Category Archives: Collaboration

Please, can it be my turn to pick up the trash?

June 6, 2014Collaboration, Culture, Guidessandefer

What to do? Strong spring winds and lots of Eagle play spread small pieces of trash across the campus.

Should Guides pick it up? Surely not, because the campus belongs to the Eagles.

Should we order the Eagles to police the area? That wouldn’t be very Acton-like.

Instead, the Middle School Eagles were treated to a challenge. Tom Sawyer convinced a friend that fence painting was a special honor. Could they concoct a scheme to inspire Elementary Eagles to pick up the trash?

The MS Eagles went to work. A game was created. Roles set. Rewards invented.

Soon eager cries were heard downstairs. Before long, bags full of trash appeared and the campus was pristine.

Let’s just call it a double-Tom Sawyer moment.

The Most Important Processes of All

May 30, 2014Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Culturesandefer

A process is a step by step progression of tasks needed to accomplish an important goal, in a timely manner, with limited resources. Exposure to and practice with processes are perhaps our most important tools for our “learn to do” and “learn to be” work in the studios. During the 2012-13 school year, we cataloged thirty seven major processes that Eagles learned to use in real world challenges.

At the end of Session Six, Eagles paused to reflect on the most important processes used this year. Was it the Socratic Method; The Scientific Method; initiating a life changing conversation; conducting a world changing interview or securing an apprenticeship?

All of the processes above were mentioned, but a consensus quickly formed around the two most important processes: (1) Time Management and (2) Self Governance.

When asked why, Eagles responded:

“Because rich or poor, powerful or not, each person only has twenty four hours in a day.”
“Setting priorities helps me use my gifts to their full potential.”
“Leading people is difficult; so is knowing how to choose a leader and when it is your time to follow;” and finally
“These processes teach you about yourself and what you need to change to live a hero’s life, which is the most difficult challenge of all.”

No wonder these two processes take so much time, effort and practice. It’s because along with courage, they are the very foundation of the Hero’s Journey.

10 Things That Will Surprise You If You Put Kids In Charge

May 28, 2014Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Culture, Guidessandefer

Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be an Acton Academy Guide?

If so, check out 10 Things That Will Surprise You If You Put Kids In Charge from Edsurge.com. You might be surprised by what we are learning from the Eagles.

What constitutes “help” in Math?

March 25, 2014Collaboration, Core Skills, Culture, Math, Town Hallsandefer

We haven’t spent one minute “teaching” math. Not one minute. So far, Eagles have learned math from Khan Academy; ST Math; Dreambox; Manga High; ALEX and other game based, adaptive programs.

Eagles have been progressing through Pre-Algebra at a rapid rate. One Eagle has finished most of Pre-Algebra; Algebra; Trigonometry and Geometry in six months. At this rate, she will master twelve years of traditional school math in less than one year.

Eagles are free to help each other, as long as they stay in “Socratic Mode,” asking questions but not giving answers.

Lately, a bit of controversy has arisen, and a flurry of emails. The Council ruled (unilaterally) that even Socratic help cannot be offered during the final Khan Mastery Quiz, so that each person proves they have mastered the material before moving on. Others believe Socratic help is within the student contract.

Here are excerpts from the back and forth on email:

From a Council Member:

A lot of people have been complaining about the new Khan rules, but I will tell you why they are necessary.

If you have heard of the rubber band theory, good for you. If you haven’t, it’s this:

When you learn something, a mental rubber band forms around that skill in the brain, even if you get it with help. But from there on, if someone helps you on the problem, (even socratic help, Ben!) that rubber band does not form another one. But if you do it on your own, another rubber band forms. And you get better and better.

The reason Council made this rule, is so those rubber bands form, and you can go into calculus knowing what you’re doing. Now a lot of people might say that it’s their problem, and it’s fine, and they will have problems, and this school gives emphasis on one another helping each other, not the Guides. But something our school focuses even more strongly on, is best work. If you go into calculus not knowing what you are doing.

That is also why I refrain from helping people on their last problem, because if they have already gotten 4 problems correct by guesstimating, than they won’t understand the last one, no matter how Socratically you explain, that rubber band will not form.

Another Eagle supported the Council:

I wouldn’t go with the easy way out in this case… remember how none of us really learned everything we did last year on Khan? It was because we would get someone to help us on a skill and move on. Check it off, and forget. That obviously was not the correct way to approach Khan.

A third Eagle disagreed:

Socratic help is perfectly fine, what isn’t fine is when people give the answers; which is a whole different problem.

A forth Eagle reported:

Math is getting harder, so my parents can’t help me as much.

And finally:

When I was in second grade (at a different school) I learned complicated algebra, by using a bead chain system. The bead chains were just a way to help me understand the problems better. BUT, when I got to third grade and I had come to Acton, the bead chains were not there, so I forgot how to do that complicated algebra. The bead chains were just a way to help me understand it better, just like Socratic help, but since they were not there I forgot how to do that type of math and I had to learn it all over again. That is why you need to learn it by yourself.

