One of the advantages of a 21st Century education is that once the learning community is formed and solidified, you can stay in touch with studio-mates and work from anywhere in the world.
Two of our Eagles have been on an around the world adventure for the last six months, working on Khan and journaling from the road and occasionally dropping in for a discussion via Skype.
Today, Ellie returned, to cheers and hugs all around.
Welcome back Ellie – we missed you!
Ellie has been an anchor in the Acton community ever since the was a Acton community. We will miss her dearly in the fall, but look forward to enjoying her adventures vicariously, and seeing her back on campus in December. We will also miss her incredible chops in the cake department!
On Thursday and Friday, we symbolically closed out the year as we started, with a ranch trip.
The first activities were three real world math experiments, designed by Eagles to introduce trigonometry, algebra and geometry.
For trigonometry, teams competed to solve a surveying problem that required calculating the hypotenuse of a right triangle, in order to earn the right to solve a trigonometry puzzle, which revealed the first clues of an algebra puzzle, that involved creating a human Cartesian grid to unearth buried treasure.
Next came a geometry challenge that led new meaning to the term Pi – as contestants had to find the real life area of an apple pie with one slice removed.
Did the math challenges go smoothly? No.
One of the challenges fell apart when a mistake was discovered and the instructions turned out to be confusing. A shouting match broke out between frustrated Eagles, leading to tears.
A disaster? Not at all. Everyone quickly made up and all was forgiven. But what wasn’t forgotten was the importance of prototyping field experiments before introducing them into the wild.
Next came competing on an obstacle course designed with input from the Navy Seals.
Two rules: “no person left behind” and “no one can re-enter the course after finishing.”
These rules put Eagles under stress, because after most had crossed the finish line, one Eagle sat down, “paralyzed” (following secret instructions from the Gamemakers.)
Would the Eagles listen to an adult and refuse to re-eneter the course or go to help their fallen comrade? Of course, most disobeyed the authority figure and rushed to help their fallen Eagle, the same Eagle who had bungled leading the math challenge, carrying him to victory.
Next it was time for swimming and watermelon eating by the river.
After swimming, time to gather five special objects, eat hamburgers and hot dogs and tour the ranch on a hayride looking for wildebeests, buffalo, elk, deer and other wildlife.
In the next post, our final ceremonies.
At Acton Academy, we see the summer session as six weeks of intentional celebration.
Yesterday, three middle schoolers were awarded Independent Learner badges in a school wide ceremony, symbolizing that they had completed all of the challenges necessary to become an Independent Learner. An elementary Eagle received his Independent Learner binder during the ceremony, signifying that he had completed all of the math, reading, writing and critical thinking prerequisites needed to start work on his Independent Learner challenges.
The Independent Learner; Running Partner; Socratic Guide; Project Leader and even more senior learning badges present challenges that Eagles need to master to run their own companies and not-for-profits. Each badge earned is a big event at Acton, and worthy of a celebration.
Intentional celebration can be just pure fun too, especially since Eagles are still learning long after most traditional schools have dismissed for the summer.
Today was “Crazy Hair” day, with the middle schoolers inviting the elementary Eagles over to serve them a surprise Ice Cream sundae party.
Learning can be fun and hard at the same time. It also can be intentional and celebrated — just like a Hero’s Journey.
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.
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.
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.
“Raise your hand if you’ve done any programing before” ( a smatter) “Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Java Script” (a few) “Raise your hand if you have no idea what I’m talking about” (several) :”That’s okay! We’re here to learn together.”
And Mason then led the wonderful group of 12 mixed-age Eagles, 3rd-7th grade, girls and boys, through a Socratic introduction to Comp Sci, taking well into account that some of the youngest had accrued more expertise than some of the oldest, but staying true to the Acton belief that every child is a genius that can change the world.
The joy the Eagles find in collaboration and the depth of learning that enables are humbling.
