Tag Archives: Hayes

Hearts v. Brains

July 9, 2013Art, CivilizationAna, Claire, Coby, Crayton, Hayes, Pacesandefer

What’s inside you? What’s important?

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

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.

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.

The Charge of the Acton Brigade

June 29, 2013Culture, Ranch tripCharlie, Hayes, Masonsandefer

After the sunrise ceremony and breakfast at the ranch, it was time for one more round of fun.

The male Eagles had decided to play a game of capture the flag; the female Eagles would be armed with paint guns, laying down a murderous field of fire.

We assembled to read Lord Tennyson’s famous poem:

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho'(though) the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

The defenders took their position. The cavalry prepared to charge the artillery, even though they knew it was suicidal.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro’ the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

The slaughter was difficult to watch. Brave Hayes stormed the beach and fell.

Then Brave Mason would grab the flag before falling in a hail of gunshots, that seemed never ending. (Apparently “cease fire” sounds a lot like “keep firing” if you’ve never been to a firing range.)

Brave Charlie would capture the flag too.

Following paintball, more swimming and sack races and watermelon eating down by the swimming hole, until a tired band of Eagles gather up to go home.

It would be the last time the original cast would be together as one; next year we will add twelve new Eagles to the original band, and the following year twelve more.

It was a fitting celebration for our original band of pioneers, one that none of us will ever forget.

Closing Out With a Celebration

June 29, 2013Collaboration, Launches, Psychology Quest, Ranch trip, UncategorizedClaire, Ellie, Hayes, Jack, Sarahsandefer

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.

Summer: Intentional Celebration

June 7, 2013Culture, Hero's Journey, Independent LearnerCharlie, Ellie, Hayessandefer

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.

Speeches that change the world

May 24, 2013Core Skills, Exhibition, Hero's Journey, Quests, Speech Quest, SpeechesAna, Charlie, Claire, Coby, Crayton, Ellie, Hayes, Jack, Mason, Sarahsandefer

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.

From Tribes to Prison

March 14, 2013Psychology Quest, QuestsCharlie, Claire, Hayes, Kenzie, Pacesandefer

Today we continued the Psychology Quest by recreating (with kinder and gentler oversight) the Stanford Prison experiment made famous by Zimbardo, with Eagles tribal loyalties still fully intact.

During launch, Eagles were informed that there were secret police among them, armed with the power to arrest for a “lack of intention” or even on a whim. Tension was in the air during Core Skills.

Mid-morning, we paused to run the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and discussed what game theory can teach us about human nature; how “past determines the future” and the importance and fragility of trust.

Then, at 11 AM, one Eagle donned a hat, reflective sunglasses and a badge and made the first arrest. Soon, another arrest followed and more Eagles were deputized to serve as jailers.

At first, all of those jailed were Oranges, leading to charges of prejudice. Then a few Reds filled out the prison. Only a few Eagles remained as bystanders.

Grievances were filed. Privileges taken away. Punishments levied. Punishments increased. Soon a few guards – surprisingly some of the kindest Eagles – began to let power go to their heads. Duty became cruel delight.

One Eagle prisoner agreed to denounce his tribe (photo above as an Eagle changes his tribe colors); in a real prisoner’s dilemma bind, an Eagle ratted out an innocent classmate; another prisoner agree to become an informant in return for pay and privileges.

Before long, a number of Eagle prisoners were in solitary confinement. And even some taunting began. It was time to call the experiment before things got out of hand. (Guides commented how eerily the posing mimicked photos from Abu Graib.)

During a lengthy debrief, it was clear that powerful lessons had been learned, like:

“Given power, a human will become an animal;”
“Power hides the truth;” and
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Then it was time to heal the tribe. In a powerful ritual, the Eagles tied their tribal bandanas to a rope that was used in a trust exercise, and then following a discussion about and photos from Abu Graib and how each of our shadows can cause us to treat fellow human beings as objects, we buried our shadow objects and reunited a tribe.

Understanding the power of Tribes and Shadows. Feeling the power of a Shadow unleashed. Turning Shadows from projection to Gold. All experiences that leaders who will someday change the world should experience, long before they hold the corrupting influence of real world power in their hands.

freedom

March 3, 2013CultureHayessandefer

Being in charge of your own learning is difficult, crucial, and liberating.