This is a powerful view into how learning really works in a community. An open and honest debate about standards. A discussion of what types of assistance help and which hurt. Deep insights concerning the effort required to grow.

There will be further bumps in the road. Before long, Eagles may need to band together in small groups to watch Khan videos in sequence, as the math becomes more difficult. Several are making plans to do so already, and Eagles no doubt will have to reach beyond Khan for even better resources.

But in the end, they will understand math far more deeply than students from a traditional classroom, because they own the process. No doubt, they will have learned a great deal more about grit and learning as well.

Gamifying motivation.

February 26, 2014Collaboration, Consequences, Critiques, Culture, Energy and flow, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Feedback, Guides, Quests, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

What do Guides at Acton Academy actually do, if we never teach or respond to questions?

The answer – we’re Game Makers. We describe an exciting end goal, design the incentives, suggest a few boundaries or rules, provide a list of tools and process — and then get out of the way. Our goal is to inspire Eagles to pack as much learning into the day as possible.

Take for example, this session’s Creator Speech Quest. First, each Eagle chooses a Scientific Explorer of Ideas (a paradigm buster); Innovator or Inventor. Five weeks from now, at the public exhibition, each will deliver an original four minute “hero’s journey” speech from the shoes of their Creator and unveil a Rube Goldberg device that celebrates the scientific contributions of their hero.

Here’s the catch – a maximum of eight Creators per category will be allowed to speak. So who determines which Eagle qualifies for which spot? The Eagles themselves.

1. First, all Eagles in a category deliver a two minute pitch displaying their research and mind map, asking to be “green lighted” (approved.) Everyone in the group rates each pitch and provides warm and cool critiques.

2. The top rated 2/3 of the group (a maximum of five) are elected to be the Excellence Committee for that group. The Excellence Committee decides whether those receiving a lower rating should be admitted immediately (up to a maximum of eight) or asked to do more research and polishing and then pitch again.

3. What keeps the Excellence Committee from quickly approving more members and filling the group? The final ratings, from customers at the exhibition, will be based on the average rating per person. So you do not want any slackers on the team to bring down your average score.

Today was pitch day. Nine Eagles pitched for Inventors; nine for Innovators; three for Creators. Five were admitted to the first and second groups; two to the third group. Standards were high. Many Eagles were asked to do additional work and pitch again.

The result:

1. A high level of energy and enthusiasm, because each Eagle chose a hero who appealed to his or her calling.

2. Standards were set by Eagles and kept high. If you hadn’t turned in first rate work, there was no shame, but you got the chance to try again. Plus you received a great deal of encouragement and coaching.

3. Along the way, there was much work and learning around the processes for research, mind mapping, pitching and how to compete for scarce resources – all with an eye toward rigor.

4. Eagles learned a lot about the lives of twenty four different scientific heroes, and what motivated them.

Examples of the criteria Eagles developed to judge “productive research:”

Quality and credibility of sources;
Number and variety of sources;
At least one serious biography selected.
Facts; opinions and stories.
Clearly organized and present with enthusiasm.
Tells a Hero’s Story.

Some of the questions asked during grilling:

How much time will you be able to work on this? What will you sacrifice to make room for this effort?
What progress have you made so far on your Rube Goldberg device?
How will your Rube Goldberg device reflect your hero’s contributions?
Are you going to spend more time or less time and effort on this project than you did on the rocket project? Do you promise?
Will you spend more time and effort on your hero’s speech or your Rube Goldberg device?
How much research have you done and how much more will you promise to do?

Self organizing learning; making research fun; adding a competitive edge to encourage rigor and excellence – not a bad day’s work for a Guide, especially since we didn’t do much at all.

The Keys to the City States

December 11, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Culture, Town Hallsandefer

Today, inspired by the Eagles, we embark on a new governance experiment.

The Council has appointed six mayors, each with jurisdiction over a geographic area of the class.

Mayors must enforce the general rules of the studio, including: “No horseplay or running;” “ No noise or behavior that distracts from intentionality in other areas” and “No snarkiness towards people in other areas.”

Any additional rules and consequences must be posted and mayors have the right to ask serial offenders to move to a territory. A neighboring Mayor or Council Member may ask a Mayor for an Eagle Buck if the behavior of his or her citizens negatively impacts others.

Mayors serve at the pleasure of the Council, and may be asked to resign at any time, for any reason. Of course, Council Members are subject to recall too.

In Civilization we are finishing our sequence on 19^th century America, including the Civil War and Reconstruction. Today we placed the Eagles in the shoes of President Andrew Johnson, and asked what they would have done to bring reluctant Southern States back into the fold, while protecting the rights of minorities.

