Monthly Archives: January 2013

Imagine this…

January 31, 2013Civilization, Hero's Journey, Launchessandefer

Imagine this….

We often appeal a lot to imagination at Acton Academy.

We ask Eagles to imagine that they are:

A world leader, at a historical inflection point, facing a difficult decision…
A scientist; Thomas Edison, disappointed after another failure, but determined to try again;
A hero in their own story, in search of an apprenticeship adventure that will be a steppingstone to a calling that changes the world.

Vision is only the first step to a powerful journey, but it’s an important part of the motivation that drives deep learning.

“That’s mean…you’re better than that.”

January 30, 2013Covenants, Culture, Hero's Journey, TroubleCrayton, Jacksandefer

It’s starts with a passing remark between friends. Perhaps even something misheard. Feelings are hurt but unexpressed.

Later, something biting in response, disguised as humor: sarcasm.

No matter the cause, the effect is corrosive. Soon, a friendship may be lost. Later, it may cost a marriage.

Are unkind words merely a rite of middle school passage? We think not. We believe our Eagles can transcend petty meanness.

Over the years, Acton MBA students have done thousands of “Stars and Steppingstone” interviews with successful people from 30 to 85 years old. If you listen carefully, the older, wiser role models will all tell you the same thing, that near the end of life, you will ask some form of the following three questions:

Did I contribute something meaningful?
Was I a good person?; and
Who did I love and who loved me?

Monday, 14 year old Maria Teresa’s story reminded our Eagles of the first question; that each is expected to change the world in a meaningful way.

Tuesday, we examined the second question, what it means to be a “good person” and how sarcasm and passive aggressive behavior are small acts of cowardice, the easy way out. Acton heroes are expected to confront mean remarks head on, so relationships can be repaired.

One young Eagle even had the courage to gently but firmly confront a friend, in front of the entire class, using the new techniques of conflict resolution we had practiced. A genuine act of bravery for both parties.

By the end of class, nine brave Eagles stepped forward with a bold promise. To wear honesty bracelets for one week, as a commitment to call out and stamp out mean comments, so as to make the community stronger.

Can middle school students really build a far healthier community than most adults?

We believe they can and will.

Imagine this…an Acton Eagle who at age fourteen….

January 29, 2013Detective Quest, Signalling, Uncategorizedsandefer

Imagine this…an Acton Eagle middle schooler who at age fourteen:

Simultaneously and successfully is taking online courses in Udacity; Coursera and EdX from universities like Harvard, Stanford and MIT, while serving as a consultant for her prestigious local university and some Silicon Valley venture capitalists on distance education.

Recently gave a TEDX talk on the future of education.

Just a few months ago became the youngest person ever to attend billionaire to Peter Thiel’s “20 under 20” conference for the best and brightest youth in the world.

Most importantly – imagine this Acton Eagle is convinced that even Khan Academy is “like putting PDF’s of the Encyclopedia Britannica online” because the teacher still determines and sequences the lessons. This Eagle believes that a Wikipedia revolution is coming where individual students will source, curate and sequence videos, problems, simulations, projects, real world challenges and other learning experiences, with each student finding the pattern that works best for them, for a particular knowledge area or skill.

Her analogy is DNA. Sequencing chunks of educational material is like sequencing genes; each individual has a unique sequence that works best, but you can learn a great deal from sharing and studying the similarities and differences in the patterns, and how they vary between different people. She already has designed a website where students are sharing and comparing different sequences for different topics and is in discussions with venture capitalists to fund an expansion.

There’s no need to imagine Maria Teresa, because she’s a real person, a fourteen year old Eagle at our Acton Academy sister school in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Maria Teresa - Founder of Makeducation

Yesterday, I introduced our Austin Eagles to Maria Teresa’s story at morning launch. At the end of the day wrap, I asked our Eagles what Maria Teresa has that they don’t, and one by one, individually challenged them to a Hero’s Journey as inspirational as hers by age fourteen.

I have faith that each and every one of our Eagles will do just that.

You can read more about Maria Teresa at http://ideamensch.com/maria-teresa/

down with unanimity!, except regarding kindness

January 26, 2013Communications, Consequences, Core Skills, Critiques, Culture, Smart Goals, Socraticsandefer

We do not like unanimity. Usually, it means we’ve asked a bad question.

This week, Eagles have worked on discussion skills with a sometimes jarring rigor. Their progress has been amazing! Next step: commenting intentionally to one another rather than filtering through a guide. Guides’ big work: to trust, and step aside.

