At Dottke we like to say we are different by design with a huge emphasis on design. When we began the journey of transforming Dottke Alternative School into Dottke PBL, we spent countless hours interviewing current, former, and perspective students. Each of those conversations followed a similar format known as an empathy interview. Empathy interview... Read More

Each of us is born curious. As little kids we constantly looked for ways to explore the world around us. While some curious actions can be a little dangerous, like trying to figure out what happens when you stick a paperclip in an electrical outlet, curiosity in general is a good thing. In fact, it... Read More

When entrepreneurs or engineers want to create a product or business model, they have to go through numerous steps to ensure that what they are creating is going to meet their intended need and be utilized by their intended audience. There are many questions that need answering and lots of information that needs to be... Read More

The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District’s vision statement is “to create experiences that build community and empower learners so they can live life on their own terms.” Here at Dottke, we strive to ensure that our learners have the necessary tools to do just that. To do so, we had to change our systems in... Read More

How many times as a parent have you asked your student what they are working on in school, only to receive “nothing” as a response?  Or, when prompting your learner to let you know what they learned during their 7 hours at school, they aren’t totally sure. “I don’t know” is their only answer. One... Read More

There is something to be said for being in the right place at the right time, but being in the right place at the right time doesn’t matter if you don’t put yourself out there.  That was the situation Mr. T, Dottke’s Rob Tegtmeier, found himself in one day during the summer of 2019. An... Read More

The West Allis/West Milwaukee school district wants to engage every student in a deep learning experience. Those experiences are always tied to a set of guiding statements that provide a baseline for what every student will be able to do once they complete a specific course or grade level. Our district calls those baseline expectations,... Read More

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TAQ0ul5pelhDQ3GyeeYe5wyH-MH4TmeXlpLkefWKvAk/edit?usp=sharing Having done project-based learning for five years now, I have noticed patterns in the projects that students produce. Something that has stood out the most and that I stand firm by is that the quality of a project that a student has not spent the appropriate amount of time to carefully plan and consider... Read More

So, you’ve finished your project- great! You brainstormed and conferred, researched and reiterated, and finally created something that you are proud of. You turned it in to your instructor and received your grade for your seminar or independent project. Now what? Project-based learning gives students the time and space to take a deep dive into... Read More

Dottke High School recently held their annual career fair. Students had the opportunity to interact with members of the community in a variety of occupations during their lunch/CREW time. Afterwords, students choose three sessions to attend. Sessions ranged from members of the medical field to automotive technicians to web design. The sessions were very well... Read More