Now Eagles get to put their ideas into action. Will more lenient Mayors attract a larger number of citizens or will a lack of intentionality lead to a collapse of an entire district?

Let the experiment begin.

“Sire, the colonists are revolting.”

December 4, 2013American Revolution, Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Culture, Hero Story, Hero's Journey, Questssandefer

Today, the revolutionary plot thickened.

One by one, edicts restricting educational freedom arrived from King George III.

Edict One: On hearing the Royal Buzzer, subjects must assemble within one minute.

Edict Two: Before breaks in the schedule, line up in order of height and sing “God save the King.”

Edict Three: One Khan Academy skill must be mastered per day – from home — or a tax of one Eagle Buck must be paid.

Each Eagle did deep research on three eighteenth century American colonists: two Patriots and one Loyalist. Then choosing to stand in the shoes of one of these revolutionary leaders, wrote a petition to the King, asking for the edicts to stop. Some letters were respectful; others threatening; all were critiqued by the group and the most historically accurate and powerful letters chosen to post.

Soon the class learned that they could pass an Educational Declaration of Independence by a two thirds vote. But declaring such a revolution would lead to the rolling of a six sided die: a roll of a 1 or 2 and the revolution would succeed and all educational freedoms would be restored; a more likely 3, 4, 5 or 6 and the revolution would fail. If the revolution failed, a second die would determine whether a onerous set of penalties would be imposed by the King for as short as three weeks or as long as seven month.

The Eagles were in a bind; just like the American colonists of 1776. Yet the edicts kept coming.

Edict Four required Eagles to remain silently seated at a their desks.

Edict Five asked Eagles to raise a hand to ask permission from a Guide for even the most trivial request.

Edict Six meant a one Eagle Buck tax on lunch.

The usually light atmosphere became oppressive. The furious colonists began to fight amongst themselves, suggesting traitors in their midst (some did try to sell out to the King, asking for special treatment.)

Some Eagles put on war paint to prepare their own Tea Party.

Revolutionary committees formed and emotional speeches rang out.

Eventually six delegates were elected to the Continental Congress; some intent on war; others recommending careful negotiation. All hid their identities when a representative of the King appeared, fearing retribution from the monarch.

The day ended with no resolution and more edicts expected tomorrow – perhaps even a revolution and a fateful roll of the die – especially given this final silent Mocking-jay protest against tyranny (you have to have seen The Hunger Games to get this one!)

What’s a parent to do? Part I

November 15, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Culture, Parent's Meetingsandefer

It’s often hard to be an Eagle Parent. Your child won’t tell you much about school. You hate to press. And yet, you want to know whether or not your Eagle is making progress.

What to do? Here’s one idea: Use the Contract of Promises (shown below) to ask your Eagle if her Running Partner and classmates would agree that she is living up to her promises.

Press for specific, positive examples and explore ways to improve. Ask your Eagle to “force rank” which three promises she is doing her “best work” which three she needs to “try something different.”

Acton Middle School

Contract of Promises

As an Acton Eagle, I promise to:

Relentlessly pursue my “next adventure,” so I can find my own special purpose for being on this earth.
Always do my best work.
I promise to hold my classmates accountable and help them on the path to success.
Learn from my failures and never give up.
Respect others, their choices, differences, and beliefs.
Never accept snarkiness, poor sportsmanship, or bullying of any kind.
Never give up on myself or my fellow travelers.
I further promise to learn something new every day as I gather the tools I will need for later in life.
To be positive. To be curious. To keep an open mind. To have fun and find joy in daily activities.
To be honest and speak the truth, even when it is difficult.
To have the courage to be different.
To be respectful and treat others how I want to be treated.
And to follow through on my promises. EVERY TIME.

I hereby solemnly pledge to uphold these promises.

Signed, this 13^th day of September, 2013.

At Acton, the choice of work and pace often are left up to the individual Eagle. But keeping one’s promises is a non-negotiable part of the learning community.

War or Peace?

November 15, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Culture, Hero's Journey, Independent Learnersandefer

Do not let the smiles fool you.

Consider Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt at Yalta.

Picture Khrushchev and Kennedy nose to nose over Cuba.

Imagine Serbs and Croats at a backyard gathering in 1990.

Pure power politics, as the duly elected members of the Middle School Council and Elementary School Council meet to discuss an agreement over joint usage of the play fields.

But consider this. No adult was consulted. The Council members contacted each other to set up the parley. Then they peacefully negotiated a settlement to take back to their respective tribes for ratification.

Today the play fields; tomorrow the Middle East.

Eagle Buddies and the Power of Feedback

November 12, 2013Collaboration, Critiques, Culture, Guidessandefer

Each middle schooler who has earned an Independent Learner badge has can serve as an Eagle Buddy, guiding a team of elementary school Eagles in setting and delivering on their weekly SMART goals.

Being an Eagle Buddy is an honor, it must be earned.