When is the last time you’ve printed out an email for your peers to critique before sending, or took a strong stand in a Socratic discussion, arguing against even your most respected friends? Or shared honest reflections about your efforts through the week, aloud, to a supportive yet competitive team of colleagues? Or made an impassioned speech in front of a small group?

Our students have done all of this, and just in the past 24 hours. They’ve set for themselves quite high standards of excellence. Not always met; five months into this, most of the young adults in our community have experienced failure as defined by their own terms, and every single one has picked themselves back up to try again. Failure or success both possible, but perseverance non-negotiable. And lessons learned that they will never forget.

Back to unanimity: Is asking the Eagles to catch a classmate in the act of committing kindness a weak challenge? Always room for improvement, but it was beautiful to end the day on a chorus of commendations. Never degrading into chaos, all made their voices heard in support of the kindness of their peers. Who won? everyone, of course.

What’s the Connection?

January 25, 2013Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Journey maps, Quests, Socratic, Writingsandefer

Shift gears overmuch? Your transmission will suffer.

So what’s the connection between a rotten banana and correct usage of the past progressive*? What about a link between precise language, kindness, and a rather annoying buzzer?

Scattered and smothered are fine at the Waffle House but less than optimal for the pursuit of excellence. At Acton, we strive toward holistic cohesion in our curriculum, though juggling many tasks is a real-world skill that also comes into play in our classroom. Ironically from a guide’s standpoint, the task juggling unfolds quite naturally, while the cohesion requires a bit more forethought.

To connect the above dots: Eagles are working as Detectives-in-Training, learning valuable science as they pursue the skills they’ll need to not only solve crimes but also make a persuasive case against a suspect before a jury. At the same time, they are creating their own mystery crime stories, using logic, artistry and their fabulous imaginations to pursue excellence as writers. (* and brushing up on their grammar along the way- though a quick survey of adults on campus suggests that while it’s incredibly important to be able to use tenses effectively, no one actually cares what the tenses are called).

Underlying the “Learning to Know” and the vital “Learning to Do” is the even more essential “Learning to Be”, and a focus on character building and discussion skills permeates every “know/do” quest. In today’s launch, we went over the new student-generated community standards and honor code with a careful focus on defining any potentially vague terms. Terms like “scapegoat”, “cheat” and “bully” were hashed out to a unanimous understanding by the community. Students circled the discussion back to the positive by brainstorming what steps to take to prevent negative situations from beginning/escalating. At the end of the day, we introduced a new reward for our daily Kindness Hero, challenging all to channel their detective skills toward looking for evidence of kindness in their peers.

Throughout all of this, Eagles passed around a buzzer, to hold themselves accountable for accidental use of the verbotten “um”s and “like”s. Hooray for excellence in discussion skills, but here’s one vote for Buzzer-Free Fridays starting, um, now.

“Ummm…I mean like…ummm…like”

January 24, 2013Detective Quest, Quests, SocraticCharlie, Coby, Jacksandefer

Have you ever been driven half crazy by Valley Speak, that teenage compulsion to pause every millisecond to insert “ummm” or “like” into the conversation?

If so, you might find our Eagles’ latest middle school experiment interesting.

In an attempt to improve the quality of discussions, Eagles now “buzz” during a Socratic discussion whenever the work “ummm” or “like” is used. A “buzz” means your comment is over, and you’ve lost your turn to speak.

At first, eight out of ten comments were “buzzed”. The conversation moved forward in fits and starts, seemingly engulfed in an angry beehive. Many speakers were shocked at how often and how much they relied on filler words.

Now, after only two days, the use of filler words has dropped eighty percent or more.

The surprise? Discussions are now full of purposeful silence. Listeners lean into the conversation, engaged, instead of tuning out.

As a parent, this may be Acton Academy’s greatest gift to humanity, at least for our family.

A telling detail; a piece of moldy bread, an awkward pause….

January 23, 2013Detective Quest, QuestsCharlie, Coby, Jacksandefer

What do a telling detail; a piece of moldy bread and an awkward pause have in common? The are all part of a day of learning at Acton Academy.

Yesterday the Eagles were hard at work completing the first draft of their mystery stories. We even suspended journalling for most of the week, to allow for more time to add plenty of the telling details that make for excellent writing.

