Tag Archives: Ana

Hearts v. Brains

Art, Civilization, , , , ,

What’s inside you?  What’s important?

This is Acton- take a side!  Learn, choose, defend, learn more, listen, and  maybe change your mind.Image

It’s July 8th.  Most friends are out of school, and unlike the peers of the Elementary School Eagles, most of these friends are old enough to be left to their own devices (of course, school starts again for those friends about 3 weeks before Acton starts… hard satisfaction to enjoy right now).

But at Acton, it’s cool despite the heat.  The Eagles gamely undertook a mini-project, Hearts V.Brains, and will compete for most persuasive argument on Wednesday.

During free time, they played in the rain.

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A grand sweep of the classroom in anticipation of our move to the new Studio yielded a happy surprise- Eagles’ pastel paintings of their earliest selves, done early in the school year.  As we focus in on our year-long exploration of whether the past determines the future, we lucked upon these remnants and touchstones that help us delineate the journey and the lessons learned.

So what is it- hearts or brains?  We’ll find out Wednesday from the Eagles, but for now, see below, this makes me happy in both ways and I hope it has the same affect on you.

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The pros and cons of adaptability

Core Skills, Testing, , ,

Standardized tests for highly unique individuals?  Hmm.  Data gathering is interesting, and Eagles, parents and guides share curiosity as to how the learning that happens at Acton translates when compared to schools that “teach to the test”.  The Eagles underwent zero prep for these tests, and are not used to working with a timer ticking down the seconds.  “Is the point to understand the material, or to check a box before the timer runs out?”  one Eagle wondered aloud.  The vibe in the learning studio Monday morning was icky with stress.Image

Tuesday morning was better.  A fun Othello craze swept the room during free time.  Venting during debriefing discussions seemed to help. One Eagle who’d been in tears on Monday wore a relaxed smile on Tuesday.

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But adaptability can be bittersweet.  A Krishnamurti quote comes to mind: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”  A bit dramatic for these circumstances perhaps, but the worst part of the testing process from a cultural standpoint has naught to do with the tests themselves and everything to do with the disintegration  of the disciplined independence the Eagles have so carefully cultivated over the course of the year.  Heroes in charge of their own destiny reverting to asking permission to use the restroom?  Alas.  But one morning of testing was all it took (and we’ve got three).  Fortunately, the days come fortified with afternoons as well- stay tuned for a more upbeat report on what’s been happening during the less robotic part of the week (hint:  speaking of independence…).

Who won?

PE,

Coach Carpenter made a special appearance in the Middle School Studio this afternoon.  And wearing a suit (not talking about the Speedo Laura gave him after the Olympics)!  The Eagles wondered: WHY?

“You just got back from a business trip?”

“You are heading to Ellie’s dance performance after this?”

Wrong, he informed them.  The suit is for YOU.

After a year of working with these amazing young people- driven and highly competitive, yet kind. Empathetic. Honest, and able to applaud the best in themselves, their team mates and their competitors.  After a year of this, Coach C came in with data both hard and soft, and certificates and medals for both.

Hard data:  School-wide push-up champ knocked out 70  in one minute, which, more importantly, was an improvement of mega-percents over her own previous record.   Similar stats for our 40-yd dash winner and our mile-run champ.

But the inarguable climax of the ceremony was when Coach invited the Good Sport winners of last semester to stand and deliver the trophies to the newest Good Sports.  How appropriate to have Eagles deliver the news, as they all voted on the issue with no input from any guides.

So who won?  Speculation crossed the room; names thrown out, it could have been anyone.  It could actually have been anyone.  They’re that good.

Congratulations to all the Eagles on their efforts, improvements, and sportsmanship this year- and congrats to Ana and Mason for being….drum roll…. Good Sports of the Semester!

And a HUGE thank you to Coach Carpenter for being a great role model, setting a high bar for the Eagles, and guiding them to value sportsmanship even more than winning… or at least act that way:).

Thanks to the Eagles’ fantastic sportsmanship, everybody won.

(Except the Spurs, unfortunately….)

Speeches that change the world

Core Skills, Exhibition, Hero's Journey, Quests, Speech Quest, Speeches, , , , , , , , ,

Winston Churchill.

Martin Luther King.

Ronald Reagan.

At key turning points, great leaders use powerful words to change the world.

Yesterday, each MS Eagle gave an original ten minute speech, standing in the shoes of a great leader, at a particular place and time. Winston Churchill; George S Patton; Joan of Arc; Nat Turner; Sam Houston; Ethan Allen; Pocahontas; William B Travis; George Washington and others.