Each Eagle Buddy leader has negotiated a relational covenant with his or her group, setting forth clear expectations and consequences. This covenant was signed with great ceremony.

If an elementary school Eagle is not keeping his or her part of the bargain, the Eagle may be asked to leave the group.

Every week, the elementary Eagles rate the effectiveness of their Eagle Buddy leader, using Survey Monkey to provide feedback. One low score means probation for the leader; the second low score means the leader must resign.

A worthy task. Serious promises. Clear feedback loops. Reasonable consequences, quickly enforced.

We’re well on the way to equipping and inspiring Eagles to run the school.

What is a Friday Adventure?

November 6, 2013Celebration, Collaboration, Consequences, Core Skills, Culture, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Exhibition, Feedback, Guides, Questssandefer

Friday Adventures are special events tied to the weekly Quests. For example, last week’s Friday adventure was to go to the Bookpeople bookstore, and do rapid prototyping research to see how Eagles could improve the cover, title or organization of their Bestselling Books.

While Eagles may love the “adventure” – being able to go somewhere with their studio-mates, each outing also delivers a serious entrepreneurial lesson.

In order to qualify for a Friday adventure, you must self certify that you have completed the fundamental challenges from the weekly Challenge Envelope, and delivered your “best work.” If you miss earning a Friday adventure, the outings can be completed later with a classmate or friend – you just miss out on the fun of going with the group.

What is this week’s adventure? We can’t tell you, because this week’s Friday Adventure won’t be announced until later this morning, adding more intrigue and (hopefully) motivation.

One hint: It will involve the question: “Is that the best you can do?”

Stay tuned.

Freedom and Accountability Part II

November 6, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Core Skills, Covenants, Critiques, Culture, Eagle Buck-Pts, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Feedback, Guides, Questssandefer

James Madison wrote in Federalist 51: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

Our middle schoolers are no angels, at least not all the time. But they are an impressive group of young men and women, learning to govern each other with a grace and dignity that few adults could match.

Today we had a model Town Hall meeting: the choices well framed; each welcomed to speak; the rules of engagement enforced.

Starting next week, we’ll experiment with another self-accountability experiment, and see how it affects motivation.

First each Eagle will certify which weekly challenges from he or she has completed. Then the Council randomly will draw one computerized deliverable (like Khan Academy) and another non-computerized deliverable (like a journal entry.) Each Eagle will be asked to publicly post his or her results for these deliverables and self rank whether the contribution was in the lower, middle or bottom part of the class.

There is no penalty for choosing not to complete a challenge, except the loss of points towards Eagle Bucks, and possibly missing the weekly adventure, if that specific deliverable was required to qualify.

The penalty for certifying you have completed a deliverable and done “your best work” if it’s obvious you haven’t, will be being sent home, no questions asked, since this is a serious violation of the community honor code.

Next week we elect a new Council, as other Eagles earn a chance to lead. This Council will be missed.

Self-Reporting and Accountability

November 5, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Core Skills, Covenants, Critiques, Culture, Eagle Buck-Pts, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Guides, Smart Goalssandefer

We trust our Eagles to report whether or not they have completed a challenge and done their “best work.” Human beings, however, are fallible, especially when given too much to do, in too little time, with special adventures being offered for delivering everything on time.

Last week we decided to focus on the importance of self reporting, and accidentally created a firestorm of confusion.

We paid special attention last week to self reporting in Socratic discussions, stressing the importance of reporting accurately and turning in “the best work you can do.” On Friday, when it came time to qualify for this week’s special adventure, we read the checklist of deliverables item by item, asking Eagles to sit if they had missed an item. Many Eagles sat down, acknowledging that they hadn’t completed one task or another, understandable, given the workload they’ve been under. By the end, fifteen or so Eagles had certified that they had completed all the items.

Afterwards, a Guide checked the No Red Ink program and noticed that five of those who reported they had scored a 90 or above on this week’s quiz had not achieved this goal, according to the program’s dashboard.

A Council meeting was called, and the Council agreed that the misreporting was serious enough that the five Eagles would be asked to remain home on Monday, and decided to inform each privately to avoid embarrassment.

After the Eagles were informed, one Eagle showed one Guide a screen shot that showed he/she had scored a 100 and the dashboard had not accurately captured his/her score. Another Eagle swore that he/she had finished with a 90, but the dashboard showed otherwise. A third Eagle claimed to have accidentally done the wrong test and the dashboard confirmed that the Eagle had scored a 100, but on the wrong quiz. The last two Eagles, as far as we know, did not lodge an immediate appeal. Later, one would report that he/she had scored a 90.