Below, Eagles decompress by spontaneously designing and building a fort out of scrap lumber, sand castle-like in its joy and impermanence.

Later, an exuberant visit to the construction site that will soon become our new roost!

Enlightened trial and error

December 14, 2012Civilization, Communications, Critiques, Culture, Hero's Journey, Journalling, Journey maps, SocraticHayes, Masonsandefer

“You can do it! You will have many more opportunities. I will help you if you want help.”

“It’s okay- let’s do it again, so you can get it”, because I do not want them to go through life thinking , “If I fail, it means I’m not supposed to do this”.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Let’s try again.”

These are some of the words the Eagles wrote in their journals this morning as they considered what to say to a friend who fails to reach a goal. The question arose: would you rather work with a partner who succeeds when you fail, or who fails with you? Many stated that they’d want to work with someone who succeeds, so they can learn from that person. Some preferred the idea of learning alongside someone on the same level, making mistakes together, growing together.

“An unstoppable force!” is how one Eagle described a team where one partner’s strengths complement the other’s weaknesses, and vice-versa.

At the start of history class, Ms. Laura asked students: what motivates you? why do you work as hard as you do? and after collecting responses, did a beautiful job of refreshing everyone’s memory about the meaning of Socratic discussion: Socratic discussion is not a debate, it’s a principled discussion. There’s no argument to be won; the point is to seek truth, to seek a new perspective. With these reminders, the Eagles participated in student-led Socratic discovery about exploration before lying down to listen to the story of the rise and fall of Dutch New Amsterdam in the New World.

Teamwork was spotlighted during project time, launched by Ms. Anna with a clip about the product design firm Ideo. The Eagles were taken with this radical approach to collaboration and remarked about how “constructive rather than destructive chaos” could lead to great things. They got to put the concept into action by dividing into small teams to critique each others’ games (link to the ideo video: http://vimeo.com/21086801 use password:academy), reporting afterwards how helpful the extra brain power was in improving their work, experiencing first hand the Ideo mantra of “Enlightened trial and error” outpeforming the “planning of a lone genius”.

The school day closed with a revisit to our Hero’s Journey map, as we come close to the end of this first semester at Acton. The questions of Who am I? What promises must be made and kept? Who’s walking with me? have taken on visceral meaning for these young adults as they’ve looked deep within and asked themselves tough questions, worked hard to fine-tune and adhere to their own systems of self-management, decision making and accountability, and collaborated with running partners and small groups on film and other projects.

But for our Heroes, the learning doesn’t stop at 3:15. Except for a handful of Eagles whose intense sports commitments preclude it, Thursdays are chess club day. Carpe Diem!

Having Fun versus Working Hard

December 11, 20123D Game Lab - Probability, Core Skills, Critiques, Culture, Hero Story, Hero's Journey, Quests, Smart Goals, StorytellingClaire, Crayton, Hayes, Sarahsandefer

So how do you inspire Eagles take control of their own learning? Not an easy question.

Here’s a start. Today’s launch featured three stories:

1. 18-year-old Stacey Ferreira saw a tweet from entrepreneur Richard Branson about a charity event he was sponsoring , flew halfway across the country to meet him and left with $400,000 in funding for her new website.

2. Harvard Education professor Richard Elmore, who has observed over 2,000 classrooms, writes a blog post blasting traditional schools as “custodial institutions, designed to hold adolescents out of the labor force and to socialize them to adult control” adding that the “only other public institution in our society that works this way…is the prison system.”

3. A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs announces a new school where “every child is a genius,” giving credit for its inspiration to Acton Academy.

Stacey Ferreira is a hero who shows what our Eagles can accomplish. Professor Elmore paints a dismal picture of the educational alternatives. The Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are proof that what our Eagles’ efforts matter in the world.

During the day, progress continues in Core Skills, including an early glimpse of math in spring, where Eagles will choose independent paths in either Geometry, Algebra or Trigonometry. We also debate a change in self-governance designed to simplify SMART goals.

One Eagle pays off the loan she took out to start the school store:

In the afternoon, Eagles work hard on their Game Quest, some creating board games, others making electronic games, all knowing that next week’s public demonstration is fast approaching:

Story lines and critical thinking are stressed below.