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Over a six week period, draft after draft of the speeches were written, focusing on Ideas; Organization; Sentence Fluency; Word Choice; Voice and Convention (grammar.)  Peer critiques were provided, but not one word of text was changed because of advice from an adult Guide.

Then time to verbally draft.  To listen for which words had impact, cadence and flow; to eliminate others.  To hone the delivery and solicit the advice of peers.  Could middle schoolers really teach each other how to give powerful speeches?

Yesterday, we found out the answer, in front of a roomful of parents, elementary school Eagles and other guests.  The results were stunning.  Truly stunning.  At times you felt that Churchill or Houston or Joan of Arc were in the room.  The words were beautiful.  So were the deliveries.

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Then time for a celebration.  A well earned celebration.

Our Eagles now know that when called on to give a world changing speech, they can deliver.  Quite a skill to have in your quiver.  Even more amazing that you and your friends taught each other how to do it.

The Alchemists

Communications, Core Skills, Hero's Journey, Quests, Speech Quest, Speeches,

Being on a Hero’s Journey is not easy at any age.  Heroes face challenges, they fail and get up again, they take risks, they show vulnerability.  And they use their natural gifts and the tools they’ve developed along the way to guide themselves forward.

Changing the world is hard work, as is writing a speech that you’ll soon deliver in public.  Planning a trip for the first time can be a tremendous challenge, but even if you’ve done it before, troubleshooting all the potential pitfalls and organizing myriad details is hard work.  And can be extremely…. stressful.

Some say young people should be protected from stress; others say they should “learn to deal with it”.  Maybe there’s some truth in both approaches, but the Eagles have found a third way.  Drawing upon the work they did finding and understanding their own “shadow selves”, and then finding the gold in those shadows, Eagles are teaching themselves and each other to find the gold in the stress and transform those negative feelings into tools they can use to increase their focus and commitment to the tasks at hand.   Alchemize stress into productivity, using their gifts and the tools they’ve aquired along their journey so far? If anyone can do it, it’s the Eagles.  Foremost among those tools:  friendship.

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Welcome back – at least to a few

Apprenticeships, Hero's Journey

Today was our first day back from a two week Spring Break, at least for a few Eagles.

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As you’ll see from the photo above, we had quite a few “no shows” this morning. Sleeping in? Spring Fever?  A flu epidemic?

Not hardly.

You see, many of our Eagles are working at their apprenticeships.  For some, what was meant to be a four day experiment has turned into a two week (or longer) assignment.

One Eagle emailed last night about her apprenticeship:

“I’m glad to say that  things have been great!  I’m learning about all of the positions and roles in the communication department, sitting in on meetings and learning SO much.  Everybody here is so kind and it’s inspiring how they’re doing something meaningful.

In fact, tomorrow I will be working so I won’t be able to come to school.  Hopefully, for the rest of the week I’ll be able to come for at least part of the school day.”

Later I heard from her mother that this Eagle hated to miss the first day back, but “had a 2 PM meeting that was too important to miss.”

Eleven years old, and already too busy changing the world to rush back to school.

Don’t worry. She’s several years ahead of grade level, so this industrious Eagle — working on the side — is still likely to finish her high school academic requirements while she is still in middle school.

Work hard. Play harder.

Consequences, Core Skills, Culture, Eagle Buck-Pts, Math, Smart Goals, , , ,

Eagles work hard. Every week.

Want some proof? Since January each Eagle has logged an average of 1904 minutes on Khan – that’s five hours per week of activity.  And since each minute logged on Khan comes with another minute or so of focus, it’s really more like two hours a day of intensive math.

Some Eagles are quicker on math; others have to put in more time to master a skill.  Thankfully, every Eagle can move at his or her own pace.  And Eagles help each other, as long as they remain in a purely Socratic mode.

Our middle schoolers are on pace to master Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra by the end of spring.  Every Eagle. Not a passing grade of 70. Not even an excellent grade of 90. Mastery.  One hundred percent mastery.

At this pace, all of our Eagles would be through Calculus by spring of 2014.  Through Calculus. Before high school begins.  (Yes, they’ll probably slow down.  Still, a torrid pace.)

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Here’s a shot of the Eagle Scoreboard, a compilation of their individual SMART goals, displayed for all to see.  It’s a visual reminder of all the hours of hard work in various subjects, with each goal set by an individual.

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Eagles work hard.  So by Friday afternoon it’s time for an hour of Monopoly or Life or even a few hands of poker.

Games?  Surely a waste of time. Absolutely, unless you are interested in critical thinking, mastering probabilities, learning about human nature or social skills.

Work hard. Play harder.