At this point, with only a few minutes before Friday’s field trip adventure would begin, there was mass confusion. It is important to note that there were several categories of errors: (1) An apparent technical glitch in the program; (2) A possible error in submitting a final score, either by the program or an Eagle not hitting “submit;” (3) An Eagle who had done the wrong test but accurately reported his/her score; (4) An Eagle who reported a 90 but had no independent verification; and (5) One Eagle who said he/she just failed to listen/read carefully enough.

Which of these were “the dog ate my homework” errors; which were forgivable and which were more serious lapses?

Because of all the confusion and ambiguity, the Council voted over the weekend that all Eagles will be invited back to campus on Monday, and this incident will be put behind us.

Further investigation this weekend suggests that while some Eagles may have been genuinely confused, the computer program appears likely to have been accurately reporting scores all along, and that there is a high likelihood that several of the Eagles did not score a 90 or above.

As you can imagine, still lots of confusion and some hard feelings, which we will sort out this week, being careful to separate the personal issues from the governance issues and to prevent long term hard feelings or factions. Those with a personal issue with another Eagle will be encouraged to address the person openly and directly with a facilitated process, either in private or publicly. Governance issues and strengthening due process in the studio will be addressed in a Town Hall meeting.

As parents, we’ve learned at Acton to listen empathetically; equip our Eagles with the right words, and then send them back into the fray to sort things out for themselves. It’s hard to do, but the best way to learn to cope and stay healthy in the real world, in high pressure situations.

Human communities are messy, but the Eagles (and Guides) are learning lots of important lessons, especially about self governance in an Eagle led learning community.

Subject: Freedom and Accountability Part I

November 4, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Core Skills, Covenants, Culture, Distraction, Eagle Buck-Pts, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Feedback, Guidessandefer

How do we provide Eagles with freedom and accountability?

We started the year with Evidence Tickets, individual examples of work Eagles were asked to publicly post to earn specified privileges. High quality work was praised by Running Partners, who also identified places where more effort was needed.

While this system encouraged accountability, having Evidence Tickets arrive unexpectedly made it feel to Eagles that they weren’t in control of their own schedules.

Now we’ve shifted to Challenge Envelopes, providing a week’s worth of deliverables at a time, allowing Eagles more control over their schedules (a suggested weekly schedule is provided, for reference, but Eagles can disregard this and tackle objectives in any order they want.)

Challenge Envelopes ask Eagles to check their long term Personal Learning Plans to set weekly goals for reading and Newsela (critical reading and critical thinking skills); journaling and No Red Ink (grammar) for writing and Khan Academy for math and learning badges for 21st century skills. Also included are a series of Quest related goals for “writing a bestselling book” and “entrepreneurial skills to help sell the book” once it’s written.

But how do we make sure that Eagles are doing “the best you can do” without reading and grading every assignment? That’s the subject of the next post.

Eagle Buddies to the Rescue

October 29, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Critiques, Culture, Eagle Buck-Pts, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Feedback, Guidessandefer

Today marked an important turning point for Acton Academy.

Ten Middle School Eagles began guiding in the Elementary School, helping the ES Eagles set and record daily SMART goals. Each SMART goal group will have a learning contract and every Eagle will work hard to remain in Socratic mode and respect the Rules of Engagement.

Most importantly – no adults involved. Eagles guiding Eagles.

Sleepy geniuses

September 28, 2013Collaboration, Culture, Smart Goalssandefer

Friday morning, and everyone’s tired. Yet the Eagles lean in. They show up. They do what they said they’d do- they are present and real. Fridays are a big day for the Running Partner relationship. SMART goals set on Monday are reconciled with achievements made or missed; points are tallied. Running partners sit next to each other to optimize encouragement and accountability.

We’re asking questions about motivation all year long. This morning, we opened with a look at the Latin root – “mot”, meaning “move”- and discussed whether a person is better moved by a push, from a pull, or from the momentum of someone beside them moving in the same direction.

At closing, another question: what should I blog about this weekend? “Clean-up; we’re really get good at that,” one Eagle suggested (parents please take note!).

“Collaboration. It’s been very intentional and we are a lot smarter when we work together and learn from each other,” another offered.

“The DANCE!” Lillian begged, meaning of course the Carl Rogers dance (you’ll learn more at the Motivation Heroes debate on Oct. 10th….).

But the number one most popular answer to “what should I blog about?” was….. Poker!!! Have a great weekend, and try not to lose too many eagle Bucks to Jack.

Democracy…. it’s complicated

September 13, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Covenants, Culture, Town Hallsandefer

Democracy. Power to the people! It sounds pretty, but it’s pretty messy.

This week, the 24 (plus a 25th in and out of Skype range) Eagles revisited the Governing Documents created by the very first crop of Middle Schoolers at the beginning of the last school year- the Contract of Promises, the Rules of Engagement, the code of Community Standards and the Student Governance Plan – and took on the task of refining them, revising them, or even tossing them away and starting over from scratch.