The future they will invent, rather than accept, will be a (perhaps complicated for those of us over 30) joy to behold.
“All rise. Court is in session.”
Today the Elementary and Middle School Eagles recreated the Salem Witch Trials.Would those accused of witchcraft and sowing illness in Salem hang or go free?
The setting was 17th century Salem, but Eagles were free to submit 21st century forensic science and psychology experiments as evidence.
Elementary Eagle Townspeople protested outside. Opening statements came from the prosecution and defense. Witnesses were questioned and cross examined. All written by the Eagles, based on 17th century characters they created.
Finally it was time for closing statements in the Middle School trial. Then the judge delivered instructions to the Parent Jury.
After fifteen minutes, the verdict was in: the defendants were “not guilty,” but asked to close a local bakery that may have been responsible for illnesses in Salem.
Case closed – and the end of another successful Quest.
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.)
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.
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.
The word “inspire” means to “to breathe life into.”
Our Middle School Eagles are full of life already, but have been even more inspired lately by earning the chance to guide Acton Elementary School Eagles in Math and Reading.
It’s important to note the word “guide” versus “teach.” We believe the deepest and most powerful learning comes from having a Socratic Guide as your partner, rather than suffering a lecturing adult teacher posing as an expert.
Our MS Eagles earn the right to guide an elementary school Eagle by completing a Learning Badge challenge. Each Learning Badge challenge earns the right to 30 minutes of guiding time, which comes with a learning covenant and feedback on the Guide’s performance. Complete a dozen or challenges and you earn a Learning Badge.
Our MS Eagles consider it a privilege worth working hard to earn, and are lining up to do so.
All Eagles will move from the Independent Learner badge to Running Partner to Socratic Guide to Project Guide to Curriculum Creator, until by high school each Eagle is capable of running a school (or company or non-profit) on their own.
Think of it. An army of bright young people guiding each other, delivering “learn to do” and “learn to be” skills and lessons better, faster and far less expensive than adults.
You might even call it a revolutionary idea.
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!!
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.
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. 
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! 
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!
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.
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.
Today our Eagles took advantage of a beautiful spring day for a spirited game of keep away.
“Keep away today; college tomorrow?” You might take that as a philosophical observation about the ephemeral nature of childhood. True, but not the whole truth.
Our Eagles are so far ahead academically that many soon will be taking college courses in high school (Maria Teresa at Acton Academy Guatemala, age 14, already is taking Harvard, Stanford quality level from Coursera, Udacity and EdX.)
Yesterday, a major accreditor announced that five MOOC’s (massive open online courses) may know be taken for college credit (note – most MOOC’s are free!)
The courses:
Expect hundreds more such courses, from elite universities, to follow soon.
Our Eagles will be well qualified for a four year, on campus experience at an Ivy League university; many of our families may choose to invest the hundreds of thousands of dollars required for such an enriching experience.
But the whole concept of a college education is changing so rapidly that the brightest and most motivated students may soon be able to gain all of the academic value from a college experience for pennies on the dollar.
If this comes to pass, our Eagles will be at the front of the line.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Our theme for the next four weeks is CELEBRATE!
Celebrate living in Austin; celebrate the holiday season; celebrate learning with friends at Acton Academy.
We started the day with dancing to Cool and the Gang – CELEBRATE!
Then we quickly settled into Core Skills, because fun and hard work aren’t mutually exclusive. All Eagles are now up to speed on Khan, with many approaching the 107 skills needed by semester break.
Towards the end of Core Skills, Claire and Jack held a Zombie story critique session with their with fellow writers and illustrators.
Then followed PE, lunch and Project Time with Ms Anna, where Eagles created new prototype games, in preparation for the public Acton Game Exposition to be held three weeks from Friday.
At closing group, the following exchange took place:
Guide: “What’s your biggest lesson learned on the first day back from Thanksgiving break?”
Eagle One: “It’s good to be back. It’s boring when school isn’t in session.”