Just Another Friday (guest bloggers: the MS girls)

Culture, , ,

Today was a great Friday at Acton Academy Middle School.  After a focused, intentional day of learning and Socratic discussion, the boys left early for AirSoft.  The girls didn’t expect anything unusual to happen, but as soon as the boys left, Ms. Abigail had a surprise for us….as soon as the boys were out of sight, all the girls piled into a car, wondering where they were heading.  After a few hours we started seeing signs for Six Flags!!

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After we made it through the gate, we rode roller coasters 200 feet high going down at a speed of almost 100 mph!  After we were done doing roller coasters, we hopped on a bus and Ms. Abigail said, “We’re going to the airport.”  As soon as we got to the airport Taylor Swift was there!  The girls waved frantically at her, yelling “Taylor! Taylor!” but she ignored them because she’s a snooty famous person and she was in first class, while we were in regular class with a throwing up man, a crying baby and a whiny five-year-old kicking the backs of our seats and begging for a cookie.Image

As we were buckling up the stewardess came by and asked us if we wanted pillows for our flight to ENGLAND!  When we got to England, we were greeted by Queen Elizabeth.  Image

Then as we got to the castle, everyone from One Direction rode in on unicorns with bagels and cream cheese (butter for Claire) for all of us!  Image

Then One Direction started performing live and all the girls were eating bagels.  Then an alien rocket came down and took us all in their UFO back home!

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Apprenticeships: Ready for Lift Off

Apprenticeships, Communications, Core Skills, Hero's Journey, Pitches, Psychology Quest, Quests, Speeches, , ,

We launched this morning by listening to Ronald Reagan’s Challenger speech and comparing it to Franklin Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address.

The goal is to have Eagles luxuriate in great speeches – soaking in the most powerful words, phrases and symbols as they listen and observe more intentionally.

Next session each Eagle each will choose a historical figure and write and deliver a speech as that character, at an important time and place.

This morning Eagles rehearsed and polished their final Apprenticeship pitches – determined to secure each a real world apprenticeship by April.

  • How do you grab someone’s attention early in an email, call or in person meeting, long enough to ask an important question?
  • How do you explain a complex idea like an apprenticeship, in just a few words?
  • How do you ask for the job; clearly, directly in a way that’s difficult to refuse?

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Bravely, our Eagles explored these questions and prepared for the “Big Ask” next week.

Then, in the afternoon, ink blot tests and more Jungian dream analysis, the beginning of understanding the power of that FDR and Reagan’s symbols – and especially the Hero’s Journey — are deep inside each one of us.

Inner work and the dreams of heroes

Art, Culture, Journey maps, Psychology Quest, Quests, , , , ,

This week our Detectives-in-Training become Forensic Psychologists in training, as our Eagles begin to dig into their own inner worlds.

Why do some people keep repeating unhelpful behaviors?  How can understanding yourself make you a more successful athlete or a better friend?  How can you decide whether the boy or girl you just met is the “right one” for you or a passing infatuation?

All pressing questions for middle school students.

During the next five weeks in the Psychology Quest, we’ll explore dreams, the shadow self (projecting); active imagination, scapegoating and mob mentality, all as the Eagles began preparing for a reenactment of the Salem Witch trials with modern day forensics.

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On Day One of the Psychology Quest, Eagles were introduced to Carl Jung as a hero, and explored the unconscious, sub-conscious and conscious mind through word association, free drawing and free sculpting.

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A psychologist would have a field day with the symbols, archetypes and emotions that poured out.

Our Eagles also received dream journals and pledged to start recording their nightly dreams, for later analysis.

Let the dreams begin!

Writing their own stories, in every way…

Core Skills, Culture, Detective Quest, Launches, PE, Place, Quests, Storytelling, Trouble, Writing, , , ,

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.
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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.

Intuition, Martian colonies, and expensive scissors

Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Film, Hero Story, Hero's Journey, Journalling, Smart Goals, Socratic, ,

What are the differences between logic, emotion and intuition? Can you imagine circumstances where you’d be wise to use one over the other to make the very best decision?
After pondering these questions in a Socratic discussion, Eagles dove into their core skills work, paying extra attention to their SMART goals tracking as they prepared their end-of-week wrap-ups. Jack won our Friday journal reflection contest, with his response to “What’s the hardest thing you did this week?” (finishing the production leg of The Bandit film; he was lauded by peers for his excellent word choice, details, and dash of humor).