They divided into pods of 8; each pod elected a leader; and the leaders listened, took notes, added their opinions judiciously, withheld their opinions judiciously, and provided a calming base for the intense disagreements that frequently arose.

Claire, Nikita and Sarah won deep appreciation (and an Eagle Buck apiece) for their willingness to take on those leadership roles, and their elegance in carrying them out.

It was intense this afternoon. (Picture the Second Constitutional Convention, but with women and a/c. )

The values the Eagles have already adopted- of making clear points in as few words as possible, avoiding repetition, listening respectfully and building on each others’ statements- kept this community forum from turning into an after school event.

(And they actually did have time to clean up afterwards; the resulting Studio was, according to our Clean-Up Champion Anaya Mehta, “almost pristine but with room for improvement”).

Try to get 24 people to agree on anything – anything important, that is, that affects their ability to do the work they’ve chosen and pursue the calling of their choice, to be on their own Hero’s Journey and support those of their Fellow Travelers- and it gets complicated fast. Most adults understand how hard it, even with the perspective of maturity, is to mesh one person’s Journey gracefully with that of another, let alone several or a dozen or two.

At the end of the day, they succeeded- they unanimously passed a set of documents: drawn up by Eagles, argued about by Eagles, approved by Eagles- that they will ceremoniously sign, and sign off on, tomorrow afternoon.

How nice it will be to live under the rule of a benevolent majority… until dissent, the threat of mob rule, and potential tyranny bring everyone back to the Town Hall for another argument. Probably sooner rather than later.

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.

Learning on the fly in the 21st century

June 6, 2013Collaboration, Covenants, Culturesandefer

Overheard at Acton Academy middle school yesterday:

Student #1 to his Running Partner: “I’m going to be in California for the next two weeks, but we’ve got lots of work to do, so we’ll need to be holding each other accountable while I’m gone. How would you like to keep in touch: email, text, Skype, by phone or some other way?”

Running Partner :”Email would work best. Let me give you my personal email because I check it more often than the school address. We can Skype too, if we need to discuss something in real time.”

Twelve year olds. Learning while on family vacation. Affirming and holding each other accountable from 1,500 miles away.

Welcome to the future.

Does not compute. Not!

May 24, 2013After School, Collaboration, Core Skills, CultureEllie, Masonsandefer

“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.

Eagles Taking Control

May 10, 2013Collaboration, Core Skills, Covenants, Culture, Guides, Socraticsandefer

Yesterday, we had some important visitors who wanted to see Acton Academy in Action (we now average three to five visiting groups each week.)

After the morning launch, one of our Eagles asked for a moment to propose changes in the way Running Partners collaborate during Silent Core Skills time. Here’s a report from an observer on what happened next:

“An Eagle stepped up to facilitate. He grabbed a white board and refocused the group by reintroducing the topic- Collaboration Requests. He asked for suggestions, listened intently, and wrote them down. When more than one person began talking, he reminded them of the Socratic Rules of Engagement. After a few minutes of discussion, he read the list of suggestions and took a vote. He kept the discussion on topic and was mindful of time. The class came to a unanimous decision in seven minutes.”

A group of middle school students. Recognizing a need to make changes in the way they govern the classroom. Taking control; mindfully discussing; coming to a conclusion and implementing the changes in seven minutes.

Without any help from an adult.

What would you change about Acton Academy?

March 27, 2013Collaboration, Galileo Trial, Ranch trip, Uncategorizedsandefer

Today, I asked in group: “What would you change about Acton Academy?”

The answer below, but first a few glimpses of our Eagles hard at work, making the final push on Core Skills, Portfolios, Apprenticeships, Learning Badges and the Salem Witch Trial (tomorrow.)

Q: “What would you change about Acton Academy?”

The first response: “I wish we could spend more time at school, because there’s so much to do.” The next four students agreed, each adding their own reasons for wanting more time at Acton.

The inspiration that comes from guiding others

March 19, 2013Collaboration, Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Guides, Hero's Journey, Independent Learner, Math, Reading, Socratic, WritingCrayton, Ellie, Mason, Pacesandefer

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.

Our best ideas come from Eagles

March 8, 2013Collaboration, Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Energy and flow, Journey maps, Math, Reading, Writingsandefer

Flow, the feeling of being “in the zone” while working, is a powerful force at Acton Academy. When an Eagle is in flow in completing a Khan math exercise; reading a book or writing a speech, learning happens at an extraordinary pace.

Collaboration is an important part of Acton Academy too. Sometimes you need a friend to explain a difficult concept, or even more importantly, to ask the right question. Almost all of the real learning at Acton is student to student, not Guide to student.

But collaboration can interrupt flow. And too many interruptions can ruin a two hour block of Core Skills time.

So what to do?

Our Eagles came up with this solution – a Collaboration Request board. Now if you need to ask someone to collaborate, you post a request rather than interrupting. When your potential collaborator takes a break, he or she can check the board and rendezvous at a set time. Plus, we have a record of the peer to peer learning.