Then came project time, where the science of decomposition (moldy bread) and lie detection (an awkward pause) were two new skills Eagles needed to be investigate, practice and perfect as part of solving the “whodunnit” in our Detective Quest.

Learning to communicate and persuade in ways that matter in the lives of our Eagles. Putting science into action by practicing skills that not only help solve a quest, but will be used in real life for decades to come.

That’s the difference between “learning to do” and “learning to be” for our Eagles — and the monotony of regurgitating “learn to know” facts that soon will be forgotten.

Friday’s Lessons Learned

January 19, 2013Apprenticeships, Civilization, Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Distraction, Hero's Journey, Journalling, Math, Quests, Smart Goals, WritingClaire, Masonsandefer

At day’s end, Eagles reflected back to lessons learned from the morning’s weekly wrap-up, discussing the amount of effort they’d put into their work vs. the amount of payoff they received in terms of personal achievement and our classroom points-tracking system. In Core Skills they determined individually which work to focus on to best reach the goals they’d set for themselves on Monday.

While all journaled in hopes of winning the weekly writing contest (congratulations, Kenzie!), some focused on Khan skills, others on their Mystery Fiction writing, others on their Apprenticeship Quest work including some beautifully rendered Mind Maps.

Looking for tools to increase focus and help in their pursuit excellence, some students experimented with making their own “Claire Boxes”, named for the Eagle who first had the idea of creating a sensory-deprivation space to block out distraction and help her dive deeply into her independent work.Later in the History Yurt, all Eagles were able to enjoy special personal space with our new eye pillows; Eagles lay back with the lavendar-scented pillows weighing pleasantly against their eyelids and listened to stories from 17th Century England, including the military and political strategies of Oliver Cromwell during and after the English Civil War, and a look at daily London life through the diaries of Samuel Pepys. We learned that one of our Eagles’ ancestors was likely the actual executioner of King Charles! All students are working towards learning about their ancestry as part of their ongoing series of History Challenges.

Enjoy the three-day weekend and have a Happy MLK Day, see everyone on Tuesday!

“Dr. Watson, I presume?”

January 18, 2013Core Skills, Critiques, Culture, Detective Quest, Journey maps, Quests, Socratic, WritingClairesandefer

Our Detective Quest entered a new phase today.

Eagles added handwriting analysis and lie detection to their list of investigative tools.

And began to piece together all the clues, and to narrow in on a prime suspect.

Discussing and voting on the most important piece of advice offered by Sherlock Holmes.

Earlier Eagles met in small groups to critique the first drafts of their mystery stories, the best of these to be published in a collection at the end of the session.

Learning to do, in real world projects, where the end result matters.

Persuasion

January 18, 2013Communications, Core Skills, Rhetoric, Socraticsandefer

Many schools focus on subjects like math, reading and writing. At Acton Academy, we expand this list to include Socratic debate, public speaking and using video and other web based forms of communication.

But these are still just tools and skills. Our goal is to equip our Eagles to make decisions and persuade others, so they can change the world.

We launched the day by watching some of our previous class debates on Lucy, our new filming system that allows Eagles to critique their Socratic comments. Watching yourself on film is difficult, but there’s no faster way to improve the crispness and impact of your words.

We continued this theme later in the day with a Socratic discussion on rhetoric – working on persuasion while we practiced it in real time, debating a better system for class clean up at the end of the day.

Eagles explored how using the past tense in a discussion invites blame (“You should have…”) and the present tense suggests standing on principle (“We need to ____ because it’s the only fair thing to do.”) Using the past and present tense tends only to make others defensive or to puff up your own ego.

So we experimented with using the future tense – and offering questions to frame choices – as a way to move others to action. Even after only a few rounds of practice, our Eagles quickly realized the power of being able to frame the debate.

Some important lessons, in the words of our Eagles:

Your goal in a debate is to move others to action; not simply to win an argument.
Questions are more powerful than statements; and
Excellence requires the courage to look at yourself in the mirror (or on film.)

Another good day.

How do people learn?

January 16, 2013Apprenticeships, Consequences, Culture, Detective Quest, Eagle Buck-Pts, Guides, Hero's Journey, Journey maps, Launches, Quests, Socraticsandefer

How do people learn? An important question, and a reminder that “teaching” and “learning” are only loosely connected.