Near the end of the afternoon, two Eagles demonstrate their game prototypes and receive formal critiques.

The end of the day discussion asks what advice our Eagles would offer to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Is “hard work” or “fun” more important for creating the right learning environment? Which should be stressed first? Should the approach in the elementary school be different than the middle school?

No two students can agree. And that’s exactly the point.

Learning to set your own standards

December 4, 2012Critiques, Culture, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Town HallCharlie, Coby, Hayes, Pace, Sarahsandefer

At Acton Academy, we turn over the governance of the classroom to Eagles. Above, the past Council met with its recently elected replacements to discuss ways to inspire their fellow travelers to even greater heights.

Why do we trust the setting, encouragement and enforcement of maintaining incredibly high community learning standards to a group of students? Because they govern themselves far better than if lorded over by adults. And because we want our Eagles to be leaders, not rule followers.

So how does a beginning author or artist or game designer set their own standards of excellence? By looking at world class examples and comparing those to his or her first attempts.

Below, photos of Eagles creating and comparing prototype games.

And most importantly, the criteria they developed to judge whether or not a game is “world class.”

Here, an example of a group critique in action.

Because if you can learn to set your own standards; set them high; judge your progress draft after draft, gathering honest critiques as you move towards excellence, you are well on your way to the mastery of any skill, craft or art.

Learning to Gamble – Not!

November 19, 20123D Game Lab - Probability, Exhibition, QuestsCharlie, Claire, Hayes, Kenzie, Mason, Sarahsandefer

Friday was Casino Day at Acton, as Eagles spent the afternoon putting their new found probability skills to the test at Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and other games of luck (and some skill.)

Each Eagle traded in Eagles Bucks for chips, and kept careful track of the number of plays, amount wagered and won and lost at each game. The goal was to decide which game offered the best odds, and why.

The overall lesson – games of chance are not a good bet. Eventually, the law of large numbers means you will lose!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch….

September 27, 2012Culture, Film, Hero's Journey, Ranch trip, Science, UncategorizedHayes, Jacksandefer

A pretty amazing two days of scientific experimentation “in the wild.”

We started our scientific expedition with a Socratic discussion on the one hour drive to the ranch. Eagles debated: (a) which of the six experiments we would conduct was the most important to the world (see previous post); (b) whether or not it would be because of the sheer value of discovery, invention or innovation; and (c) whether the scientific role of Paradigm Buster; Puzzle Poser or Data-Gatherer best suited their personal gifts.

Eagles also practiced their “paradigm video” stories, and in each car we developed “rules of engagement” as to how scientists would act on a real expedition (these would be combined to determine how we worked with each other on the trip.)

As soon as we arrived, it was time for science – and the chance to earn the ingredients for smore’s by solving scientific puzzles . Some photos from a few of the real world challenges:

Using trigonometry to find the height of a tree (also helpful for navigation.)

Levers – “Give me a place to stand and I’ll move the world!”

Using the Pythagorean theory for surveying.

Archimedes and buoyancy: “Is the crown pure gold or not?”

Even scientists need some fun – so we took a break for obstacle course practice and a swim in the river.

Below, Mr. Temp leads a Hero’s Journey session about picking role models for Stars and Steppingstones interviews.

Above, our experiments with Radians and the Heavens is thwarted by an overcast, but we were entertained by star gazing myths, smore’s and the Eagles’ gratitude moments. Some of us even got a few hours of sleep.

We ended the trip with a pre-dawn ceremony at the top of Lone Mountain – 360 degree views for miles around — with each Eagle leaving his or her gratitude object, and seeing for the first time the Founding Eagle’s plaque that will forever mark the pioneering efforts of this first Eagle Middle school class.

Then it was back to Austin, on the way listening to stories about Archimedes, Copernicus and Galileo, in preparation for next week’s debate. (And yes, a few Eagles even took a nap when we got back.)

Many thanks for all the parents and Guides who joined in for the adventure!

3. Finally, and most importantly, ask what behaviors would be appropriate for a scientist on an important scientific mission. Ask one student to keep a list that we can discuss when you arrive.

Acton Olympics

September 10, 2012PEAna, Hayes, Sarahsandefer

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.

Our Hero's Journey

Acton Academy Middle School and Launchpad (High School)