Collaboration happens. Flow is protected. Our best ideas come from Eagles. Every time. If we just ask.

Active Imagination and the Hero’s Journey

March 5, 2013Collaboration, Core Skills, Culture, Hero's Journey, Psychology Quest, Quests, SpeechesKenzie, Masonsandefer

As part of the Forensic Psychology Quest, Eagles today experimented with Active Imagination, a challenging technique invented by Carl Jung.

Building on their work in dream analysis and word association, Eagles learned to “daydream” in an intentional way to invite and record conversations with different archetypal characters inside them, revealing inner thoughts and conflicts and clarifying real world struggles.

While Active Imagination at first sounds somewhat “far out,” it was Jung who championed the idea of an inner Hero’s Journey as an important part of fully lived life, and many people have found the technique brings great clarity to important life decisions.

Theory aside, the Eagles were fascinated with Active Imagination, not only taking quickly to the technique, but begging for more time to continue the conversations with the characters who emerged from their unconscious. Several learned extremely powerful lessons about themselves.
Add the Active Imagination challenge to a day where Eagles listened to and analyzed a Winston Churchill speech, and several guided younger Eagles in the Elementary School as part of their Learning Badge project, and it was quite an important day for our young leaders who someday will change the world.

The Power of Role Models

February 28, 2013Collaboration, Culture, Guidessandefer

One of the most powerful parts of Acton Academy is having Eagles of different ages in the same classroom.

In the Elementary School, five year olds guide ten year olds; in the Middle School, fourteen year olds find they can still learn from someone who is eleven. Most importantly, we find that age differences quickly disappear for Eagles and Guides, as the special talents of each Eagle become far more important than age differences.

And yet, Elementary School Eagles still look up to Middle Schoolers. Recently, the ES’ers requested to have their lunch time adjusted, just so they could watch the Middle School Eagles play sports.

This powerful attraction of older role models is why we are giving Middle School Eagles a chance to earn the right to serve as temporary Guides to the Elementary School Eagles, by earning one Learning Badge a week.

Our belief is that we’ll find Eagles can curate, create and deliver educational challenges more powerfully than adults. If anything, our most revolutionary idea so far.

Intentionality

February 26, 2013Collaboration, Consequences, Core Skills, Covenants, Culture, Distraction, Energy and flow, Journalling, Math, Reading, Writingsandefer

Today we returned from break. Only eleven weeks until summer session. Time to put the finishing touches on our learning culture before we let new Eagles into our tribe.

The focus word for this week: Intentionality.

Acting with intention. Being purposeful. Tapping into your passions. That’s what heroes do.

So time to eliminate the trivial; to minimize the unimportant. Time to put all of our energy into learning. Time for a new definition of work times, based on a survey late last session, asking Eagles how we could reduce distractions.

So we created new definitions of the our Work Blocks. All Core Skills time is now silent. We added No Tech Core Skills time, where all computers are closed and Eagles simply read, write and ponder.

No interruptions are allowed – if an Eagle needs to collaborate, he or she posts to a Collaboration Request board. An added benefit – we now have a record of who is helping whom and why.

We also rearranged the desks in the classroom. All of this was based on recommendations submitted by Eagles.

Core skills time was incredibly focused and purposeful today. Deep concentration on “blacking out” Khan skills; serious writing; deep reading. Not a sound in the classroom.

In the afternoon, the launch of an exciting new project. But more on that tomorrow.

Cardboard, Claire Boxes, Creativity and Joy

February 1, 2013Collaboration, Culture, DistractionClairesandefer

Some days the noise at Acton Academy can be distracting: the buzz of collaboration; critiquing and Rosetta-chatter.

So an Eagle-inventor took cardboard and duct tape and created the Claire-Box, a personal cocoon named after it’s inventor. Claire-Boxes became quite popular.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Austin, bright and sunny.

Eagles rushed outside for lunch. Soon Claire-Boxes were converted into cardboard sleds, and the hillside was filled with Eagles sliding, riding and rolling together on cardboard magic carpets, laughing and screaming with delight.

Destruction of school property? Hardly. More like transformation. And clinging with all your heart to childhood play.

Hard work. Creativity. Friends. Enjoying the gift of a warm spring day. Pure joy.

Thank you for the lesson and the memory.

from Luddites to Las Vegas

November 16, 20123D Game Lab - Probability, Civilization, Collaboration, Core Skills, Culture, Eagle Buck-Pts, Math, Quests, Reading, WritingCrayton, Masonsandefer

Are you more likely to be disappointed by your laptop or by your best friend? Does it feel worse to be disappointed, or to disappoint someone else? If you don’t keep yor commitments to the community, who are you letting down- your running partner or yourself? Tough questions met with candor and courage by our brave Eagles.

