,
or you'll get in trouble.
So we wanted to give people the opportunity
to touch and feel the art.
>>Student: Okay, what should it be?
I was thinking it would be called Spa.
We're going to walk them through it
and then they're going to say what they feel.
Let's say they feel rocks, but it's actually dirt,
we write down what we think and then we show them the sheet of paper
of all the things they touched.
>>Woman: Ew!
>>Student: Don't kill it.
>>Woman: Is it bagels?
>>Student: Yeah.
[laughs]
>>Student: I think embodied learning means
that like you learn but with your senses.
So like touch, feel, look, and yeah.
>>Teacher: Because you're not in a classroom, what you expect
to happen can be totally open.
It lets you access your creativity in a way that's different from being
in a place that you're always in.
>>Teacher: He keeps saying, "Oh it's fine, it's fine."
>>Student: No, it's fine.
>>Teacher: Really, I don't know, I don't think I believe you.
I think there's a catch here, because there's been a catch in all of these.
>>Teacher: My students can always count on me to support them
in being successful in life, not just in seventh grade.
And for their future lives, not just a state test
or some sort of end assessment.
I want them to feel like they can achieve whatever goal they want
to achieve and I'll always support them in that.
And I think sometimes holding them to high standards, which can seem
like being a strict teacher, is actually sort
of helping them in the long run.
And I think it takes--
for my students, I think it takes them a little while
to recognize that, and I think when they do,
that it's a really nice relationship that's formed
and hopefully continues over the years.