The article below summarizes some of the most recent discoveries about how people learn: http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/01/how-people-learn/

Here’s what we’ve found at Acton Academy:

1. Deep learning requires context. This means having a clear visual “journey map” and milestones ON THE WALL that our Eagles can track. (“You are here; Here’s where we have been; Here’s where we are going and WHY it matters”); plus a diagnostic Framework (“Below are some questions you can ask to decide what to do next.”)

2. Every launch must put students “in the shoes of a protagonist” facing a decision that will matter in their lives, and somehow will shape their identity and determine their destiny. Otherwise, who cares?

3. Our primary job is to set the rules and incentives so as to shape the learning environment. Then let the students learn through “learning to do.” Experiential learning is best; Socratic discussion next best. Experts/lectures are allowed, but Eagles can access this information on their own.

If we deliver:

1. End goals that add richness to our Eagle’s Hero’s Journeys;

2. Maps and milestones.

3. Frameworks; and

4. Enticing rules and incentives;

then great learning happens.

Here’s a photo of this morning’s launch. Below an example of a Mind Map for the upcoming Apprenticeships – Eagles learning to create their own visuals.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to equip students to create learning journeys, frameworks and incentive systems for themselves and others, so the “learning to learn” becomes a deeply imbedded habit, and one that spreads exponentially.

Learn Math; Forget Math; Learn Math Again

January 15, 2013Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Journey maps, Math, QuestsKenziesandefer

Learn math; forget math; learn math again.

Most of us learned math in school for a test; forgot the math; and learned it again when we had to use it in the real world.

Our first efforts weren’t wasted. Modern neuroscience suggests our early work was laying down pathways that made math easier to learn the second time.

Our experiences at Acton Academy are crystal clear on one count: there’s no more need for traditional math teachers. With game based adaptive programs like Khan Academy; Dreambox; ST Math and Manga High, students can learn math on their own and teach it to each other much more efficiently and effectively than with a traditional math teacher. Plus, Eagles can move at their own pace and have a lot more fun.

Perhaps even more importantly, a 70% score isn’t “passing;” in fact, even a 90% score won’t do. You have to work on a math subject until you master it, before moving on.

But let’s not kid ourselves, In time, this mastery will fade unless the skill is used repeatedly in the real world, in a way that matters. Only those neurological pathways will remain, waiting to be reactivated.

At Acton Academy, we try to put math skills to use as soon as possible. Today, Eagles worked to gather measurements from shoe impressions from a crime scene; sample the heights and shoe sizes of classmates; and use probabilities and ratios to predict the height of a possible suspect in the Detective Quest. In doing so, they had to create their own approaches and formulas – some admittedly a little complex and convoluted, but in the end all coming to the same answer.

Will our Eagles forget this math too? Surely. But they are less likely to forget the logic, reasoning and teamwork that was required to use the math to solve a real world problem.

This means our Eagles will want to learn more and more math and to put it to use, every repetition preparing another neural pathway, until the habits of math and science are deeply imbedded.

Writing their own stories, in every way…

January 11, 2013Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Launches, PE, Place, Quests, Storytelling, Trouble, WritingAna, Charlie, Ellie, Kenzie, Pacesandefer

Do what you say you’ll do, or follow your conscience? Do you have the courage to be honest about your choices? In this morning’s huddle, Eagles discussed adding a West Point-style honor code to their governance documents. At issue in particular is internet use during free time. While exploring the repercussions of offering our bodies junk or nourishment, and to what degree the level of tidiness reflects the learning space as a “landfill” or a Studio of Excellence, this age group is facing decisions re drawing boundaries for their interaction with the Web. Student-generated guidelines will be introduced tomorrow after a town hall-style debate, and the decision is firmly the students’ to make. Guides and parents stand together watching this important process, reinforcing the message that this is serious, the community is involved, and we absolutely trust you to argue with each other until you create an agreement that’s right for you.

Today saw the launch of Thursday morning Writers’ Workshops. First project, tying in with the afternoon hands-on Detective Science quest: write a great detective mystery. Eagles brainstormed about elements crucial to a great crime story, listened together to a classic Sherlock Holmes short, then revised their megalist to create their own rubric of excellence in crime/mystery fiction. Agreeing that a detective (whether casual or pro) is a crucial character, they used StoryMatic to jump start ideas for character generation. Until they didn’t. Whoops- a Guide set a guideline without thinking it through all the way to make sure there’s an ultimate WHY. Naturally many students rebelled; they can smell bogus a mile away. In this case, the students were set free to use StoryMatic, or not. Ask your Eagle which they chose. The MS’ers take this seriously at least in part because they know that what they do matters, and that they, as brave and thoughtful adventurers, are creating a path for others to follow.