The morning ended with a debate about whether or not humans should colonize Mars, a la Elon Musk’s long-term vision for SpaceX. Eagles implemented terrific discussion skills: “Building on what Mason said, …” “I STRONGLY disagree with Charlie…..”, “I agree with Jack, and I’d like to add….”. One usually vocal student stayed silent until the end: “At first I didn’t have a strong opinion one way or the other, but after listening to the points everyone’s been making, while I really see the value in what Charlie’s saying, I agree with Mason, because…”
It’s inspiring to observe these young men and women listening intently to one another, learning from their peers, and ultimately forming their own opinions.
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While most of the Eagles played outdoors during free time, two – then three- then four as the desire to pitch in spread- stayed in to surprise their classmates with a pop-up dance and cupcake party, complete with streamers and helium balloons!
This session’ s theme of celebration seemed to have struck a chord. Special thanks to Ellie and Ana for their thoughtfulness.
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After lunch, special guest filmmaker Brandon Dickerson joined us for an editing workshop- not a teacher lecturing to class about how to edit, but a professional bringing in his current project for a hands-on work session.  The Eagles prepared by reading over the bit of screenplay (Scene 41) that corresponded to the footage they were going to watch, and examining a set diagram to imagine how the actors would move through the scene.  After introducing his fancy new editing software while reminding us that all editing tools are basically “expensive scissors”,  Brandon screened his footage.  (Heated, of course) discussion ensued regarding which takes to use and how to cut them together to best tell the story.
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Afterwards, during an abbreviated version of our usual Friday game time, a guide became so involved in an intense Boggle match that she forgot to keep an eye on the clock…. fortunately one of our student leaders realized it was five minutes past time to clean up for the weekend, and the Eagles worked together to get the job done.
Cooperation, respectful disagreement, spirited competition, and community celebration made for a fabulous Friday at Acton Academy!

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Apprentice scientists prepare for real world science

Communications, Culture, Film, Ranch trip, Science, Uncategorized, ,

We lightened the core skills workload today, focusing our Khan work on the Pythagorean Theory in order to get ready for our “applied science” ranch trip on Wednesday

Ms Abigail continued her discussion with students about what makes a good story, including a “save the cat” moment to make your lead character likable. Eagles will be practicing their storytelling, writing and filmmaking skills, first honing their scientific paradigm stories, and then shortly thereafter beginning work on a separate film project that will require them to create, pitch, write and film on the question: “Does the past determine the future?”

During project time, Eagles broke into teams to make sundials, inclinometers and star finders that they will use to execute real world science experiments on the ranch.

What’s your paradigm?

Communications, Math, PE, Reading, Science, ,

After a morning of core skills and reading, writing and math – and PE –  today in project time we introduced our first scientific challenge.

Unlike many schools, which focus on the scientific method itself as the glue for a disparate smorgasbord of scientific topis, and often veer dangerously close to Scientism (science explains everything), we’re going to take a more Socratic, skeptical – and, well – scientific view of science as a whole, and expand from scientific discovery alone, to include invention and innovation.

That means using Thomas Kuhn’s Theory of Scientific Revolutions – or paradigm shifts – as our jumping off place.  So today we introduced a series of challenges about paradigms and watched videos on the topic and discussed the following questions:

1. What is more important in science – the scientific method itself or paradigm shifts?

2. Who accomplishes more: paradigm busters; those who pose and ponder puzzles; or those who do the hard work of collecting data?

3.  What matters more: discovery, invention or innovation?

Eagles then chose from a list of scientific heroes and paradigms the one person and period they wanted to research and soon were hard at work.  We’ll get to see their work in  an end of session public demonstration.

Above – students signing up for their scientific heroes and paradigms.

Next week – the ranch trip, where we will apply math and the scientific method in the real world.

Below: Eagles at the new Acton Bistro.

Acton Olympics

PE, ,

A big day for both the elementary and middle school students with the Acton Olympics – well done Coach Carpenter!   Middle school students competed in the mile run, 40 yard dash, plank hold, push ups and other events, setting personal records that they will work to surpass all year – and with enough improvement as a team, earn a special prize from Coach C.

Afterwards in the classroom, we had an intense discussion about “Why are you here?” that would have warmed the heart of any parent – special kudos to Jack for his description of “being placed on the earth to do something important,” his willingness to stand out “dressed in yellow, even if everyone else is dressed in black;” his belief that “fun” and “hard” are not opposites, and that “making a joke” out of your life or another’s life isn’t’t something Eagles should tolerate.

Thanks too for Sarah’s courage to take a stand counter to the rest of the group; Hayes’ amazing display of Socratic skills and Ana’s testimony as to the preciousness of life.

Finally, we closed out with more hard work on setting SMART goals, the Student Contract and Rules of Engagement.  Tomorrow, we go deep into core skills and accountability.