So, back to that laptop… or not. The middle school experimented with 30 minutes of Luddite time, focusing on (analog) reading and writing, before plugging in for their SMART goals,daily check-in and their online work. Collaboration reigned, writers brainstorming monster story plots and presenting drafts for informal peer critique, and math geniuses unleashing their exponential powers of encouragement.

Sometimes it’s Yurt time, and the MS is always grateful when that time rolls around. Ms. Laura launched with the news that scientists have discovered a powerful correlation between happiness and gratitude. After a quick survey of Thanksgiving fun facts, including info about the persuasive letter written to President Lincoln that helped make Thanksgiving a national holiday, students eagerly shared their family Thanksgiving traditions and had the opportunity to write their own letters of gratitude. Those that chose to tackle History Challenge #2 took us back to ancient Rome for some detailed analysis of similarities and differences between their culture and our own, and earned a treasure from the Yurt Treasure Box for their efforts and courage.

Ms. Anna launched today’s probability quest with a video addressing the Monty Hall problem. Initially as confused as the general populace, the Eagles has a collective Aha! / Eureka! moment as they absorbed the implications of the probability swap. Then they got to play games to further their insights, poor things. At the end of the day, Mr. Jeff asked: If you take a chance and lose, is it gambling or investing? What about if you take a chance and win? What if you break even?

Eagles will have a chance to test their hypotheses tomorrow afternoon, when the classroom is transformed into a casino, complete with free sparkling cider for all players. Do you have to be in it to win it? Who knows when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, and can they back up their instincts with evidence?

And most importantly- who will hoarde/hold out out to cash their accrued chips in for an Eagle buck, and who will choose to spend them on donuts? All bets are off, from this blog’s point of view.

Football, film and gifts

November 8, 2012Apprenticeships, Collaboration, Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Film, Hero Story, Hero's Journey, Math, Reading, Socraticsandefer

Reading, writing and arithmetic – critical, fundamental skills, and our Eagles continue to progress faster than most middle schoolers – and thanks to Khan Academy and Shelfari, we have proof of their efforts.

But there’s much more to life, and thus should be much more to learning than the basics.

Like playing sandlot football before school starts.

Or in our morning discussion, exploring the right way to hold a film crew huddle, so you don’t waste your time in meaningless meetings (something I wish I’d learned a long time ago.)

Or as a task preparing Eagles for finding the right spring apprenticeship, having our My Hero’s Guide Mr. Temp inspire them with his drumming gifts as he asks: Are you born with powerful gifts or do you have to develop them?

Or having Allan Staker give his Hero’s story about the entrepreneurial ups and downs of starting a video-game company, a twisting tale about the risks and rewards of believing in yourself.

Yes, there’s far, far more to learning in the 21st century than simply the basics.

Eagles guiding Eagles

October 20, 2012Collaboration, Communications, Core Skills, Culture, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Film, Math, Smart GoalsJack, Masonsandefer

Many outsiders have been skeptical when I predict we’ll find peer guiding and peer course creation to be far more powerful than using adult leaders. After all, who would believe that a middle or high schooler could be trusted with the learning of an younger student?

Today we had our first real test as two elementary school Eagles, Lazlo and Sam, came into the middle school to lead the six MS Eagles who had reached 50 skills in Khan in an introduction to the Manga High math program (our three MS’ers who graduated from AA ES already know Manga.) Given the round of applause at the end, the mission was a rousing success.

The Elementary Eagles invited the MS’ers to join them in a Manga challenge against a high school. Last year, the ES’ers made it all the way to third place in all of North America, competing against middle schools and high schools.

We worked hard this week on SMART goals and encouraging Eagles to set goals and hold themselves and their Running Partners for “giving their best.” We’ll continue that emphasis in the weeks ahead.

Ms Abigail pushed forward on the film project. Below an Eagle is presenting a specific filming technique he had researched, as Eagles discuss how they might use it in their individual films.

How bright is the future of our Eagles? So bright, they have to wear shades!

Eagles spent much of today in collaboration mode. They held group discussions on decision making and process vs.result, ran quick meetings among film crews, had an usually competitive PE, and worked with running partners on 3D GameLab Quest projects.

On top of the nuts and bolts learning they foment, these team activities provide inspiration and joy- but character and life skills are in the forefront as students learn for themselves how to manage the occasional frustrations and disagreements of group work. Balancing their individual needs and desires with those of their team and community proves an exciting challenge, and balances the individual and intensely focused work the students do as they go ever deeper into math, reflection writing, and other core skills.

The day ended with a beautiful surprise note from Ms. Laura, presenting her Gift of the Yurt. Starting next week, the Eagles will meet for world history stories and discussions in a real yurt (which will move with us to our new campus next September), another way for these young men and women to come together as a meaningful, synergistic community.

Our Hero's Journey

Acton Academy Middle School and Launchpad (High School)