New path in PE: after an invigorating awards ceremony with certificates for Olympic Champions (whoever exceeded their previous best by largest percentage increase) and trophies for Best Sportsmanship (congratulations Ellie and Pace!), down to the field for….. Wiffle Ball!

Ms. Anna and Ms. Terri challenged the D.I.T.s (that’s Detectives in Training) to learn the science behind fingerprinting and analyzing data from footprints left at a crime scene. Also a great lesson in following directions, as it turned out, and in cleaning as you go.

Tomorrow, a look at goal tracking for the week, a Town Hall meeting, the journal reflection contest, history in the yurt and a more meaningful version of (offline) Game Time.

Don’t Mess with Acton

January 10, 2013Culture, Launches, Troublesandefer

We’ve been struggling with afternoon clean-ups. The Tragedy of the Commons. Our promises as Guides means we don’t want to intervene from above.

All of this raises an interesting question. What works best for motivating a team – the carrot or the stick? Or something else?

Yesterday, we opened class with the “something else:” Showing a series of the “Don’t Mess with Texas” commercials.

In the 1980’s, Texas faced a crisis: its roads and beaches were littered with garbage. Large fines hadn’t helped. Neither had encouraging better behavior. But as our Eagles quickly realized, the “Don’t Mess With Texas” commercials appealed to Texas pride; Texans are different; we love Texas; therefore, we have too much pride to litter.

Our Eagles decided to appoint a committee to draft their own series of commercials to encourage Eagles to do a better job of cleaning up. Here are their first drafts:

Learning math; writing; science and other subjects is relatively easy. Properly motivated, Eagles love to learn. Learning how to motivate yourself and others? That’s a subject that takes a lifetime to master.

But our Eagles are off to a good start.

Back in the Flow

January 9, 2013Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Journey maps, Launches, Math, Quests, Smart Goals, WritingCoby, Jack, Masonsandefer

The first day back from break almost always is a challenge. The second day, better.

We opened with a clip from Whodunnit – a wonderful test of our Eagle’s observational powers. Attention to detail matters. It matters for a writer who uses crisp details to hook you into a story; it matters to a cook who needs “everything in its place;” it matters to a detective at a crime scene.

We also are tightening the focus on goals – long term goals for the session; weekly SMART goals; daily goal check ins with Running Partners.

After setting ambitious goals for all three, Eagles were back at work in Khan for math; were introduced to our new Mystery Writing challenge by Ms Abigail; and continued on their Detective Quest with hands on work collecting fingerprints and documenting a crime scene.

In Pursuit of Excellence

January 8, 2013Apprenticeships, Civilization, Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Hero's Journey, Journey maps, Launches, Math, Questssandefer

How do you encourage a learning community to strive for excellence? That was today’s challenge, with a roomful of energetic Eagles back from Christmas Break.

We opened the day debating whether our overarching goal this session should be Excellence or Mastery? Excellence won the day, based on the Eagle’s logic that the practice of Excellence must precede Mastery.

So Excellence became the “word of the session,” with signatures as a sign of commitment.

We continued with a review of the spring session, which will include a Crime Solving project and a reenactment of the Salem Witch Trial.

Silent Core Skills time began with Eagles setting long term Khan goals, including mastering the last of the basic math skill sets, before individual Eagles will be asked to choose whether to dive deeply into Algebra, Geometry or Trigonometry in a few weeks.

We followed with a Socratic Discussion about how you decide what book to read next. Should the decision be based on ”fun” or some other criteria? Fiction or non-fiction? Genre? A focus on the time period we’ll cover in History this spring (1600 to 1776); a scientific subject we’ll explore in projects like DNA or genetics or psychology? Improving a skill like writing or speech making? Or perhaps going deep into a biography of a hero.

Eagles get to choose what they read, but we want them to choose wisely.

Just before lunch we unveiled this spring’s plan for securing an apprenticeship in April, and how Mind Maps might encourage some new paths or people who can help.

Then after lunch, the launch of our newest project, using science to solve crimes, complete with a real crime scene.

How do you encourage a learning community to strive for excellence? Paint a vision of an exciting journey. Offer choices. Insist on clarity.

No guarantees, but a good start.

Our Hero's Journey

Acton Academy Middle School and Launchpad (High School)