Guide: ‘How many students in Austin do you think feel the same way?”
Eagle Two: “Fourteen.”
Eagle Three: “No, more like forty, because you have to count the (Acton Academy) elementary students too.”
No Boredom allowed. Fun. Hard work. Celebrating with friends.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Eagles are juggling up to five personal priorities/goals at the moment; some using the leadership rubrics we discussed, others struggling. Together, the class exceeded its goals of 140 Khan math skills added this week, but two Eagles failed to reach their minimum of 20 skills, so they did not earn the privilege of free time.
At Acton Academy, just like the real world, failure happens often, and is celebrated if it’s early and inexpensive, and leads to valuable lessons.
Friday we continued with our series of standardized reading and math tests, that we hope to wrap up soon (we consider these tests a necessary evil.)
On a positive note, Abigail introduced the new film project, our major writing and communication core skills challenge for the fall, which will involve pitching; story boarding, writing and shooting a film, the be show at the AAMS film festival in December.
Eagles watched trailers from the Toronto Film Festival and as they thought about their films and discussed: What is a film? What is a story? Is your life a story? What makes a good story? They explored the beginning, middle, end of a story and turning points, before dividing into groups to share ideas to compare and contrast various films.
Charlie, Ellie, Jack were elected to the first Governing Council, in a close contest, where all candidates were asked to read selections from The Prince warning about flattery. Next week – to the ranch, to apply science and math to the real world, in search of new paradigms!
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.
Students have been writing in their journals every day; some have been writing a lot; others far less. Today, we made our first major push into more serious writing.
After checking the day’s SMART goals in morning huddle, we dove straight into the writing project.
Eagles started by reading journal entries from four authors chosen by Ms Abigail: J.K. Rowling on inventing the word “horcrux;” Anne Frank’s diary; a post from an eighteen year old learning a lesson about “eye contact;” and an entry from a college student about his cat. As they read, each student noted the most powerful parts of each selection.
Next, we had a short Socratic discussion on what elements made for strong writing: “being specific;” “describing sights, smells, sounds, tastes and touch;” and “connecting with the reader’s emotions” were among the student’s observations. We also discussed “man vs man; man versus nature; and man versus himself/herself” as different ways to describe classic conflicts.
We then adjourned for each student to spend fifteen minutes of solitude considering the question: “At the end of your hero’s journey, which question will be most important to you: (1) Have I contributed something meaningful? (2) Was I a good person? or (3) Who did I love, and who loved me?”
Eagles then had thirty minutes to turn their ideas into a rough draft. As shown below, some wrote at desks; some in bean bag chairs; others outside near the lake.
After the drafts we complete, Eagles broke into groups of three, to read their favorite sentences, and receive affirmation and coaching from their peers, reinforcing the “power elements” they had identified before.
Two and a half hours of a concentrated writing workshop had passed in an instant, with the students making almost all of the discoveries. In the “lessons learned,” a powerful series of ideas surfaced about “how to write” (learn to do); about how writing affects your hero’s journey (learn to be) and about how the process we had used to create and critique writing could be improved.
In the afternoon, Eagles focused on their new MyHJ assignments of finding a Guide and Running Partner, and core skills.
Attached are some photos from the day, starting from the first hero’s walk (notice the first photo of Coach Carpenter on the lower left!
Thank you to Ms. Abigail and Ellie for these observations:
– Ellie took ownership of her new space and acted as a community-minded running buddy by being the first to volunteer to oversee/brainstorm room cleaning tasks
-Jack showed good leadership and listening skills when he volunteered to take a turn moderating the question session.
-Charlie, during art, relayed a story he’d read (about a girl who claimed her eyes were the biggest things in the world because they could contain everything she’s seen) that added dimension to the task at hand.
– Ellie would like to add that Pace was a great Socratic discussion leader during the part of the day when we broke into two groups to ask and answer questions from the question box